On 1 September 2026, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (“MCMC”) published a Public Consultation Paper (“PCP”) on the use and provisioning of international roaming-based connectivity services in Malaysia, including services enabled through foreign-issued SIMs, embedded SIMs (“eSIM”), foreign-issued International Mobile Subscriber Identities (“IMSI”) and long-term or permanent roaming arrangements.
 
Areas of Consultation
 
MCMC seeks to better understand the types of such services currently offered and used in Malaysia, the entities involved, and the benefits, risks and challenges associated with these services. The areas of consultation include:

1. consumer awareness and transparency;
2. consumer protection;
3. regulatory visibility and accountability;
4. subscriber registration and verification;
5. fraud, scam prevention and security;
6. lawful access and public safety;
7. competition and market impact;
8. IoT and M2M connectivity requirements; and
9. future technology developments.  

Consultation
 
The international roaming-based connectivity services are understood to be unregulated in Malaysia to date, and MCMC therefore seeks stakeholders¹ views on potential regulatory mechanisms for such services in Malaysia by setting out eight questions in the PCP, namely:

1. whether MCMC should regulate the provision of eSIM and/or permanent roaming services used in Malaysia;
2. if regulatory intervention is considered necessary, the most appropriate regulatory approach;
3. whether limits should be imposed on the duration of roaming usage in Malaysia, including whether 30 or 60 days would be an appropriate maximum period;
4. whether providers using foreign IMSIs and permanent roaming arrangements be required to obtain a licence under the Malaysian regulatory framework;
5. the impact on the mobile connectivity market if such services remain unregulated;
6. the consumer protection obligations that should apply to such providers operating in Malaysia;
7. the customer information that should be collected, retained and protected in relation to such services; and
8. the identity verification and subscriber registration measures that should apply.  

The deadline for submitting feedback on the PCP is 30 October 2026. Stakeholders are advised to take note of this deadline and submit their responses by then.
 
The PCP can be accessed here.
 
For further information, please contact Charmayne Ong (Partner), Natalie Lim (Partner), and Jillian Chia (Partner) of the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Practice of Skrine.