Bandwidth plays a huge role in video conferencing. data for March shows a sharp decline in mobile download speed in South Africa. On top of that, the surge in internet traffic has resulted in a degradation in speeds for fixed and mobile broadband since March 2020, as more people stream from their homes rather than work as they go into lockdowns, according to data compiled by Ookla’s, which allows users across the world to test their internet download, upload and latency speeds. For one, South Africa has very expensive home fibre and mobile data is also extremely pricey. TechCrunch reported there was a record breaking 62 million downloads of video conferencing apps in just one week in March as many countries went into lockdown, up 90% from the weekly average of business app downloads in 2019.īut while Europe, Asia and America can easily stream conference calls, South Africa has a very different environment. Other conference call apps like Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams,and Skype are also making their way up the rankings, while WhatsApp, which can be used as a low-data alternative, has been consistently downloaded in SA for years. According to data from app tracking website SensorTower, it shot up the ranks from 148 th to become the top-ranking app in South Africa in a matter of days. Stuck in lockdown, South Africans are now conducting meetings online, and there has been a massive surge in the downloads of video conferencing apps. For more stories go to the Business Insider South Africa homepage.

But if you need to save on data, use WhatsApp. We found that Microsoft Teams or Zoom came out top.We compared the bandwidth requirements of Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts and WhatsApp to see which offer the best user experience.In South Africa, data and fibre are expensive, and internet speeds are slower than in other countries.There has been a global surge in the use of video conferencing during lockdowns across the world.Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA).

Skype vs zoom vs teams