By Danial Dzulkifly
SHAH ALAM, Feb 13 — Selangor has successfully registered nearly 99 per cent of previously unregistered telecommunications towers in the state, generating additional state revenue for the first time in years.
State executive councillor for Islamic affairs and innovation Dr Mohammad Fahmi Ngah said the state government has managed to register 3,614 out of 3,644 identified illegal telecommunications towers.
They have identified 2,531 towers that must be registered by the end of 2024, a move expected to generate approximately RM22 million in revenue.
[caption id="attachment_380537" align="alignleft" width="506"]
State executive councillor for Islamic affairs and innovation Dr Mohammad Fahmi Ngah speaks during the Selangor State Legislative Assembly session in the State Secretariat Building, Shah Alam, on November 20, 2024. — Picture by REMY ARIFIN/MEDIA SELANGOR[/caption]
“By the end of December 2024, we managed to recover payments from around 97 per cent of them, amounting to approximately RM22 million. Previously, this was all lost revenue because they did not pay, but now we have them back in the system, and they have settled their dues.
“In addition to these, we conducted another exercise using data from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and enforcement agencies. Through this, we discovered an additional 1,113 towers that were not in the system at all.
“We are not sure why, but they exist and have been operating without paying any fees for years. MCMC has software that detects towers emitting signals, so we verified their presence through site inspections,” he told Media Selangor when contacted.
Fahmi added that telecommunication operators had been warned that failure to register would result in their towers being dismantled.
“Some acknowledged their towers, while others cited various issues, such as ownership disputes due to the original owner passing away, for example.
“To date, only 30 towers remain unclaimed, but they are still operational and emitting signals. For these, we will likely have to remove them entirely. However, we are giving a grace period until June this year for those with operational issues to resolve.
“At the very least, we want these towers to be properly registered so they contribute to government revenue moving forward,” he said.
Fahmi assured that any enforcement action against illegal towers would be conducted without disrupting telecommunications services.
“If we remove towers, we must do so strategically. The only way to avoid service disruptions is through a process called ‘hot swapping’, in which a new tower is set up on legitimate land first, transferring services in real-time, and then dismantling the old one.
“One local council that has successfully done this is the Selayang Municipal Council, while the Kuala Lumpur City Hall has a strong model that we could consider adapting,” he said.
The state government is also looking into proper guidelines for towers erected on billboards.
“Some billboards have multiple antennas. If we take them down, where do we relocate them? Is there an alternative technology that can consolidate them under a single antenna?
“These are still being discussed in ongoing workshops,” Fahmi said.
