KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 20): Telekom Malaysia Bhd (KL:TM) has expressed interest in participating in the Salam submarine cable project that seeks to strengthen connectivity between Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, said chief executive officer Datuk Amar Huzaimi Md Deris.

“We are very optimistic in evaluating options of connecting East Malaysia and West Malaysia, and certainly Salam is one of the projects that we are very keen to also participate,” Amar said during a media briefing on TM's second quarter financial results on Thursday.

However, Amar did not disclose when TM would submit a draft proposal to MCMC as part of the procurement process.

Last month, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) invited eligible telecom licensees to submit draft proposals for the Salam (Sambungan Kabel Dasar Laut Madani) initiative under the Universal Service Provision framework.

The MCMC urged interested parties to submit a registration of interest along with a draft universal service plan for evaluation, as required under Regulation 5 of the Communications and Multimedia (Universal Service Provision) Regulations 2002.

The Salam initiative will establish a new submarine cable system linking Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. It aims to build a 5,582km subsea cable comprising four segments interconnected by 10 landing stations while providing greater network redundancy and reducing the risk of service disruptions.

According to the MCMC, the submarine cable network will support the nationwide expansion of broadband and 5G services, while also driving growth in cloud infrastructure, data centres, artificial intelligence and other emerging digital industries thus will strengthen Malaysia's digital economy.

However, the MCMC statement cited last month did not provide a timeline for draft submission deadlines or the construction of the Salam network. The project has already been allocated RM2 billion under the national government’s 2026 budget.

Telekom Malaysia’s net profit for the three months ended June 30, 2026 (2QFY2026) declined to RM365.48 million from RM402.97 million a year earlier as higher operating costs — including expenses related to its employee voluntary separation programme Prihatin and sponsorship of the Fifa World Cup 2026 — offset stronger revenue growth.

Revenue for the quarter rose 6.8% to RM2.96 billion from RM2.77 billion on broad improvements across its segments.

Telekom Malaysia shares closed three sen or 0.37% higher at RM8.10 on Thursday, valuing the company at RM31.09 billion. The stock has gained 2.14% so far this year.

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