Opensignal: Malaysia ranks #2 in the world for 5G download speeds

Opensignal, the mobile network analytics firm, has released its latest global 5G analysis, and there seems to be a huge surprise for Malaysia, as we’ve jumped pretty significantly in the speed charts. As its report shows, Malaysia now ranks second in the world for 5G download speeds and second in the world for 5G peak download speeds. In fact, Malaysia even tops the global chart when it comes to global 5G upload speeds.

At the top of the charts though, South Korea maintains its number one ranking in global 5G speeds, with a 432.7Mbps download speed. Malaysia though sits just behind with a download speed of 382.2Mbps. These represent average real world 5G speeds users will see, but peak download speeds are of course much faster. When looking at peak 5G download speeds, Taiwan sits on top with 922.5Mbps, but again Malaysia is right behind with a peak 5G download speed of 880.3Mbps.

Malaysia also jumps ahead of everyone when it comes to 5G upload speeds, with a top 5G upload speed of 50.3Mbps. It’s a huge shift up the 5G speed charts for Malaysia compared to just a few months ago; in Opensignal’s March 2022 global 5G report, Malaysia didn’t even appear on any of these charts.

That being said, it should be pointed out that despite the high rankings, Opensignal’s Ian Fogg highlights that Malaysia remains an anomaly in these 5G speed rankings. This is because 5G in Malaysia still only sees a very limited uptake, as only two operators—Unifi Mobile and Yes—have signed up with DNB to deploy 5G domestically. And even then, only Yes currently has 5G mobile data plans on offer. It also doesn’t help that Apple iPhones are so far not supported by the current 5G service.

Fogg adds that the real test for Malaysia will happen in the coming months, if and when more telcos begin to market their own 5G plans. He expects our 5G experience to drop dramatically once more users and more telcos hop onto 5G. Right now, Malaysia’s 5G coverage via DNB is quite limited, with spotty coverage in parts of Kuala Lumpur, Cyberjaya and Putrajaya. There are plans though to expand coverage to Penang and Johor, with DNB hoping for 5G coverage across 80% of the country by 2024.

Malaysia’s current weaknesses with its 5G deployment is most obvious when looking at the experience rankings in Opensignal’s report. In the three charts for the global 5G experience ranking user experience in video streaming, gaming and voice apps, Malaysia only appears in the charts for gaming. Furthermore, we’re only at the bottom of said chart, ranked 15 in the world for the 5G gaming experience, and aren’t present at all for video and voice.

“Notably, [games] is the only experiential category where Malaysia features in the table highlighting the importance of end-to-end experience for video streaming, multiplayer mobile gaming and voice communications — Malaysia’s 5G wholesale network only covers the access network, essentially the cell towers, and Malaysia’s operators continue to use their existing core networks and peering to enable the complete experience for users,” – Ian Fogg, Opensignal Analysis team lead

Separately, a previous report from Ookla earlier this month did also point out that other ASEAN countries have left Malaysia far behind when it comes to 5G availability. Thailand right now is one of the leaders in the region with a 24.6% 5G availability, followed by the Philippines at 18.1% and Singapore at 8.9%. For context, 5G availability here means the measure of how often a device is connected to a 5G network. Malaysia wasn’t mentioned at all when it comes to 5G availability in neither the Ookla report nor the Opensignal report, due to the lack of mass 5G adoption here.

We’re entering the final week of the 30 June deadline that the government had set for local telcos to take up DNB’s access and equity offer, and yet we’re seemingly no where closer than where we were a few months ago. The big four telcos have so far been reluctant to sign up with DNB due to pricing and transparency concerns.

Malaysia’s mass 5G rollout is still up in the air, and continues to make headlines for all the bad reasons as just yesterday UMNO Youth leaders made a report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), urging them to probe DNB for fear that it’ll be another 1MDB.

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