The Covid-19 pandemic has been tough on many industries and areas, especially causing medical, social and economic disruptions. Another effect of the pandemic and subsequent Movement Control Order, Opensignal reports that 4G download speeds have been resilient thus far globally, but Malaysia seems to be one of the worst affected.

In their report, they note that the changes are relatively ‘small’ in users’ 4G download speeds in some countries, and none at all in other countries.

Based on the chart provided by Opensignal above, we can see exactly when the speeds starting tanking over time. During the first week of the Movement Control Order (MCO) 16 March – 22 March, they noticed a dip from and average of 13.4Mbps to 10.1Mbps. A minor dip, but noticeable one. Then starting 23 March – 29 March, they display our 4G download speeds dipping to 8.8Mbps, making for more than 30 percent dip in speeds.

Opensignal did note this decrease, and also attributed the cause to some mobile operators in Malaysia offering 1GB of data free, among other perks. And considering that we’ve noticed a drop in speeds even on broadband connections, it’s highly likely that the network is strained with continued use.

Not surprising, but then again, our network speeds were ranging from around 13-14Mbps anyway, so understandably, the drop isn’t huge.

But honestly, it’s noticeable enough from my standpoint. Hopefully, things get back to normal as the MCO continues, with a deadline to end on April 14. If we do get an extension, we should probably hope for the best that our telcos and broadband providers can keep up.