During today’s press conference held by Communications Ministry Fahmi Fadzil, it was announced that the Cabinet has decided to place Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) and CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM) under the new Digital Ministry.
Digital Nasional Berhad is Malaysia’s 5G Single Wholesale Network. 5 telcos namely CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile, Telekom Malaysia and YTL Communications have recently signed a Share Subscription Agreement (SSA) to collectively acquire a 70% stake in the state-owned 5G network. The equity stake deal is expected to be completed soon after satisfying the necessary due diligence requirements.
During the press conference, Fahmi shared that Malaysia’s 5G network deployed by DNB has reached 80.2% population coverage as of 31st December 2023. DNB has been tasked to expedite its 5G rollout to hit 80% 5G population coverage by the end of 2023, which is a full year ahead of schedule. With this latest milestone, the government is expected to decide soon on the transition from a Single Wholesale Network to a Dual Network approach for 5G.
The recent move to place DNB under Gobind Singh’s Digital Ministry raises eyebrows as the company is essentially a telecommunications company regulated under the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). The MCMC is currently still under the Ministry of Communications which Fahmi Fadzil currently heads.
The position of Digital Nasional Berhad was previously up in the air after the government announced a split of the Communications and Digital Ministry in early December. Fahmi said previously that the only digital thing about DNB is its name as it is still an infrastructure company.
Interestingly, CyberSecurity Malaysia which was previously meant to be transferred from Fahmi’s Communications and Digital Ministry to the Prime Minister Department, is now placed under the Digital Ministry. CSM initially started as MyCERT in 1997 as a unit under MIMOS and then, it was spun off as a separate entity under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) in 2005. Eventually, it was renamed CyberSecurity Malaysia in 2007 before it was transferred to the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia in 2018.
At the moment, Fahmi’s Communications Ministry oversees RTM, JaPen, J-KOM, IPPTAR, Bernama, FINAS, MCMC and MyCreative Ventures. Meanwhile, Gobind’s Digital Ministry will oversee the Personal Data Protection Department (JPDP), MDEC, MYNIC and MAMPU, in addition to DNB and CyberSecurity Malaysia.
So far there’s no mention of MyDigital which is currently under the Ministry of Economy, helmed by Rafizi Ramli.
Meanwhile, MIMOS, Malaysia’s national applied research and development centre under the PM’s Department, will return to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). However, Fahmi said MIMOS’ digital ID functions (MyDigital ID) will remain under the PM’s Department. After it is fully developed in March, it will be then helmed by the Digital Ministry.
