Networks fail quality tests

South Africa's MTN, Cell C and Vodacom have all failed quality of service tests carried out by Icasa in small towns around the country. Image: GizModo

Although Vodacom fared far better than MTN and Cell C, Icasa found that it failed retainability tests in four KwaZulu-Natal and three Western Cape small towns.

MTN and Cell C failed both retainability and accessibility tests in six KwaZulu-Natal and six Western Cape small towns and business districts respectively.

Icasa defines retainability as "the ability for a call to stay connected, complete through to a normal call tear-down process, without abnormally disconnecting on a cell site of interest.

"Accessibility is defined as the percentage of time a user is rejected due to the unavailability of system resources when attempting to place a call," said Icasa spokesman Paseka Maleka

Maleka said South African communities must complain about their experiences of poor service in the broadcasting, postal and telecommunication service sectors.

Source: Sowetan via I-Net Bridge