ABSTRACT

This chapter traces the policies of liberalization and privatization in Malaysian telecommunications. It shows that the early beneficiaries of these policies have been a handful of well-connected firms which, since the 1970s, have been accruing increasing power within the young Malaysian telecommunications market and influence within the government which regulates it. The chapter reviews of changes that occurred during the 1970s in Malaysia, to set the stage for the implementation of these policies in the 1980s. The implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) from 1971 had profound effects on the nature and size of the Malaysian state, and these were felt in the telecommunications sector. The NEP reaffirmed the role of the state as "protector" of the Malay people, thereby creating a rationale for a burgeoning government bureaucracy to oversee and promote the process of restructuring. After 1975, a series of policies went into place which signaled tremendous growth for these young firms.