Opensignal in its latest definitive analysis of 5G worldwide, the research firm said there were many new entrants in the top 15 markets across different measures of 5G mobile network experience compared with the last 5G benchmark in March.
Bulgaria enters the table in six categories, ranking especially highly on 5G Download Speed (316.8 Mbps), although South Korea tops the table. Puerto Rico is strong on 5G Availability, 5G Reach, and Video Experience uplift but misses out from a top 15 market spot elsewhere. And, despite new spectrum scarcity, Singapore has become a global top 15 market for 5G Download Speed.
Malaysia which is a surprise entrant despite having not officially rolled out 5G on a large scale, jumps in with high rankings in all three 5G speed categories as well as 5G Games Experience. However, Opensingal points out it’s important to understand the different state of 5G roll outs across markets, it is still very new in Malaysia with relatively few 5G users. To date, only two operators namely YTL and TM have signed up to deploy 5G on the controversial single wholesale network. The real-world test for Malaysia will happen in the coming months when multiple Malaysian operators market 5G and we see real mass-market uptake.
In the 5G download speed test, Malaysian ranked second behind South Korea but ahead of Sweden, as for peak download speed, we came in second again behind Taiwan at 880.3 Mbps, reigning the chart in the upload speeds, Malaysia stood first with 50.3 Mbps ahead of all the nations in the list.
This however is not reflective of the real state of 5G in the country where only a small fraction of mobile users are using the bandwidth and even that in only very selected areas. The major telcos that command 95% of mobile users in Malaysia have yet to agree to the 5G spectrum terms issued by the Ministry of Finance and its wholly-owned Single Wholesale Network operator DNB.
