PUTRAJAYA must prioritise public interest in the shareholder agreement between Digital Nasional Bhd and telecommunication companies, former deputy international trade and industry minister Ong Kian Ming.

He said the government must hold on to its “golden share” in the 5G network to prevent a duopoly.

“My fear is that without proper safeguards, we will surely move to a situation where government oversight and public interest in DNB’s single wholesale network (SWN) are replaced by a private duopoly control over the 5G network where shareholder returns are prioritised above all else and public interest is deprioritised,” Ong said today in the statement.

DNB is a special purpose vehicle established by the government n 2021 to drive the development of 5G infrastructure in Malaysia.

Yesterday Channel NewsAsia reported that Malaysian telcos are set to agree a compromise deal with the government that will pave the way for a second operator in the national 5G rollout.

Quoting industry executives close to the situation, the report said the plan will involve several stages before a second network is set up to operate alongside state-owned DNB, which will eventually be privatised.

Ong said the Finance Ministry, as the sole owner of special vehicle DNB, must not rush to sign the deal if it cannot guarantee that the interests of the government and the public are protected.

One said DNB must keep the majority of the shares so that it has the power to make important decisions on equity.

The former lawmaker said this will ensures that DNB’s assets and structure are safeguarded and not sold to private entities, such as telcos, for profit.

“The government must be able to appoint the chairman of DNB and must have veto power over the appointment of the 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 in order to ensure the ability of DNB to survive as a going concern and not utilised by the telcos for their own private interests.

“For example, if the government does not have these powers, the telcos (or a group of telcos with a majority stake in DNB), may appoint a chairman and CEO who may change the terms of the reference access offer to decrease the telcos’ payments to DNB, which may jeopardise the maintenance and further enhancement of the 5G network,” he said.

Ong called on Putrajaya to practise due diligence with a business plan, evaluated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. – December 1, 2023.