In this biweekly Asia-Pacific Regulatory Spotlight feature, S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a roundup of significant recent regulatory events in the region.
TOP NEWS
* As expected, embattled Indian telco operator Aircel Ltd., along with units Aircel Cellular Ltd. and Dishnet Wireless Ltd., on Feb. 28 said it filed for bankruptcy. The debt-laden Aircel, a subsidiary of Malaysian mobile network operator Maxis Communications Bhd., said "intense competition following the disruptive entry of a new player, legal and regulatory challenges, high level of unsustainable debt and increased losses" caused a significant impact on its business and reputation.
* As expected, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Feb. 26 formally released an issues paper that outlines the focus of its investigation on digital platforms like Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc. unit Google Inc., and is seeking feedback on issues that is relevant to the inquiry.
* Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. revealed at the Mobile World Congress 2018 that its complete commercial fixed-wireless access 5G service received approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, ZDNet reported Feb. 26.
* South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service said it will support "normal transactions" of cryptocurrencies, a week after the financial regulator banned trading through anonymous bank accounts, Yonhap News Agency reported Feb. 20.
CHINA
* China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television wants online quiz shows to refrain from promoting extravagance or sensationalism, as some quizzes contain "vulgar and tawdry" content, Reuters reported Feb. 15, citing a statement.
INDIA
* The Bangladeshi High Court unblocked the bank accounts of Robi Axiata Ltd., a subsidiary of Malaysian telco Axiata Group Bhd., The Daily Star reported Feb. 28. The news came a day after the accounts were frozen by the National Board of Revenue in Bangladesh upon discovering that Robi had unpaid supplementary duty and VAT on services and sales amounting to 187.2 million Bangladeshi taka to Bangladesh Telecommunications Co. Ltd.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
* Thailand's State Enterprise Workers' Union filed a lawsuit against state-owned CAT Telecom Public Co. Ltd., in an attempt to scrap plans to create two new companies out of CAT Telecom and TOT Plc, Thairath reported Feb. 28.
* Thailand's state telco TOT will be fined 400,000 Thai baht per day from Feb. 25 for being behind schedule in the rollout of high-speed broadband to villages in the north and northeast of Thailand, Manager reported Feb. 21.
* The Singapore government will impose a "Netflix tax" on consumers of imported digital media services, such as Netflix Inc. and Spotify AB, in 2020, Business Times reported Feb. 20.
* The Competition Commission of Singapore on Feb. 19 said it plans to do a further in-depth assessment of the tie-up between the city-state's top taxi operator ComfortDelGro Corp. Ltd. and Uber Technologies Inc. following an initial review.
AUSTRALIA
* Australian logistics software company Getswift Ltd. on Feb. 28 confirmed it was under investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which according to The Sydney Morning Herald comes after the company admitted that the majority of its customers do not pay for its services and are presently in a "pre-revenue generating phase."
* Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.'s involvement in new 5G mobile networks in Australia will need to undergo a full national security assessment by the country's Home Affairs Department, despite holding a position in a government-led 5G working group, The Australian Financial Review reported Feb. 26, citing a spokesman for Communications Minister Mitch Fifield.
