[ UPDATE 29/03/2024 18:00 ] MCMC: Telcos can still offer plans with download speed cap below 7.7Mbps after 1st April.
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Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching has told Parliament today that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will be introducing a new Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service (MSQoS) which will raise the minimum required average download speed offered by telcos. She revealed that service providers must ensure a minimum download speed of at least 7.7Mbps when the new MSQoS comes into effect on 1st April 2024. The minimum download speed will then be raised to 10Mbps starting next year.
Teo said the MSQoS for wireless broadband service has been updated as part of efforts to improve internet service quality in the country. Under the current MSQoS, telcos are only required to deliver at least 2.5Mbps at 90% of the time for mobile and 25Mbps at 90% of the time for fixed wireless access.
MCMC’s MSQoS proposes new standards for download, upload and latency
The MCMC issued a Public Inquiry on the proposed revision for MSQoS in October 2023. It suggested a staggered approach being adopted for the download parameter so that telcos have sufficient time to upgrade their network accordingly. As stated in the proposal, 4G and 5G networks are required to offer a download throughput of at least 7.7Mbps until 31st December 2024 on all test samples. This is followed by a minimum of 10Mbps from 1st January 2025 onwards.
However, for 5G only, the download throughput must achieve at least 100Mbps on all test samples but it is listed as monitoring instead of mandatory.
To encourage the deployment of 5G networks by service providers, the MCMC is also proposing additional download throughput requirements to be mandated for each state and federal territory. It proposes mandated download throughput for each state and federal territory for both 4G and 5G to have an average of at least 50Mbps measured for each quarter.
This requirement comes as a surprise as Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) is still the sole entity to deploy 5G in Malaysia. If the MCMC wants to encourage the deployment of 5G networks by the service providers, it would make more sense if there’s a second or competing 5G networks in Malaysia which has yet to materialised.
For uploads, the required mandatory speeds are still quite low. According to the MSQoS proposal, telcos are only required to deliver upload throughput of 1.0Mbps until 31st December 2024, and 1.3Mbps from 1st January 2025 onward for 4G and 5G technology. For 5G only, the required upload throughput shall not be less than 5Mbps, but it is only indicated for monitoring instead of being mandatory.
For latency or ping, the new required standard for 4G and 5G is to deliver not more than 100ms between the end user and a test server in the Klang Valley. For 5G only, the “monitored” requirement is a latency of not more than 40ms. As a comparison, the current MSQoS requires telcos to maintain a network latency of not more than 150ms at 90% of the time.
Minimum standards are still quite low but it will affect entry-level telco offering
While a jump from 2.5Mbps to 7.7Mbps as the bare minimum doesn’t sound a lot, the new proposed MSQoS will greatly affect most entry-level prepaid plans. With a higher minimum download throughput, this would mean that telcos will no longer be able to offer “unlimited” plans with speed caps of 3Mbps. With 7.7Mbps as the new mandatory download baseline, this means telcos will have to offer plans with a minimum speed of 10Mbps or higher.
It is worth pointing out that the proposed MSQoS for 5G only is listed as Monitoring rather than Mandatory. While Malaysia currently claims to have one of the fastest and most consistent 5G networks in the world, it is timely to set mandatory standards for 5G as more consumers are adopting the new faster network for their daily internet usage on both mobile and fixed wireless access.
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