In a reply to Fahmi Fadzil (PH-Lembah Pantai) in the Dewan Rakyat today, the finance ministry said the government will not be involved in providing any guarantees or funding to DNB, as alleged by certain parties.

“The loans will be repaid after the company receives income from its wholesale capacity sales,” it said.

“Up to January, DNB had spent RM544 million as costs for network infrastructure, network hardware and working capital.”

Fahmi had asked the government whether public funds had been given, directly or indirectly, to DNB since last year and how much the company had spent.

The ministry also said the 5G network was currently available in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Cyberjaya.

The service would be expanded to Penang, Johor, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Melaka this year.

DNB, an agency wholly owned by the finance ministry, has been tasked with building and managing the 5G network, but has run into problems with poor take-up by telcos.

Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson won an RM11 billion contract to serve as DNB’s network equipment provider after an open tender process.