KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) has dismissed claims by certain quarters that the government-linked company (GLC) has been monopolising the country's telecommunication industry, thus making it difficult for other telco players to grow.

Group chief executive officer Datuk Noor Kamarul Anuar Nuruddin said the allegations were baseless as TM had been at the forefront of major connectivity development since the company's inception in 1946, having built the nation's critical infrastructure.

These included submarine cables and landing stations, RMPnet for the Royal Malaysian Police and broadcast services.

Noor Kamarul said TM's operations were carried out in accordance with the needs of the people and the government.

He added that every investment spent on upgrading or expansion would be intended for a long-term growth.

"TM had spent some RM20 billion in establishing fixed line telephony, over RM4.4 billion on copper broadband, RM16 billion for fibre broadband and another RM2.2 billion on mobile infrastructure in the country," he told the New Straits Times and other selected media in an interview recently.

He said TM's investment structures and operations were different from other telco players, which focus on the profitability, as opposed to TM's aspiration to build the national telecommunications industry.

"TM wants to develop the country's telecommunications sector and be the backbone of the government's agenda in developing this infrastructure for the benefit of the people.

"Hence, it is unfair to say that TM monopolises the industry because what we do is based on the needs of the country. Our investments are long-term for the people and the country.

"We continue to invest in new developments where others (telco players) have shied away. Moreover, we also implemented extensive corporate responsibility initiatives in education, community and the environment," he said.

Citing an example, he said TM was pioneering Putrajaya's telecommunication infrastructure development in 1997.

TM was approached by Putrajaya Holdings to invest in the government's administrative centre.

He said TM had accepted the offer and built Putrajaya's telecommunication infrastructure from scratch as other telco players had not shown interest due to lack of facilities.

"TM invested over RM1 billion in Putrajaya to carry out new development when other telcos were not willing. Since then, TM already has 1,160km of fibre optic cables, 27,000 broadband ports, 1,500 Metro-E network ports; 245 WiFi access points and 14 C-RAN (wireless bandwidth) sites," he said.

Nor Kamarul said it did not make sense for other players to label TM as "monopoly" after all the investment and infrastructure development TM had implemented, especially in Putrajaya.

Chief strategy officer Tengku Muneer Tengku Muzani said TM's aspiration in developing the country's telecommunications sector was not intended for immediate profit but rather taking into account the area of coverage and the population size, before considering an investment.

"We are a GLC who wants to develop the country through telecommunications ecosystem. What TM does is different from other telcos that choose various aspects including population density and choosing specific places to develop the facilities.

"However, TM did the opposite. We need to cover all areas as possible rather than cherry pick. In fact, we also take over abandoned projects from other parties for the benefit of the people, "he said.

He explained that TM had also developed infrastructure for over 40 major projects including Empire City and Emira Residence, Selangor and Bayu Creek Precinct 7, Johor.

In fact, he said, the company had also developed a network of connections in more than 50 schools around the country, where it had previously been developed by other operators.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/2020/07/608163/tm-does-not-monopolise-malaysias-telecommunication-sector-group-ceo