This post is brought to you by Digi.
It may be quite some time since the pandemic first broke out, but despite that many of us Malaysians are still working from home, and understandably so too. In fact, according to Digi, there’s been a steady increase in mobile network data usage since the the start of 2020. As such, it remains as crucial as ever that our internet and mobile network speeds remain not only fast, but consistent too.
However, despite the increase in usage, Digi has found themselves continuing to provide a speedy and reliable internet connection. Don’t just take it from us though, as they’ve remained on top of the speed benchmark charts done by various independent third party network groups like Ookla and Tutela.
Digi crowned Malaysia’s fastest mobile network
Based on the Ookla Speedtest Intelligence report, Digi was the fastest mobile operator in Malaysia in Q2 of 2021, scoring 30.2 points. This also extends their time at the top, having also been the fastest mobile network provider in Malaysia since the second half of last year—you know, when internet suddenly became extra important.
That being said, speed isn’t everything (unless your name is Lightning McQueen). Another key point of the internet user experience is having your connection be consistent. Anyone who’s ever had to deal with sudden lag spikes while playing a video game will know that it’s one of the most annoying things to deal with. Luckily for Digi users, the yellow telco stands out here again as one of leaders in internet consistency, having ended 2020 as the most consistent network provider. Digi was the second most consistent operator in Tutela’s latest State of Mobile Experience report too.
There’s minimal packet loss when using Digi too
Speaking of Tutela, the independent crowdsourced data company also found Digi to have the best download throughput among all the major Malaysian mobile network providers. In case you didn’t know, download throughput refers to the genuine amount of data being transferred over your internet. The actual throughput amounts can be different than your internet speeds due to things like latency and packet loss, the latter of which is when data sent out over the internet never reaches its destination.
The accolades for Digi though don’t end there. Another independent third party found that Digi had some of the best download speeds among the major telcos in Malaysia in their latest report, with an average of 12.4Mbps. This means that Digi has held on to this title since the end of last year. They also awarded Digi for providing the best video experience in Klang Valley and six other states, as well as the best group video conferencing experience.
Digi now has a bigger task at hand
Digi may be ranked among the top right now, but that doesn’t mean that they’re resting on their laurels. They’ve been looking at building new sites as well as upgrading their existing ones to improve their mobile network coverage. Crucially, their main focus right now is to assist with the shutdown of the Digi 3G network and migrate their customers over to the speedier and more consistent 4G network.
According to the Jalinan Digital Negara (JENDELA) national digital infrastructure plan, Malaysia’s 4G mobile internet coverage will be increased from 91.8% to 96.9% in densely populated areas. This move will also see the end of the 3G network in Malaysia, with the infrastructure instead being used to help with the 4G network expansion as well as to set up 5G connectivity in the future. The latest JENDELA report shows that we’re right on track, with Digi having completed building of all new 4G sites that they had planned, while as a whole Malaysia has already migrated over 1.2 million people to 4G within the last three months.
As part of the JENDELA plan, Digi too will be shutting down their 3G network by the end of the year. To help migrate their 3G users over to 4G, Digi is currently running their 3G Sunset program to educate users on what will happen if they don’t make the switch to 4G in time, which include call interruptions and slow internet speeds. They’re encouraging customers to upgrade their devices to 4G-compatible ones too.
If you happen to be a Digi user who’s not sure on whether you’ve made the jump to 4G, Digi has made it super simple to check. If you’d like to find out whether you’re currently on a 4G-capable device, simply text SMS to 28282 to find out. Similarly, you can also text LTE to 20000 to check if your SIM is 4G-capable. You can also check out Digi’s website for more information.
