KUALA LUMPUR: An internal probe into Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) found that all its dealings are in order, says Gobind Singh Deo.
The Digital Minister said he had called for DNB authorities to provide a full explanation of their dealings since the ministry took over DNB earlier this year.
During the December 2023 cabinet reshuffle, the Communications and Digital Ministry was split into separate ministries.
“I ordered a due diligence audit to ensure good governance was adhered to.
“Findings revealed that administrative and financial aspects were all in order with no issues.
“I also want to stress here action will be taken if things out of the ordinary are brought to my attention,” Gobind said when winding up Budget 2025 debates on the Digital Ministry at the committee level on Thursday (Nov 28).
Gobind said the RM16.5bil funds to DNB were for a 10-year period and did not fully involve government funds.
He said government funds only involved a RM500mil equity injection in 2021 and a shareholder loan of RM450mil from the Minister of Finance Inc in May 2023.
“As of 2024, DNB has also spent as much as RM5 bil for developing and maintaining its 5G network,” he said.
“Apart from that, DNB’s expenditure was carried out through private loans, including banks and other sources,” he added.
Gobind added that government funds in DNB as well as bank loans, would be taken over by telecommunications companies and later paid to the government as part of the transition process to the dual-network 5G model.
“In other words, the government will still be paid by telcos and clearly shows that it will not sustain any losses,” he said.
Gobind said 41 projects worth RM51.8mil were awarded by DNB this year through a tender process.
“We always emphasise transparency when it comes to any steps taken by DNB,” he said, adding that it will continue being an industry player.
“I want to stress here, that we will investigate if there are any issues. We take an open approach,” Gobind added.
On Wednesday (Nov 27), Hassan Abdul Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang), had asked about claims that the previous Perikatan Nasional coalition, led by then-prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, allocated RM16.5bil of taxpayer money for the first 5G network rollout through DNB.
Hassan raised these points during Budget 2025 debates for the Communications Ministry at the committee level.
He also asked how much had been utilised so far and whether the total amount was audited by the Auditor-General.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil responded by saying DNB is under the Digital Ministry’s purview instead.
Fahmi also said that when the unity government took over, no one in the then Communications and Digital Ministry or Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission knew about DNB’s dealings.
