Not too long ago, Maxis published a statement calling for standardisation on 4G LTE claims, the operator felt the other two telco who also claim to have the widest and fastest network in the country will only confuse the subscribers. Causing distrust on mobile operators. Maxis, Chief Technical Officer Morten Bangsgaard has invited Celcom and Digi next week together to a forum to discuss the possibility on using a standard measuring template. Digi and Celcom say they don’t need to.

Here’s an excerpt of the statement:

“We’ve noticed that the three leading telcos in Malaysia have all claimed to have the ‘widest’, ‘fastest’ and ‘best’ 4G network. Although we’d like to say ‘great minds think alike’, it’s clear that all three of us can’t all be right. And if this continues, Malaysians won’t know who to trust. And that’s not good for any of us.

We believe it’s important that when any telco claims ‘No. 1 for 4G’, it is backed up with tangible, measurable and truthful results, which is why Maxis has decided to reveal our 4G definitions and performance stats. Coverage is important but so is quality. So when Maxis publishes our (widest) coverage, we use stringent requirements for signal strength.

Malaysians who want the best Internet experience should have a fair basis for choosing. That’s why we’ve been specific about our performance. We’re inviting the media and the public to test our Maxis 4G for themselves. And we’d like to encourage Celcom & DiGi to do the same as we”

During a network expansion media session at Digi’s headquarters, LiveatPC.com inquired Chief Network Office Kesavan and Chief Marketing Officer Christian Trane on Maxis’ call for a unified standardisation for 4G LTE coverage claims, the two gentleman feel there is no need for it, “Digi’s benchmark for 4G LTE is in comparison with regional operators and there is no need to comply to Maxis’ request. We will continue to offer the best 4G experience to our subscribers and they can judge the level of service for themselves” adds Kesavan. Digi is currently sitting in the drivers seat with 60% coverage offering speeds up to 5Mbps consistently at 80% of the time and is now rolling out LTE-A which can go up to 10Mbps.

We took the conversation to another telco listed on the invitation card, Celcom. At the launch of a new postpaid First Gold and First Blue free internet for weekends plan, Zalman Affendy Chief Marketing Officer, responded in his usual tongue in cheek when we posted the similar question ” this is Celcom territory, we are the greatest and the best network we don’t need anyone else to come and question our network strength” he also went on to add ” we started much earlier in our network deployment and now have more that 50% and expect to achieve our target by year end” On the matter of standardisation “our standards are high and comparable to any operators offering 4G, we use third party tool (Ookla) to gauge signal strengths and besides there is MCMC to regulate the operators, there is nothing much to response (Celcom) to our competitor.”

In another statement released just two days ago, Maxis goes to question the methodology used by the two operators to determine signal speeds.

The -98dBm measurement is equivalent to three or four bars on your phone when outdoors, giving a more reliable and consistent data experience, with great average outdoor 4G speeds of 20Mbps and significantly better indoor speeds of 10 Mbps.

With this signal strength, customers can expect zero buffering on YouTube 96% of the time, load top webpages in less than 8 seconds, 24/7 consistently fast speeds, and stronger signal and widest 4G coverage.

Based on this -98dBm threshold, Maxis’ High Performing 4G network reaches 62% of the Malaysian population.

There is also a common standard measurement for signal strength of -110dBm used by other operators, which is equivalent to two bars on your phone. As the mobile signal fluctuates heavily, this mean a less reliable, intermittent and poorer data experience outdoors, and an even poorer one indoors.

If we are to use this common standard measurement, Maxis’ 4G population coverage would have crossed 70%.

Consumers will be keen to have good coverage and fast speed for the service they pay, while operators can go about claiming their network is better than the other, it will be the consumer who will decide it they are satisfied with the time it takes for the youtube video to load. Ultimately, the public need to know their rights and demand for the best from their service provider or switch.