Malaysia
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumer mobile experience. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding the true experience consumers receive on wireless networks.
Malaysia
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumer mobile experience. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding the true experience consumers receive on wireless networks.
Key Findings
Maxis has the edge in Malaysia's Video and Games Experience
Smartphone users on Maxis had the best experience when streaming videos and playing multiplayer mobile games. By virtue of this, Maxis is the outright winner of the Video Experience and Games Experience awards in Malaysia.
DiGi comes top for Download Speed Experience
DiGi is the outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award. DiGi users experienced the fastest overall mobile download speeds in Malaysia, 17.6 Mbps on average — 8% (1.3 Mbps) faster than Maxis users, 37.5%-40.4% faster than U Mobile and Unifi users, and almost 84% faster than those on Celcom.
Maxis wins a close-run race for the Upload Speed Experience award
Our Maxis users observed the fastest upload speeds in Malaysia. As a result, Maxis claims the Upload Speed Experience award with a score of 7.3 Mbps — 3.6% (0.3 Mbps) higher than second-placed U Mobile, and more than three times as fast as last-placed operator Yes.
Yes leads the pack in Availability, but Celcom is ahead in 4G Coverage Experience
Yes solely wins the Availability award in Malaysia as our users on its network spent the greatest proportion of time connected to mobile services (3G, 4G and 5G) — 98.5%. On the other hand, Celcom is the winner in 4G Coverage Experience with a score of 9.1 on a 10 point scale — ahead of Maxis and DiGi's identical scores of 8.5 points.
DiGi takes the award for Excellent Consistent Quality, while Unifi wins Core Consistent Quality
DiGi leads on the measure of Excellent Consistent Quality by meeting the minimum recommended performance thresholds in 62% of users' tests for HD video, group video conference calls, and gaming. For Core Consistent Quality, Unifi emerges as the outright winner with a score of 85.1%, followed by DiGi with 83.6%.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
Early last year, Malaysia’s government announced the decision to roll out 5G services on a single national wholesale 5G network — Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) — created as a special purpose vehicle for the deployment. However, while the goal is for DNB to make 5G available nationwide by 2023, it continues to face challenges. In particular there has been ongoing debate on the precise commercial terms for telecom operators to use the network. Currently, only Yes and Unifi have signed up with DNB. As of April, other operators, including Celcom, DiGi, Maxis and U Mobile, were still in talks with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and had yet to reach an agreement.
While 5G may now be Malaysia's key area of focus, 4G still plays a vital role because that's the network consumers spend most of their time connected to. Also, strong 4G networks will pave the road for a smoother transition to next-generation 5G networks.
In this report, we've analyzed the mobile network experience of all our users in Malaysia across six major networks — Celcom, DiGi, Maxis, U Mobile, Unifi and Yes — over the period of 90 days between December 1, 2021, and February 28, 2022, to see how they stack up on different aspects of mobile experience. In addition to the national analysis, we've also examined the mobile network experience across Malaysia's major provinces.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Opensignal analysis of the quality of experience while streaming video content on smartphones shows that Maxis users had the best Video Experience in Malaysia. Maxis wins the Video Experience award with an overall score of 43.3 points on a 100 point scale — 1.8 and 2.7 points ahead of U Mobile and DiGi which scored 41.5 and 40.7 points, respectively. The three operators placed in the Fair category (40-55), while Celcom, Unifi and Yes placed one category lower with 34.2, 39.4 and 30.1 points, respectively.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:
- 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.
National Analysis
Looking at the quality of multiplayer mobile gaming, our Maxis users reported the best available experience in Malaysia. Maxis not only wins our Games Experience award, but it is the only operator to garner a Fair (65-75) rating. With a score of 66.1 points, Maxis commands a significant lead of 3.6-4 points over U Mobile and Unifi, which are in a dead-heat for second place.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.
Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.
Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:
- 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
U Mobile wins the Voice App Experience award with 76.9 points (out of 100). However, we saw very close competition, with just 2.2 points separating the scores of all six operators. These scores indicate that the typical quality of experience while using over-the-top (OTT) voice app services such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger in Malaysia placed in the Acceptable (74-80) category.
Definitions
Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — using a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Voice App Experience, we report on the following metrics related to voice app experience:
- 5G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Voice App Experience – 5G Users: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G voice app experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
DiGi is the winner of the Download Speed Experience award, as our users on its network reported the highest average download speeds in Malaysia — 17.6 Mbps. Maxis follows closely with a Download Speed Experience score of 16.3 Mbps, while U Mobile and Unifi place further behind with 12.8 Mbps and 12.5 Mbps, respectively. Meanwhile, Celcom was the only operator with a Download Speed Experience score lower than 10 Mbps.
Definitions
Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.
In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:
- 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
National Analysis
Our users on Maxis reported the top Upload Speed Experience with speeds averaging 7.3 Mbps — 0.3 Mbps faster than those on U Mobile. As a result, Maxis wins the Upload Speed Experience award in Malaysia.
While download speeds get all the attention, upload speeds are becoming increasingly important in mobile services with changing usage patterns and data-consumption habits. For example, mobile users now engage more on social media apps — creating and sharing high-resolution images and videos — and are increasingly creating and sharing content rather than just consuming it, which gives operators with the fastest upload speeds a distinct advantage.
Definitions
Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.
In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:
- 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
Regional Analysis
When analyzing Video Experience in Malaysia by region, the national winner Maxis collects wins across all regions, including outright wins in Johor, Perak, Selangor, as well as the capital region of Kuala Lumpur, and joint wins in the remaining 11 regions. Maxis shared the top spot with DiGi in Melaka and with U Mobile in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu. Meanwhile, these three operators jointly win in Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Perlis. Further, Maxis and U Mobile also jointly win Video Experience with Unifi in Pulau Pinang, Sabah, as well as Sarawak, where we see a four-way split between these three operators and DiGi.
Likewise, Maxis also either wins or jointly wins in Games Experience across all regions. However, in this case, Maxis collected outright wins in nine regions.
Moving on to Malaysia's regional mobile internet speeds, DiGi leads in Download Speed Experience. The operator wins outright in 12 out of 15 regions and shares regional awards for Download Speed Experience with Maxis in Putrajaya and Selangor, where our users reported no statistical difference between the Download Speed Experience on Maxis and DiGi. Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur was the only region where another operator wins outright as Yes users saw the top Download Speed Experience in the region.
On the other hand, U Mobile leads Malaysia's regional Upload Speed Experience by winning outright in nine regions and collecting a joint win alongside Maxis in Pahang. Meanwhile, Maxis wins outright in five regions, including Kuala Lumpur.
Regional Analysis Summary: Malaysia, Mobile Network Experience Report, April 2022
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Coverage
Celcom
DiGi
Maxis
U Mobile
Unifi
Yes
National Analysis
Yes wins the Availability award, as our users across all six national networks spent the most time connected to a cellular signal (3G, 4G or 5G) on Yes' network — 98.5% on average. U Mobile places second with a score of 97.8%, while DiGi was the only operator to score below 95%. These scores mean that smartphone users in Malaysia connected to a mobile broadband service more than 95 out of 100 times on average on at least five out of six networks.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
Availability shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users on an operator’s network had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection.
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
National Analysis
Celcom claims the 4G Coverage Experience award with an impressive score of 9.1 points on a 10 point scale — 0.6 points ahead of Maxis and DiGi that are in a joint second place — which means our Celcom users connected to the 4G network in more than 90 out of 100 locations visited by users of all network operators.
Definitions
4G Coverage Experience measures how mobile subscribers experience 4G coverage on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-10, it analyzes the locations where customers of a network operator received a 4G signal relative to the locations visited by users of all network operators.
In simple terms, 4G Coverage Experience measures the mobile coverage experience in all the locations that matter most to everyday users — i.e. all the places where they live, work and travel. It considers all the areas that Opensignal users visit, the portion of locations that 4G is available to them, and locations that more users visit have higher importance to them.
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
Regional Analysis
Looking at regional Availability, the national winner — Yes — wins in 13 regions. Yes wins outright in four regions — Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak and Selangor — and collected joint wins in the remaining nine alongside U Mobile. These include Kedah — where Yes and U Mobile share the victory with Celcom — and Perlis — where the three operators are joined by DiGi and Maxis in a five-way split for first place.
Regional Analysis Summary: Malaysia, Mobile Network Experience Report, April 2022
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- Johor
- Kedah
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- Melaka
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- Perak
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Consistency
National Analysis
DiGi is the sole winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award. Its winning score of 62% gives DiGi a lead of one percentage point over second-placed Unifi, and 7.2 percentage points over third-placed Maxis. At the same time, Celcom, U Mobile and Yes have a lot of room for improvement, with scores ranging between 27.1% and 38.7%.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Excellent Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games.
National Analysis
Unlike Excellent Consistent Quality, Unifi takes the lead in Core Consistent Quality. The operator wins our award on this measure with a score of 85.1% — 1.5 percentage points greater than its closest rival DiGi and five percentage points more than Celcom. While Maxis was 2.8 percentage points short of an 80% score, U Mobile and Yes have a lot of catching up to do with scores of 57.8% and 62.1%, respectively.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Core Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing.
Related Analysis
Our Methodology
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
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Confidence Intervals
For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.
In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.
In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.
Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience