The revised Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service (MSQoS) will have no impact on existing telecommunications company plans, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said. The new standard is set to come into effect on 1 April 2024, aimed at enhancing the overall quality of wireless broadband services, with telcos only mandated to deliver a minimum download throughput Quality of Service (QoS) of 7.7Mbps.
“Consumer plans below 7.7Mbps will not change after April 1,” the commission said via a statement issued to The Star. “This is because [it is] a mandatory standard on QoS (quality of service), and does not impact product offerings.”
The MCMC explained that the MSQoS functions as a collection of critical performance benchmarks for service providers, designed to oversee, enforce, and enhance the country’s wireless broadband data delivery infrastructure. Service providers are required to submit network performance reports based on random on-field measurements to simulate user experience, as well as monitor network utilisation and network availability to ensure that any issues on the network that might affect consumers’ experience are proactively monitored and rectified.
In addition, the commission also performs its own on-field measurements at random locations, complaint locations, and areas of public interest alongside the reports received from service providers. Despite not affecting existing mobile plans, the MCMC assured that users can expect more consistent and reliable Internet access with the updated standards.
On the possibility of regulating mobile data plans to ensure a mandatory minimum speed, it said it is important to offer various tiers of service to cater to diverse consumer needs. The minimum speed provided, the commission added, is governed by the service providers’ terms of network performance.
As previously reported, the threshold is set to increase to 10Mbps in January 2025 onwards, with a latency of 100ms or less for 4G and no more than 40ms for 5G. As for the minimum 4G upload speed, the new MSQoS will require an average of 1Mbps and 1.3Mbps respectively this year.
The MCMC is also setting a minimum standard for 5G, requiring each carrier to have a download throughput that averages at least 100Mbps. On the minimum upload speed, the MSQoS requires an average of 5Mbps for standalone 5G and 3Mbps for non-standalone 5G.
(Source: The Star)
