A new report published by Ookla Insights on Speedtest Intelligence, which analysed the internet speed performance of four mobile service providers across 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, indicated that Airtel Nigeria delivered faster median download and upload speeds in Nigeria in Q2 2022.
The report findings showed that in the 10 countries where the tests were conducted, South Africa recorded the best speeds as a result of 5G deployment by operators in the country.
The four operators covered in the tests are Airtel, Orange, MTN and Vodacom, which jointly account for 62% of total telecom subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Also, the select 10 countries for the tests comprising Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda (East Africa); Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, and Botswana (Southern Africa); and Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Nigeria (West Africa) account for 59% of the region’s connections.
The report findings reflected that head-to-head performance between Airtel and MTN across the three countries they operate in, Airtel was ahead in Nigeria, both in terms of median download and upload speed in Q2 2022, while in Uganda and Rwanda there were no winners.
A further analysis of the report findings showed that as of Q2 2022, Airtel Nigeria recorded a median download speed of 30.35 Mbps and a median upload speed of 10.28 Mbps, both of which topped those of MTN (26.30 Mbps download and 9.13 Mbps upload).
Industry analysts have projected that those speeds are set to increase as both companies continued to invest more in network infrastructure, with a combined investment of N208.5 billion ($502 million). The investment translates into an increase in 4G availability as well.
In the quarter under review while MTN had 83.8% 4G availability and Airtel’s stood at 77.9%. Also, MTN Nigeria has 38.9% or 74.1 million of Nigeria’s mobile users on its network compared to Airtel Nigeria’s 46.0 million subscribers.
But then, the report indicated that when assessed based on download speeds, Airtel Nigeria was ahead of MTN Nigeria.
