A recent study by Ookla, maker of the favored Speedtest website, found that the Asia-Pacific region is on the right track to develop into the biggest 5G market on this planet. More surprisingly, Malaysia was found to be at the highest of the typical 5G download speed category within the Asia-Pacific market. According to Ookla Insights, by the primary half of 2023 the typical speed can be comparable to European benchmarks.
Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Teo Nie Ching cited the report, stating that Malaysia recorded a median 5G download speed of 512.10 megabits per second (Mbps), ahead of nations comparable to South Korea with a speed of 503.99 Mbps and Singapore with a speed 387.15 Mbps.
Ookla hailed Malaysia’s impressive achievement considering the country launched 5G technology 3.5 years after South Korea, but still managed to catch up when it comes to performance.
According to the report, there are clear differences within the telecommunications landscape within the two countries. The Malaysian government has chosen a single wholesale national network (SWN) approach as its 5G rollout plan. In 2021, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) can be established, whose task can be to develop and operate 5G network infrastructure and supply 5G services to mobile network operators at wholesale prices.
Meanwhile, several other countries within the Asia-Pacific region have also achieved average 5G download speeds exceeding 200Mbps, including Singapore, India, New Zealand, China and Australia.
These numbers are impressive considering the situation in Europe, where France was the one country to record average speeds above 200 Mbps. Meanwhile, countries comparable to Italy, Germany, the UK and Spain recorded average speeds below 150Mbps.
Additionally, the outcomes showed that Kuala Lumpur tied with Seoul for first place when it comes to 5G download speeds in the primary half of 2023. The average download speed in Seoul was 533.95 Mbps, while in Kuala Lumpur the typical speed was 523.44 Mbps /p. By the tip of 2022, DNB, the wholesale 5G provider in Malaysia, reported that 5G coverage has reached 90% in densely populated areas of Kuala Lumpur (COPA).
However, the study shows that there are still challenges to beat in Malaysia, especially when it comes to 5G coverage and adoption. In terms of 5G service availability in the primary half of 2023, Malaysia ranks second to last behind India, with an availability of only about 8.6%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong (42.3 percent), Australia (36.6 percent) and South Korea (35.3 percent) posted impressive reach results, taking the highest three spots within the Asia-Pacific region.
Nevertheless, Teo said the corporate is well underway, aiming to have 80% of the country’s population inside 5G coverage by the tip of this yr.
Overall, the advantages of 5G usually are not limited to faster speeds than 4G, but in addition play a job in providing connectivity in underserved areas. Meanwhile, 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) services are growing in popularity within the Asia-Pacific region, with Southeast Asia leading the best way.
In 2019, Globe Telecom within the Philippines became the primary country within the region to launch FWA services. Other operators within the region, comparable to Telkomsel in Indonesia and AIS in Thailand, have also began offering FWA services.
