Mobile telecommunications company MTN has been recognised as the best network in the country on a basis of the reports Network Performance Score findings by telecommunications specialist Rohde & Schwarz SwissQual AG.
The company’s chief executive Hanspeter Bobst congratulated MTN South Africa for ranking first with a score of 763 out of 1000 points on the Rohde & Schwarz Network Performance Score in line with ETSI TR 103 559.
MTN was followed by Vodacom with 722, Telkom at 603 and Cell C with 496.
MTN also outperformed its competitors in data services score by achieving 421 out of 600 for data, followed by Vodacom with 373, Telkom at 347 and Cell C with 241.
For the voice service score Vodacom came out tops with 349 out of 400 followed by MTN with 342, then Telkom with 256 and Cell C with 255.
Rohde & Schwarz SwissQual AG is a telecommunications company specializing in wireless network service quality benchmarking and network optimization. The company is a contributor to ITU-T standards for speech and video quality assessment.
MTN South Africa Executive for Corporate Affairs Jacqui O’Sullivan said that the quality of experience delivered to their customers was very important to MTN. “We are consistently working to upgrade and modernise our network infrastructure to ensure customers enjoy the best user experience, and results such as these work to help us benchmark ourselves against the quality and competitive position of other networks, using the scores as a basis to deliver optimal quality of experience to our customers,” O’Sullivan said.
The Rohde & Schwarz drive-test based data collection campaign was implemented from October to December last year covering South Africa’s major cities, towns and roads. During this period there were significant periods of load shedding and load reduction and this impact was included in these performance scores.
Over 18 600 voice calls and over 125 400 individual data service tests were performed to calculate a Network Performance Score in line with ETSI TR 103 559.
In November last year, the MTN Group announce a solid set of third quarter operating results, plans for a public offer of shares in MTN Nigeria, progress in finalising a passive infrastructure deal for MTN South Africa as well as in its work to create shared value across our 20 markets, with ESG at the core.
For the quarter to end-September 2021, the Group also reduced debt and holding company leverage, recorded strong financial results in line with medium-term guidance and advanced the delivery of our Ambition 2025 strategy.
At period-end, the group subscriber base was at 272 million.
Driven by continued strong growth momentum in major markets Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, MTN Group’s service revenue ramped up 19.1 percent to R125 billion in the first nine months of the year. Data and fintech service revenue increased by 34.5 percent and 35.0 percent respectively. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 24.1 percent, with margins expanding 2.1 percentage points to 45.0 percent on a constancy-currency basis.
MTN South Africa was said to be making good progress with a sale and leaseback of its towers.
O’Sullivan said that for them, a high-performing network meant “connecting the previously unconnected; enhanced connectivity for those already connected; and more digital opportunities for all, enabling customers to take advantage of the range of applications that are available on the market today – and we will keep working to ensure this access continues.”
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