Maxis throws down the 4G gauntlet

Defining 4G: Maxis is pushing for common technical standards for 4G.

Maxis Bhd has issued a challenge to telcos to back up their 4G claims.  In a statement, it said that the three leading telcos have all claimed to have the widest, fastest and best 4G network.

Hence, Maxis has decided to reveal its 4G definitions and performance statistics. Morten Bangsgaard, chief technical officer of Maxis, said, “When you're on a 4G network, you should expect buffer-free video streaming, quicker page loading, and consistently high speeds both indoors and outdoors."

Maxis has listed what exactly its customers can expect on its 4G services.
* Zero buffering 98% of the time on YouTube SD;
* Zero buffering 96% of the time on YouTube HD;
* Top web pages (Google and Facebook) load fully in less than 8 seconds;
* Average 4G speeds exceed 15Mbps at all hours, both indoors and out;
* Ultra-fast speeds of up to 225MBps in areas where Maxis has already rolled out LTE-Advanced technology, the first Malaysian telco to do so;
* 90% 4G population coverage with signal strength of -98dBm in Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Baru;
* 60% 4G population coverage with minimum signal strength of -98dBm across all state capitals;
* 55% 4G population coverage with minimum signal strength of -98dBm nationwide.

To discuss adopting common technical standards for 4G, Maxis also invited chief engineers from both Celcom and DiGi to join Baangsgard at an open forum on 4G on Nov 23.