Tuesday 8 September, 2026
Malaysia’s mobile networks are essential to the country’s growing digital economy. As demand for connectivity and data increases, managing the sector’s energy use, emissions and environmental footprint is becoming increasingly important. Malaysia’s telecommunications sector consumes around 2 TWh of electricity annually, making energy efficiency, access to lower-carbon energy and long-term network resilience key priorities.
To support this transition, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has co-created with industry the LESTARI: Sustainability Framework and Roadmap 2030 (SFR2030), which will be launched in Q4 2026. Its development involved 47 organisations and 116 participants, supported by four industry roundtables, helping ensure the framework reflects both industry realities and Malaysia’s wider transition priorities.
The framework provides a shared direction across three priorities; Climate Action, Social Impact & Inclusion, and Technology & Innovation – while supporting Malaysia’s wider national net zero and transition agenda.
SFR2030 recognises that organisations are at different stages of their sustainability journey. Its readiness-based approach therefore provides progressive pathways for action rather than prescribing a single model, allowing companies to advance according to their maturity and capabilities while working towards common sector outcomes.
MCMC is also using its convening role to address challenges that operators cannot resolve alone. This includes bringing mobile operators and tower companies into closer dialogue with relevant ministries, regulators, the energy ecosystem, technology partners and capital markets – helping connect national policy and transition priorities with practical industry needs.
Four flagship initiatives will support implementation through 2030: the Net Zero & Circularity Alliance, KITAR 2.0, the Alliance for Social Impact & Inclusion, and the Climate Technology Foundry. Together, they will provide platforms for collaboration on decarbonisation, circularity, social impact and climate technology adoption.
An important lesson from the development of SFR2030 is that many sustainability challenges extend beyond individual companies, and even the regulator itself. Renewable energy access, infrastructure, technology, financing and circularity all depend on a wider ecosystem.
Regulators therefore do not have to choose between standing back and imposing detailed sustainability requirements. By co-creating a shared direction, recognising different levels of readiness and bringing the right actors together, regulators can create the conditions for industry to act- helping future-proof the sector while supporting the wider national transition.
