MCMC to Expand Nationwide Collection of Real-World Internet Speed Tests

KUALA LUMPUR, November 13, 2026 — The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will expand a programme that collects real-world internet speed tests from members of the public, after a month-long trial in Selangor showed where service quality is falling short — including in places that existing test maps had not covered before.

MCMC’s chief officer of state affairs, Bukhari Yahya, said the Selangor Speed Test Month 2026 initiative, which ran from September 16 to October 15, had identified areas with unsatisfactory internet service based on tests carried out by users themselves. “The findings would be analysed and used as a basis for discussions with service providers to ensure immediate remedial action was taken in the affected locations,” he said on Friday, appearing as a guest on Radio Televisyen Malaysia’s Selamat Pagi Malaysia programme, according to Bernama reports published by the New Straits Times and Astro Awani.

The idea is simple, and it fills a gap that computer models can miss. Bukhari said tests by users helped MCMC spot differences between the coverage shown in desktop analyses and what people actually experience on the ground, which can be caused by geography and physical obstacles such as dense tree cover. An area may appear to have internet coverage, he said, yet the speed that users receive may still fall short of MCMC’s Mandatory Standard for Quality of Service, or MSQoS — the official minimum standard the commission sets for how well a service should perform.

That is why public participation through the MCMC Nexus application matters. The app, developed by the commission and launched in March, is meant to complement checks already carried out by MCMC officers at major economic and industrial sites. “For example, doctors who use the internet in hospitals, teachers conducting PdPR (home-based teaching and learning) or traders, as many people no longer carry cash to make purchases or conduct business but instead use QR codes for payments,” Bukhari said.

He also sought to reassure people who might worry about privacy. The test data collected is anonymous, he said, with MCMC recording only the results of the tests and not users’ personal information.

Bukhari said the initiative had the potential to be expanded nationwide, with later locations chosen for reasons such as challenging terrain or states with high-impact economic areas. The data would also help MCMC assess internet coverage at polling centres ahead of the next general election, at newly developed tourist destinations, and along roads, in line with the “Di Mana Ada Jalan Di situ Ada Internet” (Where There is a Road, There is Internet) initiative launched by Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil.

Selangor MCMC director Amal Abdul Aziz, who also appeared on the programme, said the trial recorded nearly 100,000 internet speed tests during its month in the state. Nearly 30,000 contest entries were logged, involving 1,746 participants, with each participant carrying out an average of 17 tests. Selangor was chosen first because of its large population and high number of internet users, and because it covers many kinds of setting, including educational institutions, residential areas and industrial sectors.

Amal said engagement sessions with government agencies, penghulu and village heads were held to encourage people in villages and rural areas to take part. Through the programme, MCMC obtained data from nearly 1,200 new locations where internet speed tests had never been conducted before, allowing the commission to see coverage conditions there and follow up with service providers.

What to watch next is which states MCMC picks for the nationwide expansion, whether the Selangor findings lead to prompt fixes by providers in the weakly served spots already identified, and whether the same approach can usefully map coverage at polling centres and along roads before the next general election.

Source : Bernama, as published by the New Straits Times and Astro Awani, November 13–14, 2026.

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