KUALA LUMPUR – Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has assured that U Mobile Sdn Bhd will be subjected to certain conditions in its role as the operator for Malaysia’s second 5G network rollout, adding that details are expected to be revealed soon.
During the Ministry’s weekly press briefing, Fahmi emphasised that it is “premature” to disclose the conditions that will be attached to the company. He explained that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) would first meet with U Mobile to review its business plans.
U Mobile, a day after being named by MCMC on November 1 as the operator for the 5G rollout, announced its readiness to collaborate with various strategic partners, including other mobile network operators (MNOs).
“What conditions would be imposed? (For that), we have to go through the process first where MCMC needs to call U Mobile (for a meeting) to know the latest updates on talks between U Mobile and other firms that would like to collaborate with it.
“From there, several considerations will be made as we need to be aware that the mechanism that would be implemented for this second rollout is through spectrum holding.
“It is either done through apparatus assignment or spectrum assignment – which are the two instruments that MCMC has.
MCMC can impose certain conditions as the best way (moving forward),” said the minister when queried by reporters on whether any conditions would be set for U Mobile.
Fahmi noted that similar conditions were imposed on CelcomDigi for the first 5G rollout, where Celcom Mobile Sdn Bhd was required to cease operations of its subsidiary Yoodo following its merger with Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, which was approved by MCMC in 2022.
Both companies were also mandated to divest a total of 70MHz of spectrum and return it to MCMC to address concerns regarding spectrum concentration post-merger.
U Mobile is among the shareholders in Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), a state-owned entity created in 2021 to develop Malaysia’s 5G network and provide wholesale 5G services to private firms.
When asked which companies might purchase U Mobile’s shares in DNB now that it has been chosen for the second rollout, Fahmi said that such matters would be deliberated by DNB’s board of directors (BOD), covering processes related to share disposal and acquisition.
“This, I believe, will be decided by the DNB’s BOD later on,” he added.
The appointment of U Mobile as the operator for the second 5G rollout has stirred significant debate in recent days, with attention focused on its major shareholder, Straits Mobile Investments Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.
Straits Mobile Investment holds a 48.26% stake in U Mobile. Additionally, it was reported that the largest individual shareholder is Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who has a 22.3% share in the company.
Following its selection, U Mobile stated that it would lower its foreign ownership to 20%.
Yesterday, Fahmi told the Dewan Rakyat that MCMC’s decision to appoint the firm was not influenced by its shareholders. He said the regulatory body considered detailed technical and commercial aspects before making its choice, with the process conducted through an open tender.
He also reiterated that MCMC operates independently and that the ministry had no involvement in its processes. Fahmi added that MCMC ensured that no more than 49% of the company’s shares were foreign-owned.
According to MCMC, U Mobile was chosen based on various factors, including its business and technical plans, customer satisfaction records, and past performance in implementing infrastructure projects.
A statement issued by MCMC two days ago highlighted that these factors included the company’s notable contributions to the Universal Service Provision (USP) projects, such as JENDELA Phase 1 and the 4G Upgrading Project, in line with MCMC’s aim to improve user experience and service quality. – November 8, 2024.
