PETALING JAYA, June 24 — Telecommunication companies here should focus improving data services and widening their coverage as mobile Internet usage continues to grow, a report suggested today.

Ericsson vice-president solutions for Malaysia and Sri Lanka Sebastian Barros said it is important for operators here to avoid the price war, calling it a “lose-lose” situation as telcos would not invest in improving infrastructure because of the lack of funding, resulting in a bad user experience.

“I think there is a lot for the operators in Malaysia to leverage on consumer insights and data consumptions for new packages,” he told reporters at a media briefing at the Ericsson’s office here.

He added that it was important to make sure the data experience meet subscribers’ expectations.

The Ericsson Mobility Report found that WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube are the top three apps most actively used by smartphone users in Malaysia.

The rise of data traffic in Malaysian mobile networks means that application performance is becoming critical, it pointed out.

Ericsson is among firms supplying the infrastructure for cellular communication networks.

Head of Ericsson Malaysia and Sri Lanka Todd Ashton said the rise of data traffic in Malaysian mobile networks means network performance in terms of consumer experience on applications is very important.

“Originally, mobile networks were built and optimised to deliver access to voice services across a defined coverage area with the main indicators for determining service quality including measurements of network availability, speech quality and dropped-call rates.

“Today, operators are faced with a consumer expectation for instantaneous, reliable performance on applications, wherever they are,” he said, stressing that telcos should seize the opportunity to cater to that need.

In the region, the report found that Australia has the best app coverage, followed by Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

The fastest peak speeds in the region are now found in Singapore.