Telkom’s major improvement in the race for best network
Telkom has improved its mobile network over the last 12 months and is catching up to its competitors in its bid to become the best network in South Africa. Telkom placed third in the MyBroadband Insights Mobile Network Report over the last year and now has its sights set on the second position. Key to
Telkom’s major improvement in the race for best network
Telkom has improved its mobile network over the last 12 months and is catching up to its competitors in its bid to become the best network in South Africa.
Telkom placed third in the MyBroadband Insights Mobile Network Report over the last year and now has its sights set on the second position.
Key to Telkom’s success was receiving access to additional spectrum allocated by ICASA to South African mobile operators in April 2020, which allowed Telkom to improve its network performance.
Targeted capacity enhancements were made in high-demand areas by using the additional spectrum coupled with the inclusion of the latest technologies, like MIMO, to improve user experience on the network.
This, along with improved traffic management and faster reaction times to network faults, allowed Telkom to provide better network stability and quality to customers, especially over the lockdown period.
These improvements came despite South Africans consuming more data than they did before the national lockdown due to remote working and increased online entertainment consumption.
To determine how Telkom’s network has improved over the last year, MyBroadband measured the mobile operator’s average network performance in comparison with its closest competitor using the MyBroadband Speed Test application.
The tables below show the improvement of Telkom’s download and upload speeds, and how it has reduced the gap between itself and its closest competitor.
National
| Q2 2020 | Q2 2021 | Improvement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Download | Upload | |
| Telkom | 20.16 | 6.24 | 29.04 | 7.7 | 44% | 23% |
| Competitor | 33.91 | 15.09 | 39.35 | 14.19 | 16% | -6% |
| Difference | 11.73 | 8.10 | 9.70 | 5.82 | -17% | -28% |
Johannesburg
| Q2 2020 | Q2 2021 | Improvement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Download | Upload | |
| Telkom | 21.05 | 6.22 | 28.75 | 7.99 | 37% | 28% |
| Competitor | 36.23 | 14.55 | 42.77 | 14.82 | 18% | 2% |
| Difference | 15.18 | 8.33 | 14.02 | 6.83 | -8% | -18% |
Tshwane
| Q2 2020 | Q2 2021 | Improvement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Download | Upload | |
| Telkom | 22.19 | 6.99 | 29.65 | 8.37 | 34% | 20% |
| Competitor | 33.91 | 15.09 | 39.35 | 14.19 | 16% | -6% |
| Difference | 11.73 | 8.10 | 9.70 | 5.82 | -17% | -28% |
Cape Town
| Q2 2020 | Q2 2021 | Improvement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Download | Upload | |
| Telkom | 16.94 | 5.87 | 29.1 | 7.11 | 72% | 21% |
| Competitor | 26.26 | 10.41 | 30.83 | 10.23 | 17% | -2% |
| Difference | 9.33 | 4.54 | 1.73 | 3.12 | -81% | -31% |
Durban
| Q2 2020 | Q2 2021 | Improvement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Download | Upload | |
| Telkom | 20.47 | 6.45 | 28.52 | 7.98 | 39% | 24% |
| Competitor | 31.19 | 11.59 | 39.08 | 9.58 | 25% | -17% |
| Difference | 10.72 | 5.14 | 9.98 | 2.47 | -2% | -69% |
Telkom reduced the difference in download and upload speeds to its closest competitor nationally and across the major metros.
The largest reduction was in the Cape Town metro, where Telkom improved its download speed from 16.94 Mbps to 29.1 Mbps.
Telkom also achieved the second-fastest download speeds in Gqeberha (35.8 Mbps), East London (38.7 Mbps) and George (36.3 Mbps) for the first time, delivering an improved experience to customers in these smaller cities.
Telkom’s network improvements over the last year also helped them rank second in MyBroadband’s recently published mobile operator customer satisfaction ratings for the first half of 2021.
This proves that Telkom’s mobile network is on the up, and Telkom now aims to compete for the accolade of having the best network in South Africa.
Main Image: techcentral
