Sylwia Kechiche, VP of industry analysis at Opensignal.
SA has secured an overall ranking (based on high-end devices) of 60th place out of 125 nations in the latest Global Network Excellence Index, a country-level ranking that assesses how well mobile networks deliver real-world connectivity and how ready they are to support future digital demand.
The index, released in February 2026 and based on Q4 2025 data, was developed by Opensignal, a provider of independent insights into network connectivity, subscriber behaviour and market performance. The tool helps regulators and mobile network operators benchmark the quality of their country’s network infrastructure versus their peers.
The index evaluates countries based on three core pillars that Opensignal claims defines mobile network excellence:
- Time on 4G/5G: The proportion of time users are connected to modern mobile networks, reflecting accessibility and coverage maturity.
- Excellent consistent quality (ECQ): How reliably networks support demanding, everyday applications such as video calls, streaming and digital payments.
- Download speed: The capacity of networks to support current demand and scale for future growth.
According to the index, SA improved its overall ranking from 64th place achieved earlier in 2025.
The research found that global mobile network performance is entering a new phase, with everyday user experience overtaking headline-grabbing technology launches and peak speed claims as the key benchmark of success.
The analysis shows that countries delivering consistent, reliable performance at scale are outperforming those that focus primarily on 5G rollouts or top-end speed records.
Data also indicates that raw download speed is no longer a reliable substitute for quality. Several markets rank among global leaders in peak speeds but fall behind on consistency metrics, underscoring a growing divergence between network capacity and real-world user experience.
Providing an overview of the indicators used as part of the research for the index, Sylwia Kechiche, VP of industry analysis at Opensignal, says it is important to highlight a change the company has made to the methodology used to evaluate mobile networks.
“Instead of having separate ratings for 4G and 5G download speeds, we’ve brought it into an overall (rating). The reason we’ve done that is we wanted to understand whether devices have an impact on how a user experiences a network.”
To do that, Opensignal included filters (including an all-device option) in its research. “So, you can have an all-device group, (measuring) the average experience across all devices… and then we filter out premium and high-end devices,” says Kechiche. She adds that the information is based on real life scenarios and the intention is to find out if users with a high-end smartphone necessarily have a better experience on the network.
Opensignal adds that even with robust networks and a reliable power supply, the affordability of modern devices and data access remains a major barrier to adoption.
The cost of data is also prohibitive; sub-Saharan Africans pay 2.4% of their monthly income for 1GB of data, which is well above the UN’s 2% affordability benchmark.
Opensignal claims that in Africa, mobile networks are the backbone of digital progress. According to the organisation, the latest index reflects a mixed picture of the state of mobile connectivity in the region.
The company states: “The key factor setting the leaders apart – such as Mauritius, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt – from laggards is a proactive and timely approach to spectrum management. Many countries trail behind, held back not only by slow spectrum reform, but also by patchy telecommunications and supply infrastructure, and barriers to adoption like affordability.”
The analytics firm says the quality of these mobile networks is crucial for driving economic growth, digital inclusion and access to vital services like healthcare and banking, making it essential for policymakers and investors to address these disparities.
The ECQ measurement assesses a network’s ability to support high-performance applications like video calls, mobile banking and HD streaming. Across Africa, ECQ scores vary widely, reflecting disparities in network quality and the reality that many users exhaust data due to insufficient credit in a region where 93% of connections are prepaid, according to GSMA Intelligence.
Opensignal distinguishes various categories:
- Leaders (more than or equal to 60%): Mauritius (71%), Tunisia (64%) and SA (60%).
- Mid-tier (40%-59%): Egypt (52%), Namibia (51%), Madagascar, Algeria, Senegal, Morocco, Libya, Kenya and Malawi.
- Lower-mid (20%-39%): Mozambique, Tanzania, DR Congo, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, Mauritania, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and Angola.
- Lowest (<20%): Guinea, Somalia, Mali, Sudan, Togo, Cameroon and Ethiopia.
Kechiche confirmed SA’s progress on the index and says the country is ahead of counterparts like Kenya (in 83rd place) and Nigeria (in 99th position) on high-end devices.
She adds that based on a review of all the measurement metrics – and specifically time on 4G/5G – SA has maintained steady growth. The country has also improved with ECQ.
Markets should prioritise augmenting legacy networks to free up spectrum and give more capacity to existing networks, she advises.
