Telekom Malaysia (TM) hired Axiata executive Shazalli Ramly, who previously led Celcom, as its new MD and group CEO.

Ramly was CEO of Celcom from 2005 to September 2016, when he was appointed to the newly created role of CEO for Southeast Asia for Axiata.

After AmInvestment Bank suggested last week the two companies could be preparing for a merger, the move increases speculation about a possible re-merger between fixed-line operator TM and Axiata, which was de-merged from TM in 2008, the New Straits Times reported.

Given Ramly’s experience within TM before the de-merger, “the usual management dysfunctions arising from a text-book merger case could be significantly reduced”, the bank said.

TM, which has more than 28,000 employees, re-entered the wireless space with the launch of Webe in 2016. TM rebranded Packet One Networks (P1), which it acquired in 2014.

Webe is a minor player in Malaysia with less than 500,000 WiMAX subscribers, and TM is understood to have wider ambitions in the mobile sector.

Malaysia, with a population of 30 million, is a fiercely competitive market with six mobile players.

Axiata said in a statement Ramly “was instrumental in steering Celcom to 32 consecutive quarters of growth with his focus on brand building, innovative marketing strategies, understanding customer needs and strengthening the company’s fundamentals”.

In addition to Celcom, Axiata operates mobile units in eight countries in Asia.