Set up earlier this year and wholly owned by the finance ministry, DNB has been tasked with building the country’s 5G infrastructure and managing the 5G spectrum.

In a joint statement, Pejuang youth chief Abu Hafiz Salleh Hudin and the party’s treasury and communications bureau said the model used for 3G and 4G, where telecommunications companies bore the infrastructure costs and paid the government for spectrum usage, could have netted the government an additional RM5 billion if used to roll out 5G.

Instead, they said the government has to spend RM15 billion by way of debt or the issuance of government-guaranteed bonds. As DNB is fully owned by the finance ministry, it will be Malaysians who have to pay this debt if the financial management and operations of DNB fail.

“Almost RM180 million of the people’s money has been injected into DNB, and it is estimated that another RM300 million will be channelled in the near future.

“At a time when people have no food and no jobs, this is an ugly waste.”

Furthermore, they said that given that government-linked investment companies already own shares in many local telcos, DNB could end up hurting these companies, whose shareholders such as Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) would be affected by lower returns.

“Is it appropriate to set up another new company in the same industry with funds from the capital market that are government-guaranteed?” they asked, comparing the structure to the infamous 1MDB scandal.

“These concerns were heightened when Fitch downgraded the rating of the Malaysian telecommunications sector following the announcement of the 5G roll out plan by outlining several issues, such as a lack of transparency and lack of private sector involvement.”