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
Digi breaks the 20 Mbps barrier in Download Speed Experience
Our Digi users saw the fastest average download speeds in Malaysia, making Digi the winner of the Download Speed Experience award with 20.5 Mbps. While Digi’s score was 1.3 Mbps (6.8%) higher than second-placed Maxis, the average gap between Digi and other national operators is much more significant — 65.1% to 137.7%.
Celcom has a firm grip on 4G Coverage Experience
Celcom wins the 4G Coverage Experience award with an impressive score of 9.2 on a 10 point scale, ahead of Digi and Maxis' identical scores of 8.6 points. Opensignal's 4G Coverage Experience analyzes the locations where customers of a network operator received a 4G signal relative to the locations visited by users of all network operators.
Digi and Maxis are top for Video Experience.
After a short stint as the sole winner of the Video Experience award, Maxis winds up sharing the top spot, this time with Digi. Our Malaysian users on Digi and Maxis enjoyed the best available quality of experience while streaming video over mobile connections, with statistically tied scores of 43.2-43.3 points (on a 100-point scale). U Mobile and Unifi were close behind, scoring 42.6 and 41.4, respectively. The Video Experience scores of these four operators place in the Fair category (40-55).
Maxis users enjoy the best multiplayer mobile gaming experience
Maxis beats the competition on the quality of experience when it comes to playing multiplayer mobile games in Malaysia. Maxis wins Opensignal's Games Experience award with a score of 67.3 points, giving it a lead of 2.5 points over second-placed U Mobile. With this score, Maxis earns a Fair (65-75) rating for Games Experience — one higher than the ratings of any of its other competitors.
Digi leads in Excellent Consistent Quality, while Unifi takes the Core Consistent Quality award
Digi wins the Excellent Consistent Quality award, as the operator met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for HD video, group video conference calls and gaming for the highest percentage of users' tests. Digi's score of 64.8% is 2.1 percentage points ahead of second-placed Unifi's 62.7%. Meanwhile, Unifi wins the Core Consistent Quality award with 86.7% — a lead of 2.9 percentage points over Digi.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
Malaysia is one of the last countries in Southeast Asia to launch commercial 5G services and continues to face challenges with its unusual approach to 5G deployment.
In 2021, the Malaysian government created Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) to roll out 5G services in the country on a single national wholesale network. Since then, there has been an ongoing debate on the precise commercial terms for telecom operators to use the network which has slowed 5G uptake. To date, Yes is the only operator to have commercially launched 5G using DNB's wholesale network. Although the uptake of 5G has been limited, early 5G users reported significant uplift in several aspects of mobile network experience with the newer technology.
The pace of 5G adoption should be about to change because the Malaysian government and regulator — Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) — have taken various measures to make investing in DNB more attractive for the operators. As a result of which, all six Malaysian operators settled on the proposals in August 2022 that offer a combined 70 percent stake in DNB, subject to the terms. However, Malaysia's national 5G network scheme now face new challenges as two operators — Maxis and U Mobile —backed out of buying a stake in DNB in September 2022.
While 5G is Malaysia's key area of focus, 4G still plays a vital role because that's the network to which users spend most time connected. Also, strong 4G networks will pave the road for a smoother transition to next-generation 5G networks because of the ongoing importance of 4G in non-standalone access (NSA) 5G network.
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 June 1, 2022, and August 29, 2022, to see how they stack up on different aspects of mobile experience. 5G measurements contribute to the overall experience scores. In addition to the national analysis, we've examined the mobile network experience across Malaysia's major provinces.
In our latest look at the mobile network experience in Malaysia, we saw mixed fortunes, with each of the six operators winning at least one award category outright. Digi and Maxis take home the largest share of awards. While Digi is the outright winner of the Download Speed Experience and Excellent Consistent Quality awards, Maxis wins Games Experience outright and is a joint winner in a further two categories — with Digi in Video Experience and with U Mobile in Voice App Experience. U Mobile is next on the list as it wins the Upload Speed Experience award. Meanwhile, Celcom reigns supreme on 4G Coverage Experience, Yes is top for Availability and Unifi leads in Core Consistent Quality. Overall, these results highlight the importance of measuring multiple factors that contribute to a good mobile network experience rather than just focusing on speed.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Our users on Digi and Maxis enjoyed the best quality of experience when streaming videos over mobile internet in Malaysia. As a result, Digi and Maxis are joint winners of the Video Experience award with scores of 43.2-43.3 points that place them in the Fair (40-55) category. Unifi and U Mobile also earned Fair ratings with 41.4 and 42.6 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
Our Maxis users had the best experience in Malaysia when playing multiplayer mobile games over cellular connections. As a result, Maxis wins the Games Experience award with a score of 67.3 points on a 100 point scale, giving it a lead of 2.5 points over second-placed U Mobile. With this score, Maxis achieves a Fair (65-75) rating for overall Games Experience, while all five of its competitors placed lower.
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
Maxis and U Mobile are joint winners of the Voice App Experience award with statistically tied scores of 76.9-77.1 points. Meaning, our users on Maxis and U Mobile's networks had the best available experience while using over-the-top (OTT) voice app services such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger. However, we saw a close competition for this award category with just two points separating all six operators’ scores. And with these scores, all six operators placed in the Acceptable (74-80) category for Voice App Experience.
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 outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award, as our users on its network reported the highest average download speeds in Malaysia of 20.5 Mbps. Maxis is second-placed with a slightly lower Download Speed Experience score of 19.2 Mbps. However, the gaps between Digi and other operators were much larger. The Download Speed Experience of Digi users was 65.1%-68.8% faster than Unifi and Yes, 83.6% faster than Celcom and 137.7% faster than last-placed U Mobile.
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
U Mobile wins a close run race against Maxis for the Upload Speed Experience award. Our users on U Mobile reported the fastest upload speeds of 7.1 Mbps on average, closely followed by those on Maxis and Digi with scores of 7 Mbps and 6.7 Mbps, respectively. Meanwhile, Unifi and Yes were further away, with users on their networks reporting Upload Speed Experience scores of 2.8 Mbps and 2.4 Mbps, respectively.
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
Looking at regional Video Experience, the national winners — Maxis and Digi — placed top in 10 and 12 regions respectively. This includes Digi's outright win in Negeri Sembilan and Pahang as well as Maxis' sole outright win in the national capital region of Kuala Lumpur. It is noteworthy that U Mobile wins outright in Kelantan and also placed joint top in eight regions.
Maxis dominates the regional results for Games Experience by placing top across 14 regions. The operator wins outright in seven regions and collects joint wins in a further eight. Perlis was the only region where Maxis didn't make it to the winning position. Our users in Perlis saw the best available Games Experience on Celcom, Digi and U Mobile’s networks
Turning to the speed categories, Digi wins the vast majority of the regional awards for Download Speed Experience, while U Mobile dominates the regional Upload Speed Experience. Our users on Digi's network enjoyed the top download speeds in 12 out of 15 regions, with outright wins in nine regions. However, in Kuala Lumpur, our Yes users saw the fastest download speeds. Yes is the outright winner of Download Speed Experience in Kuala Lumpur with speeds averaging 33 Mbps —172.7% faster than Yes’ national average. This could likely be due to 5G among other factors, as Kuala Lumpur is one of the selected locations where Yes has launched 5G. Meanwhile, Maxis wins in Pulau Pinang.
Likewise, in Upload Speed Experience, the national winner U Mobile swept away most of the regional awards. The operator is the outright winner in eight regions and joint winner in three regions. Maxis was the only other operator to win the regional Upload Speed Experience award outright, with users reporting the fastest overall upload speeds in Kuala Lumpur, Pulau Pinang and Selangor.
Regional Analysis Summary: Malaysia, Mobile Network Experience Report, September 2022
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Coverage
Celcom
Digi
Maxis
U Mobile
Unifi
Yes
National Analysis
Yes is the outright winner of the Availability award in Malaysia with a score of 98.8%, just 0.8 percentage points ahead of its nearest rival U Mobile. Meanwhile, Unifi placed last with 95%. These scores mean Malaysian smartphone users, on average, spent at least 95% of their time connected to mobile broadband services with a 3G or better signal.
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 is the operator to beat when it comes to 4G Coverage Experience in Malaysia. Celcom is the outright winner of the 4G Coverage Experience award with a spectacular score of 9.2 points on a 10 point scale — ahead of Digi and Maxis' identical scores of 8.6 — which means our Celcom users connected to 4G in most locations — 92 out of 100 locations — visited by our Malaysian users on average.
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
In our regional analysis of Availability, national winner Yes is top in 13 regions with our users on its network spending 97.7%-99.6% of the time connected to 3G or better signal mobile broadband services.
Regional Analysis Summary: Malaysia, Mobile Network Experience Report, September 2022
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J-R
- Johor
- Kedah
- Kelantan
- Kuala Lumpur
- Melaka
- Negeri Sembilan
- Pahang
- Perak
- Perlis
- Pulau Pinang
- Putrajaya
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- Sabah
- Sarawak
- Selangor
- Terengganu
in Johor
in Kedah
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in Negeri Sembilan
in Pahang
in Perak
in Perlis
in Pulau Pinang
in Putrajaya
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in Selangor
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Consistency
National Analysis
Digi is the winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award, as 64.8% of Digi users' tests met the minimum recommended performance thresholds sufficient to support demanding common applications (such as HD video, group video conference calls, and gaming). Unifi is second placed with 62.7%, followed by Maxis with 53.4%, while the scores of the remaining operators were in the 37.5%-40.2% range.
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
Unifi is the outright winner of the Core Consistent Quality award, with a score of 86.7%. Digi and Celcom followed behind with 83.8% and 80.8%, respectively, while the other operators scored below 80% in the 57%-73.4% range. Core Consistent Quality is the percentage of users' tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications, including standard definition (SD) video, voice calls and web browsing.
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