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OpenSignal rates MTN best network for mobile video experience in SA

When it comes to mobile content consumption, video is king.

As such the network or service provider that can deliver the best video experience will likely dominate the mobile space, but determining which company is leading the way can be hard to determine.

Well not for mobile analytics firm OpenSignal, which recently released their report on the “State of Mobile Video” that looks at the quality the video experience available int he country, as well as how operators are performing in that regard.

Two-horse race

According to OpenSignal’s numbers, it has a two-horse race, with Vodacom and MTN leading the charge. The latter just pipped its rival, however, in a close race with a margin of just three points between them, says OpenSignal.

“In South Africa, both MTN and Vodacom rated a Good score (55-65), while the country’s other two operators landed in the Fair (40-55) category. We define a Good score as characterized by video streamed from the internet to a phone or tablet rendering at both low and high resolutions, but exhibiting some loading time before playback begins and some stalling, especially at HD resolutions,” read OpenSignal’s statement on the report.

The scores saw MTN get 60.9 and Vodacom receive 58.6, with South Africa performing okay in OpenSignal’s global report, placing in the middle of the pack among the 69 countries that were analysed with an overall score of 55.87.

The number one spot was claimed the Czech Republic with a score of 68.52, which isn’t too large a gap for South Africa to close down on in coming years.

Speed less of a factor

One of the additional findings from the report is the lack of correlation between downloads speeds and video quality. OpenSignal found that the Czech Republic did not even register inside the top 10 when it came to download speeds, but still yielded the best video experience overall.

The same rings true for South Africa, with Vodacom rated higher than MTN when it comes to download speeds, but vice versa in the video experience category.

“South Africa also typified a trend we have observed concerning the relationship between a decent video experience and network speed. Surely the faster an operator’s download speed, the better the video experience, right? Not necessarily. We tracked a fairly close correlation between video experience and overall download speed measurements at the lower end of the table, but this relationship became much less obvious as scores improved,” adds the report.

Consumer reaction?

But how do South African consumers feel about the video experience in their country?

While OpenSignal seems to say we’re above average, we’re assuming that the general public still views video experience as lacking locally, but that opinion might also be influenced by the cost of data in the country.

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