MTN and Vodacom have both pushed their 5G networks past 60% of the South African population. MTN told MyBroadband its coverage stood at 62.59% at the end of July 2026 and that it plans to deploy roughly 600 to 700 additional 5G sites between now and early 2027.

Vodacom said its network covers more than 60% and that it will keep expanding through the year. Telkom and Rain, which also run mobile 5G, did not provide figures.

The lead has changed hands repeatedly since both launched in 2020, Vodacom first in May and MTN at the end of June. MTN expanded harder early and was ahead within a year; Vodacom overtook it during 2024, and by March 2025 held 51.7% against MTN's 45% two months later.

MTN is now marginally ahead again. Both operators broke 1Gbps in real-world MyBroadband Insights speed testing in the first quarter of 2026. Separately, the industry is asking for looser merger rules to fund further rollout. MTN Group chief executive Ralph Mupita told Semafor that dominant operators in China, India and the United States have been allowed to collaborate to scale 5G and fibre, and that South Africa should avoid Europe's underinvestment.

Vodacom's response was more measured, saying infrastructure sharing can cut duplication and improve the economics of expanding coverage, particularly where the business case is weak, but that any consolidation should be judged on its merits.

MyBroadband collected the coverage figures directly from both operators and noted Vodacom would not specify the criteria behind where it adds capacity beyond customer demand. Its own Insights testing recorded both networks exceeding 1Gbps in real-world conditions earlier this year. Semafor reported Mupita's argument for merger and acquisition reform to accelerate network investment.

Hold this against a number we published in April. Opensignal found South African users spent just 3.7% of their connected time on 5G in the first quarter of 2026, and even users holding 5G handsets managed only 11.1%. Both things are true at once, because population coverage counts people who live where a signal exists, while time on network counts whether devices actually attach to it.

The reason for the gap sits in the spectrum. Almost all observed 5G traffic runs on mid-band, while 700MHz remains 99.7% on 4G and 800MHz is entirely on 4G, despite operators buying all four bands in the R14.4bn 2022 auction. Low-band is what carries signal indoors and to the edges of coverage. So 600 to 700 new sites are welcome, but the layer that would move the 3.7% is already built and paid for.

You might also like our piece on the Comsol 5G network selling wholesale capacity into the same gap, how Cell C launched 5G without building any of it, and why Capitec home broadband needs someone else's network.

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