Putrajaya has been urged to hold on to its “golden” share of Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) amid talk of a deal to set up a second 5G mobile network operator.
In a statement, former deputy international trade and industry minister Ong Kian Ming said this is necessary to ensure the assets and structure of DNB are protected and not sold to the private sector.
The former Bangi MP said Putrajaya must also continue to ensure it is allowed to appoint the chairperson of DNB and have veto rights to appoint the DNB CEO.
“At a time when there has been so much uncertainty over the direction and survival of DNB as an entity, these powers are necessary to ensure the ability of DNB to survive as a going concern and not utilised by the telcos for their own private interests.
“If the government did not have these powers, the telcos, or a group of telcos with a majority stake in DNB, may appoint a chairperson and CEO who may change the terms of the Reference Access Offer (RAO) to decrease the telcos’ payments to DNB, which may jeopardise the maintenance and further enhancement of the 5G network,” said Ong.
He was responding to an article by Channel News Asia which speculated that a deal would be signed today to set up a second 5G network provider.
The article speculated that as a compromise, Putrajaya will have to give up control of DNB and that China’s Huawei will be allowed to participate in the second network.
Huawei is currently facing sanctions by the US and many European nations due to spying claims.
DNB is wholly owned by the Finance Ministry and was set up in March 2021 by the Muhyiddin Yassin administration as a single-wholesale network (SWN), thereby removing the need for mobile operators to compete in infrastructure.
This plan came under fire from industry players as the Muhyiddin administration jettisoned a plan by his predecessors for telecommunication companies to form their own consortiums to bid for 5G spectrums.
Swedish firm Ericsson eventually won the deal to develop DNB’s infrastructure.
Under the Muhyiddin-era plan, DNB was to maintain a 35 percent stake and sell off its remaining stake to local mobile operators.
However, CelcomDigi and government-linked Telekom Malaysia (TM) have since pulled out of their respective share sale agreements.
Maxis, the second largest telco in Malaysia by market share, has refused to invest in DNB and is one of the main advocates of breaking up DNB. However, the firm finally signed an access agreement with DNB this year. - Mkini
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