Despite playing catch up with neighbouring countries such as Thailand in the implementation of the 5G mobile network, Malaysia has performed admirably. As of December 2023, we have finally reached a significant threshold with an 80.2% 5g network coverage in populated areas.
Accordingly, the Government is now gearing up to introduce a second 5G network soon which may include foreign industry players such as HUAWEI. Besides that, Malaysia also previously recorded the fastest 5G network in Southeast Asia and the third fastest in the world with a median speed of 485.25Mbps. However, the 5G network’s low usage rate may have something to do with this.
Most consumers prefer reliability over speed
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However, having the fastest network coverage doesn’t necessarily translate to a better user experience as there are many metrics to determine the quality of mobile networks. In fact, according to a study by Opensignal, an independent analytics company specialising in “quantifying the mobile-network experience”, consumers value network reliability over any other factor besides cost.
With that in mind, Opensignal’s latest research is a wake-up call for Malaysia’s mobile network operators as it was found that our country has one of the worst mobile networks in the world in terms of reliability!
Malaysia has one of the most unreliable mobile networks in the world
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In the Opensignal Global Reliability Experience Report released this month, Malaysia scored 790 points and is ranked the 7th worst in the study.
Moreover, in Southeast Asia, Singapore ranks first with a score of 867 points, Thailand second with 841 points and Indonesia in third position with 831 points. The Philippines (787 points) placed lower than us with only a 3-point difference, with both our countries scoring under 800 points.
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Globally, Denmark has the most reliable mobile network, scoring an impressive 934 points from a maximum of 1,000. Making up the top 5 are Japan (914 points), South Korea (913 points), France (906 points) and Slovakia (904 points).
Check out the full rankings, including Malaysia’s placement in this graphic study below:
How Opensignal conducted the study
For this study, Opensignal analysed the reliability of mobile networks as experienced by their mobile users across nearly 40 mobile network markets worldwide.
Moreover, the study measures to what extent users stay consistently connected to their mobile network and whether they can continue to do typical tasks such as email, watching videos and using navigation apps while connected.
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Opensignal said that this Reliability Experience study measures every aspect of the user’s experience of their network operator’s mobile data network. These include when it’s working flawlessly, when it’s working erratically and when users can’t connect at all.
Besides that, data for the study was collected from 1 October 2023 to 29 December 2023 and the countries were scored on a 100 to 1000-point scale, with higher scores indicating better experience.
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Specifically, the study consists of the following components, with higher proportions of successful components resulting in a higher score:
- Signal Availability — The proportion of time users can successfully connect to a mobile network
- Data connectivity — The proportion of time when the network is available and the device can connect to the internet
- Task completion — Whether tasks initiated by the user’s device are completed
- Sufficiency — The probability that tasks will be executed sufficiently well for the user
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So, what do you guys think of Malaysia placing low in this study on mobile network reliability? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
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