Pos Malaysia Bhd group CEO Al-Ishsal Ishak is expected to lead the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as the regulator’s chairman, according to sources.
Al-Ishsal’s term at the regulator under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia could start as early as the middle of this month, and is pending approval from Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, sources told The Malaysian Reserve.
“Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo has finalised the candidate and it is only awaiting Dr Mahathir’s consent,” said the sources who are close to the development.
Former MCMC chairman Tan Sri Dr Halim Shafie and a few others at the regulator of the country’s telecommunication and multimedia industry resigned effective July 1 this year.
MCMC COO Datuk Dr Mazlan Ismail had also resigned. The resignations at MCMC were announced by Gobind.
The agency had been plagued with questions over several data breaches — among which is one considered the largest in the country’s history, where personal details of about 46.2 million mobile users in the country were put on sale.
Various enforcement agencies have investigated the breach, but nobody has been prosecuted. It is not known the status of the various investigations.
Ministry of Communications and Multimedia secretary general Datuk Dr Mohd Ali Mohamad Nor is currently the acting chairman of MCMC.
“The new chairman is expected to take immediate action on the various data breach cases reported before and prepare a comprehensive plan to counter the issue.
“A new firewall protection plan is expected to be one of Al-Ishsal’s key performance indicators as MCMC chairman,” said the sources.
Al-Ishsal holds a Bachelor of Management honours degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia.
His appointment to MCMC would surprise many as he was only given the role to lead the country’s largest postal service and courier company on Feb 2, 2018.