by HIDAYATH HISHAM

ALL five major wireless carriers displayed no dropped calls during a specialised Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) voice quality test drive on Jan 9.   

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the assessed networks — CelcomDigi Bhd, Maxis Bhd, TM Technology Services Sdn Bhd (TM Tech), U Mobile Sdn Bhd and YTL Communications Sdn Bhd — showed flawless end-to-end connectivity over a Parliament-to-Putrajaya route.

He added that such hands-on testing by regulators directly responds to long-standing public and parliamentary complaints over call consistency issues.

From Jan 1 to Dec 13 last year, MCMC audits revealed over 1,800 dropped calls nationwide, including outside coverage zones.

“After the drive test, the analysis report found no dropped calls recorded along the way from the Parliament building to the Communication Ministry in Putrajaya.

“On Dec 14, 2023, MCMC held a meeting with mobile network providers and Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) to find the best solution to address this problem,” he said to the press after the test drive.

Following the meeting, Fahmi said a workshop was organised, where several initiatives were identified and agreed upon.

“Apart from the 4G mobile network, DNB had also activated the call reestablishment (CRE) function for LTE700 coverage in the 5G network from Dec 21 until 29, 2023, for all 5G sites nationwide,” he added.

As a result, providers demonstrated dropped call reductions ranging from 10% to as much as 74% in latest assessments.

Fahmi emphasised that all 31 million Malaysian mobile plans subscribers deserve quality connectivity proportionate to fees paid for the services.

He assured that MCMC will continue monitoring call performance through the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24) to ensure the upward trend persists, as dropped calls have long frustrated mobile users.