DiGi appears to have the highest drop call rate in the Kuala Lumpur area and Klang Valley highways according to a drive test report released by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission(MCMC).
MCMC tested all the key Telcos in the first half of 2012 including Maxis, Celcom and DiGi. It is unknown why U Mobile was excluded from the test despite now it has a nationwide 2G and 3G roaming coverage. The MCMC drive test was conducted nationwide.
According to the MCMC drive test report, the assessment was conducted with following criteria:
- Tests were carried out in moving vehicles (Drive Test).
- Call duration lasts for 60 seconds, with 10 seconds interval between calls.
- Phones were set on roam-free environment between 2G and 3G networks that simulates the experience of user in making voice call using phone supporting both technologies.
- The results of the study only reflect the behavior of the networks on the locations and time of the measurements.
In the drive test, the following two parameters were measured:
- Dropped Call Rate (DCR)- Dropped call means a call where a connection succeed, that is, the network is accessed, call set up is successful and traffic channel has been assigned, but is disconnected due to abnormal call release. Dropped Call Rate is calculated based on the percentage of number of dropped call over total number of call attempt.
- Blocked Call Rate (BCR)- Blocked call means a call is not connected after call attempt due to unavailability of free traffic channel. Blocked Call Rate is calculated based on the percentage of number of blocked call over total number of call attempt.
In the “Kuala Lumpur area”, the drive test report from MCMC revealed that DiGi has the highest Dropped Call rate at 2.30% followed by Celcom at 1.70% and Maxis has the lowest at 1.16%.
As for Dropped Call rates in the Klang Valley Highways, DiGi is again the worst performer with the highest drop call rate of 3.49% followed by Celcom at 1.70% and Maxis 0.35%.
For the Blocked Call rate in the “Kuala Lumpur area”, Celcom has the lowest point at 3.98% followed by DiGi(1.15%) and Maxis(0.58%). Maxis also scored the lowest Blocked Call rate at 2.08% along the Klang Valley Highways followed by Celcom(3.40%) and DiGi(6.40%).
The drive test report for Klang Valley can be downloaded here[PDF].
Below are the results for the rest of the states in Malaysia.
Negeri Sembilan- Seremban
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(0%), Celcom(0%), DiGi(0%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(0%), Celcom(0%), DiGi(0%)
Kelantan- Kota Bharu
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(1.49%), Celcom(0.50%), DiGi(0.50%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(0%), Celcom(0.50%), DiGi(0.50%)
Pahang- Kuantan
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(2.52%), Celcom(1.08%), DiGi(0.74%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(0.72%), Celcom(0.72%), DiGi(0%)
Terengganu- Kuala Terengganu
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(0.95%), Celcom(0.51%), DiGi(1.43%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(1.425), Celcom(1.53%), DiGi(0%)
Report on Eastern Highway-[PDF]
Kedah- Alor Star
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(0.53%), Celcom(0.53%), DiGi(1.05%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(0.53%), Celcom(1.05%), DiGi(0.53%)
Perak- Ipoh
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(0.40%), Celcom(0%), DiGi(1.20%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(5.62%), Celcom(0.80%), DiGi(2.01%)
Perlis- Kangar
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(0%), Celcom(0.86%), DiGi(0.86%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(3.45%), Celcom(0%), DiGi(05)
Penang- Georgetown & Penang Bridge
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(0.41%), Celcom(1.64%), DiGi(0.41%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(2.46%), Celcom(0.41%), DiGi(0.82%)
Northern Plus Highway-[PDF]
Johor- Johor Bahru
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(0%), Celcom(0%), DiGi(1.47%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(0%), Celcom(1.47%), DiGi(0%)
More data can be found here-[PDF]
Sabah
Kota Kinabalu
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(2.25%), Celcom(4.79%), DiGi(1.13%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(0.85%), Celcom(2.25%), DiGi(1.41%)
Sandakan
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(3.45%%), Celcom(1.72%%), DiGi(0%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(0.86%), Celcom(0.86%), DiGi(1.72%)
Tawau
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(1.17%), Celcom(2.34%), DiGi(1.75%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(4.68%), Celcom(2.92%), DiGi(1.75%)
Sarawak- Kuching
Dropped Call Rate- Maxis(1.29%), Celcom(2.74%), DiGi(0.64%)
Blocked Call Rate- Maxis(3.54%), Celcom(5.15%), DiGi(14.31%)
More test areas- [PDF]
Southern Plus Highway-[PDF]
