WHAT’S in it for Malaysians with the impending Celcom and Digi merger? Would it matter to the combined 19 million subscribers of the two telcos? I believe if a poll were to be taken among the 19 million, the answer would be a big NO.

The parties that are likely to celebrate the news of the merger are corporate Malaysia, and the institutional and individual shareholders. Maybe both companies would justify the merger in the same vein as how the CEOs of banks in Malaysia justify their existing position vis a vis the call for a loan moratorium – the merger would deliver value and appreciation to the larger institutional funds in Malaysia like EPF, PNB, Tabung Haji who held shares in these companies and thus indirectly benefitting their members who are largely the rakyat of Malaysia.

What the rakyat wants from the telcos in Malaysia even before the pandemic is connectivity at affordable prices.

In 2018, the government of the day announced that it wanted telcos to double the speed and halve the price of their services. In 2019, the same government of the day announced that the objective had been achieved where broadband pricing apparently was reduced by up to 56% across the board.

Was the objective really achieved?

The MCMC, in their Industry Performance Report (IPR) for 2019, reported that as at end-2019, they recorded a significant increase of 20% as compared to 48,333 complaints reported in the preceding year with telecommunications services contributing 75% cases from the overall complaints reported, with the cases comprising various dissatisfaction on the level of services provided by telecommunications service providers.

Top 5 complaints received were:

54% – network

20% – billing and charges

11% – SMS service

9% – service delivery

6% – mobile network portability

Interestingly, the CEOs of both telcos – Celcom & Digi – had on June 14, 2019, signed the CEO’s Pledge with the chairman of the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission where among others, they commit to:

– Provide consumer experience that is prompt, efficient and courteous, across all channels;

– Provide transparent and easily accessible channels for consumers to check or redress their complaints status;

– Cultivate positive consumer service culture and increase operational efficiency.

Meanwhile, the Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia (CFM), a society with representation from all relevant parties, including the “supply and demand” side of the communications and multimedia industry and designated by MCMC to protect the rights of consumers, in their 2019 annual report summarised the number of consumer complaints it received on telcos, comprising the following:

1. Service disruptions – 1,376
2. No 4G coverage – 608
3. Poor 4G/LTE coverage – 1,268
4. Billing dispute – 1,029
5. Porting delay/rejection – 886

The Axiata group CEO was quoted to have said in the announcement that post integration period, they expect to see improvement in EBITDA (net earnings) and cashflow margins in the combined entity in step with ongoing commitment to maximise dividend payout for shareholders, and the merged entity is projected to have profit after tax of RM1.9 billion and free cash flow of RM4 billion.

Many small businesses and medium enterprises have had to close or wind down since the pandemic hit our country in March 2020. Moving forward, with the various unknowns caused by the constant mutation of the virus, no one can predict or know how and when our economy would return to pre-pandemic times. With the current haphazard measures being introduced and enforced, it is projected that by the end of 2021, there would be more of such businesses biting the dust and an increasing number of rakyat adding to the unemployment statistics.

Translated, it means the existing telcos would be competing against each other in a shrinking pie – as small businesses and more rakyat begin to scale back from the unreliable and costly service provided by the telcos.

What the rakyat in general wants – and I believe everyone in Malaysia wants – is for the telcos to reduce their charges across the board for connectivity from its current base. Not telcos boasting about their improved profitability which will only benefit corporates but not the ordinary man on the street.

This pandemic has caused unusual hardship across the board for ordinary Malaysians. These are the same Malaysians who have dutifully tolerated and continued supporting the years of costly and inefficient services of the telcos.

My humble appeal to both Celcom and Digi, propose and offer what you can do for the ordinary rakyat of Malaysia in these difficult times.

Lower charges would reduce the projected profit after tax of RM1.9 billion for the merged entity but it would not dent and reduce the value of the holdings of your shareholders. But it would go towards alleviating and helping many ordinary Malaysians in picking up and recovering from this devastating pandemic.

The pandemic has shown that connectivity helps but at the same time, it has also left a lot of ordinary Malaysians destitute. Wouldn’t cheaper connectivity help? – June 23, 2021.

* FLK reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.