PUTRAJAYA: The number of dropped calls were reduced by between 10% and 74% after Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) activated its 5G call reestablishment function for a nine-day period in December, Fahmi Fadzil said.

The communications minister said the reduction in dropped calls, which occurs when phones get disconnected from the cellular network, was recorded by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

However, he did not provide a breakdown of the percentages according to the network operators.

The large 10% to 74% variation is because different telcos had different percentages of dropped call reductions.

Fahmi said a total of 1,837 dropped calls were recorded by MCMC between January and Dec 13 last year.

“After the call reestablishment was activated, there was a significant improvement (in terms of the number of dropped calls recorded), according to the telcos,” he told reporters after MCMC conducted a cellular service test here.

He added that the improvement made in reducing the number of dropped calls was also due to initiatives by network operators to optimise their 4G connection.

DNB, the 5G network supplier, had activated its call reestablishment function from Dec 21 to Dec 29.

Fahmi went on to say that DNB was able to activate the function after network operators bought shares in DNB.

Last month, Malaysia’s five major phone network operators signed share subscription agreements to acquire a collective 70% equity stake in DNB.

The five are CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile, Telekom Malaysia and YTL Power International, each of which bought a 14% stake in DNB.

Earlier today, Fahmi, along with his deputy, Teo Nie Ching, joined MCMC for a cellular service quality test from the Parliament House in Kuala Lumpur to the communications ministry in Putrajaya.

The test aimed to assess the network coverage provided by telecommunications service providers in Malaysia to address complaints by several parties of late. Fahmi said no drop calls were recorded.