Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), the state-owned company currently tasked with rolling out 5G infrastructure in Malaysia, will be taken over by a private entity once it achieves a stated population coverage target. Confirming these plans in an interview on Bernama TV, Datuk Mohd Ali Hanafiah Mohd Yunus, the COO of local regulator the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), said that once DNB reaches 80% population coverage a private entity will take over the company and the government will withdraw its holding.
An announcement regarding the state’s plans for its shareholding in DNB comes just a few days after confirmation that the government will allow the deployment of a second 5G network from next year, subject to DNB achieving its rollout target.