Malaysia took a unique approach to 5G deployment by implementing a single wholesale network (SWN) model through the establishment of Malaysia’s Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) in 2021. Following this, all major service providers in Malaysia signed access agreements with DNB. We have successfully launched 5G service. This article investigates the current state of 5G in Malaysia and assesses its impact on user experience.
Important points
- Malaysia continues to lead Southeast Asia about 5G network performance. Median 5G download speed in Malaysia is 451.79 Mbps is higher than Singapore’s 329.73 Mbps, Thailand’s 129.40 Mbps and the Philippines’ 125.14 Mbps. According to Ookla Q4 2023 Speed Test Intelligence® report.
- Malaysia’s 5G network receives highest score consistency score™ worldwide in Q4 2023 97.3%. The results show that 97.3% of Speedtest Intelligence samples on Malaysia’s 5G network exceed the consistency thresholds currently set at a minimum download speed of 25 Mbps and a minimum upload speed of 3 Mbps. In comparison, other top countries, North Macedonia and the United Arab Emirates reported low consistency scores of 94.1% and 93.9%, respectively.
- Malaysian 5G users who experience “slow” download speeds enjoy speeds that are at least five times faster than the median 4G download speed. Looking at the bottom 10% of 5G download speed results for Q4 2023, Speedtest Intelligence data shows that 5G speeds were measured at the 10th percentile. 203.49 Mbps is a significant improvement compared to the median 4G download speed (37.23 Mbps). To elaborate further, his median 5G download speed in Malaysia was 451.79 Mbps.
- 5G availability In Malaysia, it increased from 21.0% in Q1 2023 to 27.0% in Q4 2023. Despite the increase, Malaysia still lags behind neighboring countries such as Singapore and Thailand, which have 5G availability of 53.8% and 45.5% respectively. Malaysia is only slightly higher than the Philippines at 26.2%.
Malaysia’s 5G continues to outperform its Southeast Asian neighbors
Since its launch over two years ago, Malaysia’s 5G network has consistently shown good performance, making it one of the best-performing 5G networks in the world. According to Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence® Q4 2023 data, Malaysia continues to outperform other Southeast Asian countries in the performance of its 5G network, despite expected performance degradation due to user penetration and congestion. . According to the data, Malaysia’s median 5G download speed is 451.79 Mbps, faster than Singapore’s 329.73 Mbps, Thailand’s 129.40 Mbps and the Philippines’ 125.14 Mbps. Malaysia also reported that the median 5G upload speed was 51.84 Mbps, the fastest among its Southeast Asian neighbors. In comparison, Singapore had 27.57 Mbps, Thailand 23.63 Mbps, and the Philippines 12.00 Mbps.
Malaysia in May 2023. the government announced The decision is to move from a single wholesale network to a dual network model for the country’s 5G rollout. The second He 5G network aims to establish 5G redundancy while paving the way for more robust and reliable He 5G services in the country. The transition to a dual network model is scheduled to start in January 2024 after DNB achieves his 80% 5G coverage. By the end of December 2023, DNB reported 5G coverage in densely populated areas nationwide exceeded 80.2%. However, as of March 2024, there has been no news from the Malaysian government regarding the construction of a second 5G network.
Bottom 10% of 5G speeds are at least 5x faster than median 4G download speeds
While current 4G networks meet the needs of most users for daily tasks such as browsing, streaming, and online communication, they still lack the significant performance gains that 5G offers, which can further improve the user experience. plug. Median 5G speeds are a useful measure of the midpoint of user experience on 5G networks, but they don’t provide a complete picture of the actual improvement compared to 4G. To demonstrate the improvements brought about by his 5G network in Malaysia, we compared his 5G download speed in the bottom 10th percentile of 5G results to the median 4G LTE download speed.
Speedtest Intelligence data for Q4 2023 reveals significant differences in performance between Malaysia’s 4G and 5G networks. Even looking at the bottom 10% of download speeds experienced by 5G users (203.49 Mbps and below), this was at least 5 times faster than his 4G users’ median download speed of 37.23 Mbps. Comparing the median download speeds of 5G and 4G, his median 5G download speed in Malaysia was 451.79 Mbps, 12 times faster than 4G.
Malaysia leads the world in 5G consistency
While high speeds are critical, providing consistent quality of service and a great customer experience are also important indicators of network quality. Ookla consistency score™ is a metric used to identify networks that provide consistent quality of service. This reflects the percentage of a provider’s data samples that meet the minimum download and upload speed thresholds, depending on the network type. Mobile 5G integrity score thresholds are currently set at a minimum download speed of 25 Mbps (the recommended minimum speed for 4K streaming) and a minimum upload speed of 3 Mbps.
According to Ookla’s Q4 2023 report, Malaysia’s 5G network achieved the world’s highest 5G integrity score (97.3%) during the period. Other top countries on the list are North Macedonia with his score of 94.1% and the United Arab Emirates with his score of 93.9%.
5G will positively impact Malaysia’s Net Promoter Score
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a tool that measures customer loyalty and satisfaction. NPS is a key performance metric for customer experience that categorizes users into detractors (those with a score of 0-6), passive users (scores of 7-8), and promoters (scores of 9-10). represents the percentage of people. minus the percentage of detractors. Displayed in the range -100 to 100.
among us recent articles When discussing whether 5G networks are meeting consumer expectations, we found that 5G users, on average, rate network operators with universally higher NPS scores than 4G LTE users. With his world-class 5G download performance, it’s no surprise that Malaysia’s current 5G network has a largely positive image. His Speedtest Intelligence data from Ookla showed clear differences in: NPS for users on 4G LTE networks compared to users on 5G in Q4 2023. 5G’s NPS score was 26.39, while 4G’s NPS score was -34.00. This corresponds to an increase of 60.39 basis points.
5G drives overall mobile performance improvements in every state
After the launch of 5G networks in Malaysia, operators have been grappling with several issues faced by 4G networks, such as network congestion and spectrum constraints.our recent report highlights how Malaysia’s 5G network has helped improve the country’s median mobile download speeds, helping it rank higher in Speedest’s global mobile rankings.
All states in Malaysia are experiencing Increased by at least 1.45x Overall mobile speed across all technologies. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, reported a median download speed of 37.60 Mbps. Across all technologies. The city’s median download speed increased by a factor of 1.6. 63.62 Mbps by Q4 2023. Malaysian government city, The Federal Territory of Putrajaya was found to have the fastest median mobile download speed in the country at 190.86 Mbps. This is more than a 2.5x increase compared to 61.24 Mbps in Q4 2022.
5G availability is steadily increasing, but adoption still needs to catch up with other markets
Speedtest Intelligence What 5G Availability Means Percentage of known carrier locations where devices can access 5G services. In 2023, 5G availability in Malaysia will gradually increase quarterly, starting from 20.9% in the first quarter and rising to 26.9% in the fourth quarter. This 6 percentage point increase can be attributed to DNB’s aggressive expansion of its 5G coverage. Additionally, the increase was driven by increased availability of smartphones and the introduction of new 5G plans by carriers.
Although the availability of 5G in Malaysia is increasing, the country still lags behind neighboring countries with commercial 5G networks. As of Q4 2023, Malaysia’s 5G availability was 27.0%, almost half of Singapore (53.7%) and 20 points lower than Thailand (45.5%). Malaysia’s 5G availability is only slightly higher than the Philippines, an archipelago country with 5G availability of 26.2%.
In our previous report on 5G in Malaysia, we highlighted opportunities to accelerate 5G adoption by focusing on users with 5G-enabled devices who have not yet accessed 5G networks. DNB and carriers, while recognizing the excellent performance of 5G networks, need to further improve the deployment of 5G in the country. We will continue to monitor the development of 5G in Malaysia and assess its impact as the country moves from a single wholesale network to a dual network configuration. For more information, subscribe to Ookla Research™ and be the first to read our analysis.
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