Local telco Maxis has deployed 1000 of its own employees in a Peninsula Malaysia-wide test of its modernised data network. This “New Network Test Drive” covers major metropolitan areas in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Penang, and Johor, and is a way to get Maxis’ own people to experience the network while engaging with the public.
Tests involved include network speed tests, loading time for popular websites, and YouTube streaming. Maxis has also deployed an app on the employees phones that will conduct random connection testing throughout the day. The testing is intended to include 2G, 3G, and the LTE spectrum; as Maxis admits that a portion of its users still rely heavily on 2G for mobile phone use.
Maxis is currently extremely confident with the outcome of the exercise, as it had already engaged Nielsen to conduct an independent performance test of the network. The results of that survey indicate that the telco meets its targets in that users will receive a download speed of more than 1Mbps 80-percent of the time and YouTube does not buffer 96-percent of the time.
Sending Maxis employees out appears to be more than just double-checking results of the Nielsen test, but mainly to get their people out on the street and interacting with the public. The highly visible green t-shirts will not hurt branding or advertising either, especially with the greater KL area now covered in around 800 of them.
