South African voice network quality tested — with surprising results

Analytico’s voice network quality tests in Sandton showed that Cell C produced the best call quality and was on par with MTN and Telkom on call setup rate and dropped calls.

Vodacom performed the worst. It was the only network with dropped calls and call setup problems and had the lowest minimum call quality score.

The network performance tests were performed on 17 January 2023 in partnership with Coral-i, a leading provider of test and measurement solutions for network service providers.

The tests were performed using Keysight’s world-leading network testing platform, Nemo, which is distributed and supported by Coral-i in South Africa.

Analytico used four high-end Samsung devices in a testing vehicle to call four terminating devices kept in a fixed location with good signal and backup power.

Calls were made on a consistent schedule during the drive tests, and numerous measurements, including call setup time and call drop rates, were recorded.

During each call, a pre-set standard audio file is played, which allows an objective measurement of the audio quality of the call according to the POLQA standards.

Cell C performed the best with an average call quality score of 3.965, a 100% call setup success rate, and no dropped calls.

MTN was a close second with an average call quality score of 3.863 and a 100% call setup success rate without any dropped calls.

Telkom finished third. It had the worst call quality score, but it achieved a 100% call setup success rate and had no dropped calls.

Vodacom performed significantly worse than the other networks. It was the only operator that had problems setting up calls and had one dropped call.

The data revealed that Vodacom only achieved a 91.67% call success rate, and it dropped 4% of the calls.

Telkom achieved the fastest call setup time, and Cell C had the most consistent performance in this area.

The table below summarises Analytico’s voice network quality test results in the Sandton municipal area.

Now read: Vodacom’s plan to buy all its power from independent producers

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South African voice network quality tested — with surprising results