The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) revealed in Parliament today that two Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) was recently issued two compounds worth RM60,000 while another compound is currently being processed with a value of RM20,000.
The MNOs that received the compounds are Celcom and unifi Mobile (Telekom Malaysia). The compounds involved Celcom for failing to meet mobile service standards in Sabah and unifi Mobile in Melaka and Pahang.
However no further details of the compounds were revealed in the written statement by the Deputy Minister of KKMM, whether the compounds was related to poor coverage or network speeds and the breakdown of each compound value by service provider. He was responding to a question on the steps taken by the Ministry to improve 4G services following the shut down of 3G services late last year.
Celcom was recently awarded the Best Mobile Coverage in Malaysia by Ookla, for the period between Q3-Q4 2021, winning score of 93.2% for 4G coverage and 99.7 % for general coverage nationwide, based on the locations tested.
unifi Mobile is a part of Telekom Malaysia (TM). The Telco does not have any 3G network and have relied on the Celcom 3G network for domestic roaming services. Following the 3G network shut down, unifi Mobile customers have to rely on 4G networks for high speed Internet services. Telekom Malaysia does not disclose the coverage statistic for unifi Mobile however the Q3 2021 report from Ookla reveals that unifi has the slowest network in Malaysia when it comes to mobile and fixed broadband services.
According to the Deputy Minister of KKMM, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) opened 20 investigation papers on mobile service providers as part of a service quality measurement audit activities conducted nationwide in 2021.
As of 25 January 2022, a total of 1,466 existing 3G transmitter stations have been upgraded to 4G services by major service providers namely Celcom, Digi, Maxis and U Mobile.
A total of 2,175 new towers will be built to expand 4G coverage, especially in rural and remote areas. As of the fourth quarter of 2021, a total of 148 towers have been completed. In addition, a total of 5,394 existing transmitting stations have been and will be upgraded to 4G to improve the quality of coverage to consumers. Of that number, a total of 3,500 transmitting stations have been upgraded.
The Deputy Ministry added that MCMC has planned to increase its network measurement audit activities starting this year for all service providers throughout Malaysia, including rural areas, in 3,000 locations where it received complaints related to coverage in 2021.
[PDF]– KKMM
