Source: Opensignal
KUCHING: Although it is common for users to switch mobile operators in Malaysia, Opensignal’s data showed that churn levels increased during the lockdown or Movement Control Order (MCO) period last year when all operators started offering free and/or cheaper data packages.
In a press statement, Opensignal said that Malaysians’ transition between mobile operators gained momentum after the MCO was implemented in the country and that Celcom and Maxis have been the biggest gainers, followed by Unifi.
Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and others (regional operators) have also seen net subscriber gains due to churn.
By contrast, it said, its data showed that DiGi and U Mobile have lost a significant number of users.
“Although it’s common for users to switch mobile operators in Malaysia (and most of Southeast Asia), our data shows that churn levels increased during the lockdown when all operators started offering free and/or cheaper data packages.
“Our data also suggests that with low-cost data offerings being common across the board, the quality of experience is becoming the differentiating factor and is gaining importance as a driver for churn in the Malaysian mobile market,” it said.
It noted that Malaysia has a highly competitive wireless internet landscape composed of five national operators and a number of other operators – including MVNOs and regional operators – offering various plans and benefits that provide Malaysian users with a variety of connectivity options.
“Our data shows that for most of 2019, the three largest operators – Celcom, Maxis and DiGi – had been losing smartphone users.
“In contrast, smaller players like unifi, U Mobile, and other regional operators were gaining users.
“By the end of 2019, of the big three, Maxis and DiGi had lost a relatively higher proportion of users while Celcom’s net flow of Leavers started to somewhat stabilise after improving in the second part of the year.
“Meanwhile, U Mobile started losing users towards the end of the year, and unifi continued to add users. We continued to see this pattern until the beginning of 2020,” it said.
After the MCO was implemented, it pointed out that Malaysian users became very dependent on mobile networks for their day-to-day activities.
“Operators started offering 1GB of free data daily for high-speed internet and cheaper plans to extend support to their customers.
“Simultaneously, Celcom and Maxis started gaining users steadily while U Mobile and DiGi continued losing users.
“This trend became more pronounced when operators decided to offer a new daily plan for productivity usage,” it added.
“We found that ‘leavers’, on average, had a worse mobile experience before they switched than the typical experience observed by our users on their original network provider.
“Leavers across all national mobile network operators (MNOs), except Unifi, on average spent between 69.8 per cent and 145.5 per cent more time without a mobile signal compared to the average scores on their networks.
“Leavers on most MNOs also spent less time connected to either a 3G or 4G mobile connection – 3G/4G Availability – and experienced lower 4G Availability. Our data, therefore, suggests that users experiencing mobile network pain points are more likely to change their mobile service provider,” it said.
All in, Opensignal said: “As Malaysia remains under the MCO and users continue to depend heavily on mobile networks, the quality of experience will continue to play a vital role when users think about changing their mobile network operator.
“Opensignal’s analysis of Malaysia’s smartphone users shows that in the new normal where price differentiation is ceasing to exist, mobile network experience is extremely important when trying to understand churn.”