Maxis customers in Sabah and Sarawak can expect an improved mobile experience as it claims to be the first telco to build a Regional Core network architecture in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. This would allow faster speeds and lower latency for video streaming and mobile gaming as the content can now be hosted closer to East Malaysian users.
Prior to this, users in Sabah and Sarawak would experience higher latency as it relies on a centralised core that’s based in Maxis’ data centres in the Klang Valley. Maxis explains that a core network is a central part of the overall mobile network that allows subscribers to get access to the services they need. It is responsible for critical functions such as service authentication and transferring internet services at high speeds to and from any part of the world.
With core servers in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, Maxis customers will see significant improvements to internet latency and overall speeds for users across East Malaysia. Based on their three-month assessment, latency in Sarawak has dropped from 48ms to 23ms, while download speeds have improved from 31Mbps to 43Mbps. Meanwhile, in Sabah, the latency has improved from 53ms to 25ms, while download speeds have increased from 25Mbps to 40Mbps.
To leverage its core network architecture, Maxis has secured agreements from several popular international content providers to install their servers in their East Malaysia data centres. This would provide customers in Sabah and Sarawak, direct content access which results in dramatic improvements in their websites’ upload and download response. The green telco says it has enhanced its operations setup and processes to manage the new regional core with dedicated field support teams in place as well as performance management and dashboards to monitor mobile traffic.
According to Maxis, mobile data consumption of its customers in Sabah and Sarawak is higher than the national average with 32GB per user and it’s growing consistently quarter-on-quarter.
Maxis Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Goh Seow Eng said “Our new regional core is an important investment to improve our customers’ Internet experience and will cater to the high data volume as well as anticipated volume growth. We are pleased to observe industry-leading network performance results from these new servers.”
At the moment, Maxis is the only telco that has yet to sign the 5G access agreement with Digital Nasional Berhad as it seeks approval from its shareholders. It expects to offer 5G to customers soon after it settles the agreement by January 2023.
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