Last month, Maxis announced that it's helping Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) implement a 5G network in KLIA. Local telco companies are working hard on developing 5G in Malaysia, which means that 4G coverage and speed has to keep up to be a reliable backup. It also means that they're starting to consider shutting down older networks.
According to Malaysian Wireless, Maxis posted an announcement on Facebook that it would be shutting down the 3G network in Terengganu. Maxis would then proceed to do the same for 3G networks on the East coast like Kelantan and Pahang, before moving to the rest of Malaysia. The entire process is expected to be complete by mid-December 2021. Interestingly, the post has since been taken down by Maxis, so we're not sure if there are changes in the plan or if the post was unintentionally leaked in advance.
This post has been taken down, so did plans change?
The writing was on the world since the government announced the Jalinan Digital Negara (JENDELA) last year, which aims to provide more centralised 4G networks in populated regions of the country. This would have then meant that the country was ready to implement 5G and phase out 3G. As such, it's not surprising to see that Maxis has begun the process of doing so.
Mind you, the lack of 3G networks isn't a problem for most Malaysians. However, there are still people who use old phones with only 3G connectivity or live in areas with poor 4G network coverage. Should Maxis start dismantling 3G networks so soon? Share your thoughts in the comments, and stay tuned to TechNave for more news like this.
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