THE Pakatan Harapan Communication, Digital and Multimedia Committee urged the Government to allow the controversy surrounding Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) and the 5G rollout to be debated in the Parliament before it starts.
“This issue must be also be scrutinised by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Infrastructure Development before being implemented.
“There is no need to take unnecessary risks when the 5G roll out can be done in a way where the Government can earn from it, instead of incurring debt,” it said in a statement.
When Putrajaya decided to establish DNB to manage the 5G rollout in Malaysia, many have raised questions on the lack of transparency on the matter and were shocked by the RM12 bil price tag.
Several high-ranking politicians, including former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak warned that the Government could lose trillions of ringgit should DNB fail in its plans to roll out 5G to the whole country.
The Pekan MP then suggested for the Government to sell DNB stakes to local telecommunication players to ensure the 5G rollout is monitored and managed effectively.
“Telcos must be allowed to play an active role in managing and monitoring DNB so that the 5G infrastructure can be better implemented,” Najib was reported saying then.
Blogger Ahirudin Attan also raised red flags over the matter, alleging that the Government’s scheme would enrich a select few at the expense of taxpayers.
“Instead of assigning the 5G spectrum to multiple private mobile network operators such as Celcom and Maxis, Malaysia’s previous Government led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin decided to go with a single wholesale network (SWN) approach.
“The talk in town is that five people will benefit from this, with hundreds of million in their accounts to last for at least five generations,” he claimed in his blog.
Touching on the matter, Pakatan said that DNB, being a Government’s special purpose vehicle (SPV), was slated to spend between RM16.5 bil and RM20 bil in the next 10 years to build the 5G infrastructure, covering 80% of the country by 2024.
They added that salaries and emoluments for DNB staffers alone would come up to RM2.5 bil, averaging RM34,722 a month in the next decade.
What happens when we move beyond 5G?
“This is completely different when we rolled out the 2G, 3G and 4G coverage before, where telecommunication players were allowed to bid for them.
“But for the 5G rollout, telecommunication players have to rent the spectrum from DNB, for a fixed price and a set time frame,” they noted.
In terms of public coffers, Pakatan said that an open bid for the 5G spectrum among telecommunication providers would generate between RM7 bil and RM12 bil in revenue for the Government.
As the country was still reeling from the COVID-19 crisis, they opined that such massive revenue would be of great help to the Government.
“In an interview on Oct 16, DNB CEO said that his establishment is planning to take series of loans from the banks and issue sukuk bonds worth RM8 bil by next year.
“As DNB is fully-owned by the Government, the loans will become contingent liability, which means the risks will be borne by taxpayers should it fail to repay its loans.
“That’s why we are urging the Government to review the matter as it risks piling up our debt ratio in the future,” it quipped.
On technicality, Pakatan said it was unnecessary for the Government to put itself in such a risk as the world may move to higher broadband spectrum in the future.
Based on the guidelines provided by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), local telecommunication players were only allowed to use existing spectrum, covering up to 4G.
“Therefore, this decision will only impede future improvements and eliminate technology neutrality,” it remarked. – Oct 28, 2021
