THE Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC) said that it does not have powers to intervene in commercial activity under four sectors, with the telecommunications and multimedia category being one of them.
“While Competition Act 2010 applies to any commercial activity within Malaysia, the legislation clearly stipulates that it does not apply to commercial activities of four sectors, with the telecommunications and multimedia sector being one of them.
“And it must be emphasised that telecommunications providers’ activities are subject to the scrutiny of the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
“MCMC regulates mergers within the telecommunications sector and other competition matters through provisions of the Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998,” its CEO Iskandar Ismail said in a statement.
On June 29, the MCMC gave green light for the proposed merger between Axiata Group Bhd (Celcom) and Digi.Com Bhd (Digi).
Both telcos received a “Notice of No Objection” from the MCMC just before the commencement of the day’s stock market trading.
Use MyCC’s framework on such matters
The merger application for Celcom and Digi was submitted to MCMC in July 2021.
However, several quarters have cast aspersion over the merger and voiced concerns over creating a monopoly scenario. They urged the MyCC to investigate the proposed merger.
On that note, Iskandar said that while Competition Act is in the process of getting amended soon, the proposed changes will still exclude several sectors from its purview, which includes telcos.
“We hope that future decisions by MyCC on merger applications will be the main reference and guide for all other authorities in ensuring a consistent and robust policy landscape that will create certainty in the market,” he remarked. – July 2, 2022
