The best and most popular mobile networks of South Africa
According to the latest South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) for telecommunications providers, Vodacom has emerged as the most popular provider amongst its customers, while MTN is the least popular. Telkom emerged as the leading firm in the perceived value index.
Consulta, a Pretoria-based market-research and consulting firm, has released its fifth annual SAcsi, based on interviews conducted across a wide range of industries in South Africa. In essence, SAcsi acts as an independent benchmark for customer satisfaction at a national level, backed by academia and industry alike.
The indicator studies firms that have significant standing in the South African market, with a specific focus on customer evaluations of their goods and services. As a result, SAcsi provides an extra dimension of quality to economic indicators, beyond traditional quantity-based measures such as GDP and per capita output.
The research spans several industries, including the ever-expanding telecom market in the country. In real terms, the evaluation of the telecom industry is based on the study of four of the country’s largest service providers, namely Vodacom, Telkom, Cell C, and MTN. The study is divided into two aspects, one with a focus on customer satisfaction itself, and the other with a focus on perceived value of the provider.
The industry is scored on a scale of 1-100 for both indicators, in which any score below 70 is considered to be low, and the average score for the telecom industry in 2017 settled at 77.2 points. In terms of customer satisfaction,Vodacom scored the highest by far on the SAcsi, at 79.2 points, beating the industry average and registering a 0.3-point improvement from last year. The firm has been operational in South Africa since 1994, and generates revenues of nearly R70 billion. However, the firm fell to second for the perceived value index, with 77.8 points, despite registering an improvement from 77 points last year.
In second place on the SAcsi was Telkom with a score of 76.8, having recorded a massive leap of 3.9 points from last year. Founded in 1991, the firm has grown rapidly over the years, currently operating with more than 19,000 employees and generating revenues of more than R31.5 billion. The firm also topped the perceived value index, with an impressive score of 81.1 points, recording an increase from 78.7 last year.
Mobile operator Cell C placed third on the SAcsi, hot on the heels of Telkom with 76.7 points, jumping by 1.6 points over the last year. The firm, which is wholly owned by 3C Telecommunications, registered revenues of R14.6 billion last year. On the perceived value index, the firm registered a score of 77.7 points, falling from 78.2 points last year.
Lastly, MTN finished last in both categories. On the SAcsi, MTN dropped to 74.2 points from 75.8 points last year. Meanwhile, the firm registered a drop on the perceived value index as well, falling to 74.5 points from 76.9 last year.
