PUTRAJAYA – The special purpose vehicle for the nation’s 5G roll-out, Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), is expected to announce its new chief executive officer (CEO) soon.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that DNB is scheduled to hold a meeting tomorrow, after which the company should be making certain announcements.
“DNB will have an important meeting tomorrow and before the end of the day, there might be some announcements.
“(The announcements might address) the company’s leadership, including a new DNB CEO,” Fahmi said in a press conference at the ministry’s headquarters here today.
The minister, who is also Lembah Pantai MP, added that DNB has good news to share on the nation’s 5G roll-out, which was recorded at 66.8% as of the end of July.
He also hinted that Maxis’s 5G access agreement with DNB and matters relating to shared subscription agreements might be addressed after tomorrow’s meeting.
Previously, it was reported that then DNB CEO Augustus Ralph Marshall’s contract ended on March 11 and was not extended beforehand, with his role now temporarily split between two officials.
Marshall, who led the roll-out of Maxis and Astro Networks, was appointed DNB’s CEO in March 2021.
Fahmi had subsequently said that the Finance Ministry will be handling the appointment of DNB’s new CEO.
This, he said, is because his ministry’s handling of the company does not cover the appointment of board members.
Meanwhile, on a separate matter, Fahmi said today that he has told the telcos involved in the 5G roll-out that extra charges should not be levied on customers who wished upgrade to the bandwidth.
“I have conveyed to them the position of cabinet and the sentiments of the people on these extra charges.
“I’ve contacted them (telcos) to clarify and rectify the issue, so I’ll leave it to the MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) to address the matter,” he added.
He also said that the ministry is targeting to hold engagement sessions with e-commerce platforms in a bid to facilitate discussions on the digital economy. – August 29, 2023