Summary

  • Tuas Limited says Simba received an IMDA show-cause notice on 23 October. It alleges unauthorised spectrum use at roughly 133 and 92 sites, early indoor equipment deployment, management approval and deliberate gaps in document production.
  • IMDA has made no finding or decision on action, according to Tuas. Simba's representations are due 16 November; the potential measures range from licence conditions to spectrum-right suspension or financial penalties.

Radio frequencies have no painted lanes. Licences provide them. On 26 October, Tuas told the ASX that its Singapore subsidiary Simba had received a notice asking why the Infocomm Media Development Authority should not make findings against it. The regulator's questions travel from antenna settings to the boardroom and then into the filing cabinet. Simba received the notice on Friday 23 October at about 7:30 pm Sydney time; its reply is due 16 November.

The technical allegations have two distinct bands and time windows. Tuas says the notice alleges dynamic spectrum sharing at about 133 sites intermittently in 2022 and 2023, allowing the 2100 MHz band to carry both 4G and 5G when Simba was authorised to use it for 5G. A second allegation concerns 2340–2360 MHz use at about 92 sites intermittently from 2023 to 2026 without authorisation. The notice also cites indoor 5G radio equipment at two locations in 2023 before permission was granted on 14 November that year. These are allegations recited in Tuas's disclosure, not a regulator's findings.

The sharpest turn in the board-authorised filing comes after the frequency list. It says IMDA alleges the two spectrum deployments were intentional and approved by Simba senior management. It also alleges deliberate failure to produce all documents under an IMDA order and flags possible deficiencies in governance and compliance culture. A mis-set radio can be retuned. A question about who signed off and what records were handed over reaches the operator's chain of command.

IMDA's menu of possible action, as disclosed by Tuas, includes suspension or cancellation of a spectrum right or part of one, compliance orders, licence changes or suspension, and added governance conditions. The cited penalty ceiling is the higher of 10% of the annual turnover of the relevant part of the business in the latest audited accounts or S$1 million; it is a statutory ceiling in the notice, not a bill sent to Simba. In May, IMDA had already suspended its assessment of the proposed M1–Simba consolidation. That earlier procedural move and this show-cause notice are different decisions.

Tuas says IMDA has reached no conclusion on either findings or action. The public filing summarises the notice but does not attach the notice itself or Simba's response. For now, the case sits where serious oversight should begin: with allegations precise enough to answer, a deadline, and records that may show who controlled the lanes.

Original sources