PARLIAMENT | Communications and Multimedia Deputy Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin revealed that the appointment of Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) to be in charge of Malaysia's 5G network rollout was decided unilaterally by the Finance Ministry.
He said the Communications and Multimedia Ministry (KKMM) was suddenly asked by the Finance Ministry to approve DNB to handle the 5G network rollout without any prior discussion.
"When we were called by the Finance Ministry to give the approval to DNB, we did not discuss it. Suddenly the Finance Ministry called (and said) have to give it to DNB.
"After that, we did question about the pricing, since we were giving the 5G spectrum to DNB who will later sell it to the telecommunications companies (telcos), which means it would be double the price.
"But DNB gave us assurance that the price would be cheaper than 4G currently… This is something that is truly magical, and we accepted it. So we were forced to agree," Zahidi said in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question from Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (Pakatan Harapan-Ledang), who had asked whether the government had any backup plans if they decided not to go with the single wholesale network model.
Zahidi said KKMM had met with DNB after that to discuss the 5G network rollout, including urging the company to work with Telekom Malaysia that already has the backbone.
"Because DNB does not have anything. That means the company was formed, (DNB CEO Ralph) Marshall was called in, and (they were) straightaway asked to handle the 5G rollout.
"So we asked, what about the involvement of bumiputeras, why can't this be done with Telekom, and so on," the deputy minister said.
Fahmi Fadzil (Harapan-Lembah Pantai) initially asked Zahidi why DNB was given the project if they did not have any experience or infrastructure, but later quipped that he would have to ask the Finance Ministry.
Zahidi said he agrees that the 5G spectrum should have been given to the private sector telcos to expedite the rollout process as they already have the infrastructure in place.
"But the Finance Ministry wanted to get involved in telecommunications, so we let them do it… and we tried to cooperate with them.
"When DNB said they want to do it – I am giving their justification so that we can be fair to DNB – their reasoning was that the telcos were not done with 4G yet, so they want to do 5G.
"That means we accepted their reasoning because they want to control 5G," he said.
DNB is a special purpose vehicle that is wholly owned by MOF Inc.
'No questions could be asked'
In a press conference in Parliament later, Syed Ibrahim and Fahmi urged for more transparency and oversight in the 5G network rollout due to concerns of corruption and wastage after Zahidi's revelation.
They pointed out that DNB was formed during the state of emergency in Malaysia and as such, it could not be questioned due to the suspension of Parliament under the emergency.
"DNB was formed during the emergency and during the emergency, no questions could be asked (about such projects).
"So to me, there could have been an attempt to create a megaproject that cannot be questioned.
"I urge Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to re-examine this matter carefully," Syed Ibrahim said.
Fahmi also urged Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz to step forward to provide a full explanation on the matter and warned that this could end up like the 1MDB financial scandal.
"I even misspoke just now while asking the deputy minister about something else, where I mistook DNB for 1MDB.
"We do not want DNB to become like 1MDB," he said.
Fahmi also said he had already set a bipartisan meeting where DNB representatives will engage with all MPs in Parliament next week. - Mkini
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