Telekom Malaysia's announcement of a hike in rental (for fixed-line residential) phones is both out of need and greed. Firstly, greed - because it has to bail out greed in Celcom by taking over the whole company lock, stock and barrel.
A report in The Edge mentioned that Celcom is RM1.6 billion in debt, and RM260 million was lost by the company using the trick of issuing false invoices. Why the perpetrators were not arrested and charged is beyond my comprehension.
This is plain cheating, and the police are not doing anything about it. No wonder foreign fund investors are wary of coming into this country. They are certainly not going to help out Telekom in bailing out Celcom.
If the share price of Telekom drops, the government will prop it up. We have a culture of cheating and getting away with it, with the connivance of the government. Of course, the small fry will always be the one to be persecuted. The big boys always get away with it.
Secondly, need - Telekom needs the money to fund the purchase. It will collect more than RM100 million a year just from the increase in rental. Thus it's us, the public, who are actually bailing out Celcom. Our future PM is trying to inculcate a new mentality, but it will all be in vain. It's all window dressing because deep down, the ballast is full of rot. Do you see any good left?