There is a huge 4G connectivity gap between the urban and rural areas, according to Opensignal's report

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While Malaysia is heading towards a new 5G connectivity era, Opensignal has just released a new report that might be of your interest. As complaining is one of Malaysians' favourite things to do, we like to criticize the telcos whenever the line is down. If you're wondering why does that happen, here are some interesting facts on the 4G connectivity gap between the urban and rural areas in Malaysia

According to the report, it should not come to a surprise that the people who live in urban areas can connect to 4G networks 83.7% of the time. However, those who live in rural areas don't have that much access, only scoring 44% of their time on 4G. That's almost 40% points lesser than the urbanites and when there's no 4G, that means they have to resort to the pitiful 2G and 3G networks. 

While the difference between the time Malaysians spent connected on their mobile data networks (3G and 4G combined) is minimal, the 3G/4G availability is still jarring - 97%.6% from densely populated areas to 72.9% in the districts. Clearly, there is a huge digital gap problem but thankfully, the government is looking into it. From the report, the government has recently launched the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP), as well as the Universal Service Provision (USP "Time 3") by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). 

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Difference between the urban and rural areas in 4G connectivity

A total of RM21.6 billion that was announced from the Budget 2020 is allocated for the NFCP so that both urban and rural population will have equal access to the internet (and also 5G in the future). To avoid unnecessary infrastructure duplication, the USP "Time 3" plan will "optimally use the spectrum to address coverage in rural and remote areas, which could make the rollout and upgrading of networks in these areas more economical".

This analysis was done by cross-referencing the data against the census data from the government. To read the full story, you can visit the link here. Stay tuned for more interesting local tech news at TechNave.com.