In the latest Malaysian market insight released by Opensignal, Celcom and Maxis apparently have obtained higher user gain rate than other telcos during the first round of the Movement Control Order (MCO) implementation last year. The comparison is made using the data that the network analytical company has observed from 1 January 2019 up till 31 December 2020.
While the exact figures were not revealed in the report, Opensignal has released a chart that represented the user gain rate for five major telcos in Malaysia as well as Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) and regional operators during the said period:
As you can see from the chart, Celcom and Maxis were on the upwards trend since the start of MCO 1 in March 2020 which went on until the end of the year. This also applies to MVNOs although the gain rate was not as obvious as the two telcos.
On another hand, unifi also saw some gain at the start of MCO 1 in March but users began slipping away sometime before June 2020. Speaking about users slipping away, the chart showed that U Mobile had lost more than 2% of its customers from March to December 2020 while Digi is experiencing steady decline way before the pandemic started but still not as bad as U Mobile.
By comparing users’ state of connectivity one month before they switched to another operator against the general experience of their original telco, Opensignal concludes that unsatisfactory network experience is likely the main reason behind consumer behaviour during MCO 1. This doesn’t come as a surprise and the same goes for the company’s recommendation to telcos out there: improve your service or you will continue to lose customers.
(Source: Opensignal.)
