Malaysia's Dewan Rakyat passed the Communications and Multimedia (Amendment) Bill 2026 on July 15 to strengthen the national communications and multimedia ecosystem and add national security elements to the Universal Service Provision (USP) initiative [1, 2, 3, 4]. Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said the amendments do not expand the scope of Act 588 beyond communications and multimedia but update the framework to keep pace with technological and geopolitical changes [1]. She added, "The issue of transferring the USP burden to end users does not arise" as the USP Fund will be financed by licensees without extra consumer costs [2].
The USP initiative aims to improve coverage in underserved rural, coastal, and island areas to ensure resilience during emergencies [1]. Under the amendments, national security decisions related to USP will be made by the National Security Council, limiting ministerial powers in security matters [2, 3].
On the same day, Parliament also passed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (Amendment) Bill 2026 to enhance MCMC's governance, regulatory oversight, and operational roles [5, 6]. The bill sets that the MCMC chairman cannot be a member of any legislative body to prevent political conflicts and safeguard commission independence, with Teo noting this change marks a significant step in strengthening the commission's leadership [5, 6].
The financial approval limit for MCMC contracts was increased from RM5 million to RM50 million to reflect inflation and the rise in contract values since 1998, which the Deputy Minister called an appropriate revision [5, 6]. The amendments also clarify MCMC's authority over infrastructure and platform standards, auditing licensees, imposing fines, and publishing regulatory violations [6].
During parliamentary debates, concerns were raised about ensuring transparency of USP fund balances and uses, along with protecting MCMC from political interference [1, 5]. Around 18 MPs debated the Communications and Multimedia amendment, while 14 to 15 discussed the MCMC amendment [1, 5, 4, 6].
The amendments took effect following their passage on July 15, marking a key effort to modernize Malaysia's regulatory framework amid growing reliance on digital infrastructure.
