The Muamalat Newsletter Vol. 2 2023

FEM eNewsletter | Dec 2023 60 APilot Study onConsumer Satisfactionwith Telecommunication Service Providers in Malaysia Authors: Salehuddin Che Murat and Wan Rasyidah Wan Nawang Faculty of Economics and Muamalat Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia Introduction Telecommunication (telco) service providers face fierce competition in an oligopolistic market dominated by a few major industry players. Currently, there are four major players in the telco industry in Malaysia. Maxis topped the Malaysian telco industry in 2021, accounting for 27.4%, followed by Digi at 21.6%, Celcom at 18.7%, and U Mobile at 16%, with other small competitors such as Telekom Malaysia and TIME dot com accounting for the remaining 16.3% (Statista, 2023). Despite the development of new technologies, these providers are continuously improving their telco services to address consumer concerns about coverage and service quality. Social media is frequently filled with complaints from users of various telco providers. Therefore, complaints should not be taken lightly, as they can lead to customer dissatisfaction. Customer satisfaction is critical for telco service providers because it influences retention, loyalty, positive word of mouth, competitive advantage, revenue growth, and company sustainability,therebycontributing to long-term success. The long- term success of a telco business can be significantly enhanced by prioritising customer satisfaction. The importance of customer satisfaction has become even more significant in today’s world. This is owing to the telco industry’s increased rivalry, technical improvements, consumer evaluations, digital transitions, worldwide connection needs, pandemic implications, data privacy issues, and shifting