KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 -- The ministerial directive for the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to allocate five firms with spectrum band for mobile internet services without tender violated the ideals of transparent governance, said a federal lawmaker.

Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil called Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah's directive shocking, saying it begged the question of how the firms were selected for the allocations.

"On July 1, 2019, the MCMC commenced a public inquiry process, where several guidelines were proposed, including awardings via tenders, and some technical details such as: 3.1.2.5 An assignment of less than 2x10 MHz spectrum may not be ideal to deliver high data rate...