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YTL

YTL started out as a small construction firm in Malaysia before branching out into utilities, property development and tourism.

It became an Internet provider in Malaysia when it set up its 4G WiMax network in 2010, leapfrogging over broadband and 3G internet providers such as Celcom, DiGi and Maxis.

The company is associated with Malaysian billionaire Yeoh Tiong Lay, who is the seventh richest man in Malaysia, according to Forbes magazine.

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The Mahathir administration unfortunately privatised electricity generation. It granted YTL the first independent power producer licence in 1993, under the first generation of lucrative concessions. The EPF subscribed to the bond issue as part of the financing for the project.

So who owns YTL? We can only go by available official records, for what it is worth; so here goes.

These are the substantial shareholders of YT Corp on 28 September 2012:

These are the top ten shareholders. You can see a number of shareholdings held via nominees.

And these are the shareholdings of Yeoh Tiong Lay and Sons Holdings Sdn Bhd, the largest shareholder in YTL Corp.

Who owns YTL Corp?

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In an email interview in February, YTL Corp communications chief executive officer Wing K Lee told Malaysiakini that the 1BestariNet project was awarded to the company through an open tender process.

In an email reply to Malaysiakini’s queries today, a YTL official wrote that the facts are “different from what the MP had asserted.”

Malaysiakini

PARLIAMENT Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan today defended the government’s purchase of Chromebooks from YTL Corp for school students, saying it was more economical to do so than to build new computer labs in schools.

“I would like to inform that the use of Chromebooks (in a classroom) comes to about RM86,700 but if we were to build a normal computer lab, the cost would be RM150,000.

“That means using a Chromebook could reduce the cost by 50% compared to building a computer lab. That is why we are using the Chromebook through YTL,” he told Parliament in his winding up speech during the debate of the Supplementary Supply (2012) Bill.

YTL’s Chromebook cheaper, says deputy minister

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YTL Corp now also provides cheap internet access for Malaysian university undergraduates. Current participating universities include Universiti Malaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tunku Abdul Rahman College.

Malaysiakini

In another poser over the awarding of contracts, DAP MP Zairil Khir Johari has questioned YTL Corp’s monopoly over Internet learning facilities for schools, which could rake in an estimated RM9 billion over five years.

The Bukit Bendera MP said he raised the matter in Parliament, demanding to know why YTL Corp, which has only been an Internet service provider for some three years, was the best choice to meet the education needs for some 10,000 schools and 5.5 million students.

“While I was prepared for startling figures in terms of expenditure for these various programmes, I must admit I wasn’t prepared for the fact that every single one of the above projects has been awarded to only one company – YTL and its subsidiaries,” he added in a press statement.

Zairil (right), the son of former education minister Mohd Khir Johari, noted that YTL Corp officially obtained three contracts worth RM1.3 billion from the government, under the directive of Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

This included setting up Internet connection, 1BestariNet programme (RM663 million), a virtual learning environment platform (RM513 million) and provision of Chromebooks (laptops) under the 1Student1Device Programme (RM139.6 million).

However, the contracts carried recurring business such as internet subscription contracts, maintenance and licensing, which Zairil said might amount to RM9 billion business over five years.

Zairil: Why YTL’s monopoly on Net learning contract?

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