PM Najib orders review of Telco terms
PM Najib Razak has ordered a review of terms on the allocation of spectrum that has basically been the talk of telecommunication industry players in the recent weeks. This was reached in a closed door meeting with senior officials of Telco Industry executives.
Seen as pretty much a gaffe on the part of Minister of Information, Communication and Culture with the regulatory body MCMC announcing the allocation some weeks back, coupled by the bold statement from YTL that it will embark on a hybrid-pay-TV solution that will take mobile broadband usage to new heights, the statement by Najib seems to be a welcome message by industry players.
One was reported by Singapore Straits Times as saying that 'the confusion of the spectrum allocation may now come to an end, but it would not have even been one if the MCMC had consulted industry players first', a practise in the past which has basically given MCMC a good forum unutil now.
Apart from coming out with a statement that it had actually not allocated the 700MHz Spectrum as reported, and that the only license accorded to YTL was that of a content application service provider for subscription based internet protocol television services utilising the 2.3GHz WiMAX network, nothing more has been said by the regulators, who had previously been regarded highly by the world body.
At one time, MCMC had one of its officers who held the position of chairman in one of these committees. The committees in turn work in its areas contributing to world harmonisation of frequency utilisation.
Given the strong statement from PM Najib,it remains to be seen if the confidence in the regulatory body shall return, especially so that there is strong foreign interest in the industry. The move by Najib is seen pretty much as damage control, and hopefully the kind of gaffe by a senior minister in his cabinet will not scuttle his greater plans of economic transformation in Malaysia. - Malaysia Instinct, PJ Moorthy
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