KUALA LUMPUR: Neither ministers nor their deputies were involved in selecting U Mobile Sdn Bhd as the country's second 5G network provider.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) evaluated U Mobile's tender independently.
"The government, through MCMC implemented a thorough selection process from a technical and commercial aspect in selecting a mobile network operator to implement the country's second 5G network," he said during Dewan Rakyat's Ministers' Question Time.
"In layman's terms, it (selecting U Mobile) was a beauty contest, a tender process and not a direct award."
He was responding to a question from Hassan Abdul Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang), who asked why U Mobile, which is 48.28 per cent owned by Singapore's Straits Mobile Investment Pte Ltd, was selected as the second 5G network provider.
Fahmi said foreign equity holdings in U Mobile are within the compliance range of the special licence conditions issued to the company.
The maximum foreign shareholding permitted for a Network Facilities Provider and Network Service Provider is 49 per cent. Bumiputera equity holding is set at a minimum 30 per cent.
At the same time, U Mobile has committed to reducing foreign holdings to 20 per cent, he said.
"So U Mobile's selection does not go against the special licence conditions for an individual license."
He said U Mobile was selected based on several factors, including its business and technical proposals, track record in customer satisfaction, and experience with other infrastructure initiatives.
This included the company's contribution to the Jendela Phase 1 and 4G upgrading projects.
Yesterday, MCMC explained why U Mobile was selected to deploy the second 5G network based on several factors.