KUALA LUMPUR (May 3): Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) will hold a meeting next week to review due diligence findings on the 5G network rollout, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said on Friday.

The meeting, scheduled for May 7, will also address the remaining conditions precedent in the share subscription agreements with the telecom companies, Gobind told reporters at the sideline of an event involving DNB. The company will advise the government on the next steps after the meeting, he said.

“There are time frames that are set for that,” Gobind said. “After looking at the due diligence reports, I believe it takes 20 days for them to come back.”

The meeting follows the appointment of five new members nominated by the mobile network operators to the board of the state-owned company in charge of the 5G network infrastructure rollout under a share sale agreement.

On Dec 1, 2023, five mobile network operators — CelcomDigi Bhd, Maxis Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, U Mobile Sdn Bhd and YTL Communications Sdn Bhd — signed the agreement to take up stakes in DNB as part of the transition from single wholesale network to a dual network model.

It will be up to DNB “to study the reports that are put forward after the due diligence process and then, for them to decide the direction,” Gobind said. “It’s for them to actually look at that and then to come back to us and tell us what the next steps are,” he said.

“The government’s position has been that we would introduce a second network,” Gobind stressed. “As I said in my press conference in Penang last week, there’s an agreement between the telcos and DNB.”

Under the share sale agreement, the five mobile network operators will collectively subscribe to 70% equity in DNB, with each holding a 14% stake, leaving the Ministry of Finance Inc with 30% equity and a special share that will grant it certain special rights for a stipulated period.

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