Prior to the announcement of the MyDigital initiative on 19 February 2021, the commercial availability of 5G in Malaysia was only expected to take place at the end of 2022 or early 2023 after Phase 1 of Jalinan Digital Negara (JENDELA) is completed. Through MyDigital, the rollout is being brought forward much earlier after PM Muhyiddin announced that the public will be able to utilise 5G in Malaysia by the end of this year.
Trusted with the country’s 5G spectrum, the SPV will then build and manage the national 5G infrastructure. To be regulated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the new government-owned entity has also been tasked to provide telcos and industry players with open and fair access to the 5G network. In its announcement today, MoF has revealed that the new SPV will be called Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB). The ministry has also named Augustus Ralph Marshall who has made his mark as part of the top management in Astro and Maxis, as the CEO for DNB. In addition to that, DNB will be chaired by the Secretary-General of The Treasury, Asri Hamidon. MoF has also roped in the Director-General of MAMPU Dr Yusof Ismail, former Chairman of MCMC Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, and local corporate & legal figure Muthanna Abdullah to be part of DNB’s board of directors. MoF has also noted in its announcement that additional members of DNB’s senior management team will be announced soon. Given the accelerated timeline for 5G in Malaysia, stay tuned for more as it seems likely that further updates regarding DNB could take place in a rapid manner. (Source: Ministry of Finance. Image: AirAsia Digital.)
