Did PH government issued fake news on NFCP to rig Opcom shares?

The National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP) is not something new. It has long been discussed in the industry. Read USP report here for more information.

In mid-August itself, Lim Guan Eng was the person to have thrown the figure of RM21.6 billion requirement out in public.

Nothing significant happened to Opcom shares until it spiked by 43% on August 28th and caught the attention of social media.

There was a correction but it went up again yesterday by 16% or as high as 8.5 sen. to bring the trading range to 55 and 67.5 sen.

It is certainly something to be excited for the stock market. A concept play or theme to excite interest back to the humdrum market throughout PH administration.

However, it led to a cynical comment by a FBer that Dato Mukhriz was helping a friend.

It was the excuse he gave when Sarawak Report revealed he received 1,000 acres of Sarawak forest concession.

He did not offer to help his long time friend and financial supporter, Dato Norhamzah, who needed the help now.

Mukhriz is not one to help others. He is not autistic, but he has no sensitivity and concern towards friends and supporters.

Any help or assistance from him is the initiative of others who could tell or remind him to do so. Yet he is calculative.

Obviously, the forest concession has to be his. So does the shares in Opcom is his and wife's name.

MCMC denied Mukhriz-linked Opcom as beneficiary of NFCP.

But why is the shares still attracting interest? Is someone rigging the shares for a certain purpose?

Naturally, the same FBer suspected the shares is being rigged. There is no reason for the shares to rise, except that it is being rigged.

The FBer does not view Opcom as capable of benefiting from the upgrade to 5G. It is operating on old machines.

Opcom has outpriced itself by as high as 40%. This your truly heard coming from cable installation contractors.

In late May, former Chairman Tan Sri Mokhzani Tun Dr Mahathir sold off all his shares in Opcom to quit his position as Chairman. By June 2nd, he quit all positions in Opcom.

A major shareholder and management himself lost hope on Opcom.

It was only in July that a new Chairman, ex-MCMC Chairman Dato Sharil Tarmizi was appointed.

Mukhriz still have officially around 20% left.

The day Opcom shares spiked on August 28th, Malaysiakini reported cabinet approved on the RM21.6 billion 4 years spending plan for 2019 to 2023.

NST reported the same.

These days, Mkini is as good as official news. They created excitement because in November 2018, the planned allocation from government for NFCP by Guan Eng was only RM1 billion.

MCMC denied NFCP is a mega project. Today, MCMC Chairman Al-Sihsal Ishak explained further, as reported by EdgeDaily:

MCMC: RM21.6 bil NFCP to be equally paid for by USP fund and telcos' capex

Ahmad Naqib Idris/theedgemarkets.com
September 05, 2019 14:01 pm +08

CYBERJAYA (Sept 5): The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said the RM21.6 billion estimated budget for the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP) will be half funded by the Universal Service Provision (USP) fund, while the other half will be funded by the capital expenditure (capex) of telecommunications companies (telcos) in Malaysia.

At a media briefing today, MCMC chairman Al-Ishsal Ishak further clarified about the budget of the NFCP — to be launched on Sept 19 — and pointed out that licensees pay 6% of their topline to the USP fund, while telcos have already planned their capex.

"This issue has been politicised and society is so engrossed in finding mistakes. Looking at our plans under the NFCP and based on certain assumptions on the number of towers and kilometres of fibre optics to be developed, we came up with the RM21.6 billion figure after discussions with the telcos," he said.

Al-Ishsal said the RM21.6 billion is a "ballpark figure" and that the commission will refine the figure in its upcoming quarterly reports on the NFCP, starting next year.

He further explained that the USP fund is a trust fund managed by the commission, which will be financing about half of the estimated investment requirement to execute the initiatives under NFCP.

As at 2017, the USP fund has about RM8 billion to RM9 billion, with about RM4 billion to RM5 billion committed for the NFCP.

The updated numbers will be announced in the 2018 report, which Al-Ishsal said will be published soon.

The fund is necessary, he said, in order to ensure coverage for underserved areas.

"The fund will be covering the operating expenditure for the towers, until they become commercially viable. If the fund is not in place, some areas will probably never see improvement in coverage, as telcos will not set up towers there," he said.

Besides setting up new towers, the commission also looks at optimising resources, such as in locations where there are multiple towers serving a relatively small area.

"In Tawau, for example, there is a large amount of towers serving a small population, as each telco has its own tower. This is not only an eyesore but is also wasting foreign exchange, as these towers require steel to be imported for construction, which results in unnecessary costs.

"We are encouraging telcos to share their infrastructure to make sure that things run more efficiently and costs are optimised," Al-Ishsal said.

There is not even RM21.6 billion spending by government for NFCP!

MMO reported Al-Ishsal saying it is not funded by taxpayers, but funded by telco.

Why is the misleading news from media close to the government, and it is not once but repeatedly?

Is it coming from official government source or dumb reporters lazy to be thorough and only looking for an easy story?

Was it intentionally meant to mislead for someone to off load their shares at a higher price?

By the time required disclosure is made to Bursa Malaysia, the seller will be known and one can confirm if there was any rigging.