Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Public Inquiry Report Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service (Customer Service) 3 JULY 2021 This Public Inquiry Paper was prepared in fulfilment of subsections 55(1), (3) and (4), and sections 58 and 61 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 [Act 588]. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 4 SECTION 2: NEW MANDATORY STANDARDS ON CUSTOMER SERVICE ....... 6 SECTION 3: STANDARDS FOR QUALITY OF SERVICE (CUSTOMER SERVICE) ........................................................................... 11 SECTION 4: REPORTING TIMELINE AND INTERPRETATION OF THE STANDARDS ......................................................................... 53 SECTION 5: WAY FORWARD ................................................................... 58 2 ABBREVIATIONS AND GLOSSARY ASN GW Access Service Network Gateway BAS Broadband Access Service CMA Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 Commission Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission CPE Customer Premises Equipment IVRS Interactive Voice Response System MME Mobile Management Entity MS Mandatory Standards MSC Mobile Switching Centre MSQoS Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service Public Inquiry The Public Inquiry on the Proposal for New Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service (Customer Service) Public Inquiry The Public Inquiry Paper on the Proposal for New Paper Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service (Customer Service) Public Inquiry The Public Inquiry Report on the Proposal for New Report Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service (Customer Service) PCS Public Cellular Service QoS Quality of Service SMS Short Messaging Service SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node Wired BAS Wired Broadband Access Service Wireless BAS Wireless Broadband Access Service 3 SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Public Inquiry Exercise In the Public Inquiry (“PI) document on the new Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service (MSQoS) on Customer Service issued on 8 April 2021, the PI document outlines the review and new proposed standards for the following scope of customer service: a. Complaints Management; b. Customer Service Response; c. Service Fulfilment; and d. Notification/Information This is in line with the aim to achieve the national policy objectives for the communications and multimedia industry as enshrined in the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA 1998) which is: a. to regulate for the long-term benefit of the end user; and b. to promote a high level of consumer confidence in service delivery from the industry The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (“The Commission”) has invited feedback from industries, members of the public and interested parties on the questions and issues raised in the PI document. The PI document specifically sought comments through nineteen (19) questions. The PI was closed at 12 noon on Friday, 4 June 2021. 1.2 Submission Received By the end of the PI period at 12 noon on 4 June 2021, the Commission received sixteen (16) written submissions from the following parties: No Submitting Parties Documents Received 1. Allo Technology Sdn Bhd (“Allo”) 4 pages 2. Celcom Axiata Berhad (“Celcom”) 23 pages 3. Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (“Digi”) 14 pages 4 No Submitting Parties Documents Received 4. Maxis Broadband Sdn Bhd (“Maxis”) 21 pages 5. Measat Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd 17 pages (“Astro”) 6. MyISP Dot Com Sdn Bhd (“Myisp”) 4 pages 7. Net2One Sdn Bhd (“Net2One”) 4 pages 8. Opensignal Ltd (“Opensignal”) 6 pages 9. Redtone Engineering & Network Services 16 pages Sdn Bhd (“Redtone”) 10. Telekom Malaysia Berhad (“TM”) 22 pages 11. TT dotcom Sdn Bhd (“TIME”) 14 pages 12. Tune Talk Sdn Bhd (“Tune Talk”) 1 page 13. U Mobile Sdn Bhd(“U Mobile”) 5 pages 14 XOX Com Sdn Bhd 14 pages 15. YTL Broadband Sdn Bhd (“YTLB”) 5 pages 16. YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (“YTLC”) 7 pages Two (2) submissions were submitted after the deadline and as such, were not considered by the Commission. As stipulated under Section 65 of the CMA 1998, the Commission now presents this PI Report within the 30 days’ requirement from the closing date of submissions. The Commission has considered the aforementioned sixteen (16) submissions. A summary of the submitted comments/suggestions are outlined in Section 2 of this PI Report. 1.3 Structure of the PI Report The PI Report is structured based on the PI Paper with the sixteen (16) questions in the PI paper together with the summary of comments received. Following the summary is the Commission’s final views in response to the questions and comments give, outlined in the sections below: Section 2: New Mandatory Standards on Customer Service Section 3: Standards for Quality of Service (Customer Service) Section 4: Reporting Timeline and Interpretation of the Standards Section 5: Way Forward 5 SECTION 2: NEW MANDATORY STANDARDS ON CUSTOMER SERVICE Question 1 Do you agree with the Commission’s proposal to develop a new Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service (Customer Service) that will streamline customer service standards for PCS, Wireless BAS and Wired BAS into a single instrument? 2.1 Summary of submissions received: Majority of the respondents (Celcom, Digi, Maxis, Myisp, Astro, Net2One, RedTone, TIME, TM, U Mobile, YTLB and YTLC) agreed with the Commission’s proposal to develop a new Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service (Customer Service) that will streamline customer service standards for PCS, Wireless BAS and Wired BAS into a single instrument. XOX provided no further feedback on the development of a new mandatory standard for Quality of Service (Customer Service). However, for the purpose of streamlining Customer Service Standards for PCS, Wireless BAS and Wired BAS into a single instrument, XOX opined that standardisation of standards will need to be emphasised. Hence, clarification is required on the calculation of the standards for a service provider that offers more than 1 type of service under MSQoS. No feedback from Allo, Opensignal and Tune Talk. 2.2 Commission’s Final View: The Commission acknowledges that majority of the service providers have agreed to streamline customer service standards for PCS, Wireless BAS and Wired BAS into a single instrument. With regards to XOX’s feedback, the calculation of the standards shall combine the PCS, Wireless BAS and Wired BAS services if the service provider provides one or all the three (3) services. A guideline will be provided to set out the reporting templates, such as examples of calculation and other relevant information for reference. The Commission’s final view is to issue a new MSQoS for Customer Service. 6 Question 2 What are your views on the Commission’s proposal to rephrase the indicator of the existing standards to create a common language understandable by both the customer and the service provider? 2.3 Summary of submissions received: Majority of the respondents agreed with the Commission’s proposal to rephrase the indicator of the existing standards to create a common language understandable by both the customer and the service provider. Celcom has agreed with the proposal to rephrase the term to be more consumer-friendly. However, Celcom suggested that the Commission may want to consider adopting ‘response time for operator service’ as a replacement, as the term is also consistent with the term used worldwide. Astro proposed for the Commission to change the “Promptness of Answering Calls to Customer Hotline” to “Call Centre Agent Response Time” because most of the service providers like Astro have different types of response resolution which are the Interactive Voice Response (“IVR”) and Call Agent Response. This would create better clarity on the measurement for the standards. No feedback from Allo, Myisp and Tune Talk. 2.4 Commission’s Final View The Commission finds that majority of respondents have agreed on the proposal to rephrase the indicator of the existing standards. The Commission has also considered Celcom’s input to adopt ‘response time for operator service’ as a replacement so the term is also consistent with the term used worldwide. The Commission’s final view is to rephrase the indicators of the existing standards as proposed and for “Call Center response time” to be rephrased to “Response Time for Operator Service”. 7 Question 3 The Commission seeks views on the proposals of new requirement(s) where service providers are required to declare the MSQoS standards and self-report their key achievements of the standards for public view. 2.5 Summary of submissions received: Maxis disagreed because of any good or bad performance will invite unnecessary comments from the public; any submission to the Commission is confidential, and thus should not be made public; and every service provider has a different product construct, thus publishing any such report will create misconceptions amongst customers assessing the publication. According to Astro, any self-reporting would lead to finger-pointing which is unhelpful to consumers and could also potentially result in reputational damage to the brand as consumers might misinterpret the report as different service providers are offering different product structures. RedTone was not agreeable on the proposal to declare the MSQoS standards and self-report of key achievements of the standards for public view as the submission to the Commission is confidential. RedTone also highlighted that every service provider has a different