Malaysian mobile operators CelcomDigi and Maxis have increased their respective stakes in Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) after snapping up the government's stake in the 5G wholesale operator.

Both telcos confirmed the acquisitions via Malaysian stock exchange filings last week.

It means that the ownership of the DNB, which was set up in 2021 is now private after the government sold its 41.7 percent stake.

As part of the deal, each telco will pay $82.7 million to the Minister of Finance Inc (MoF Inc), which issued an option notice in December for the stake.

The other stakeholder in the DNB, YTL Power, is yet to announce its acquisition of the DNB's shares.

Malaysian operators Celcom Axiata, DiGi Malaysia, Maxis, YTL Communications, Telekom Malaysia, and U Mobile all signed up for a ten-year agreement with the DNB. Celcom and Digi have since merged.

Launched in 2021, DNB has seen its network heavily scrutinized by Prime Minister Ibrahim's administration over claims of transparency issues. This led Ibrahim's administration to review DNB's plan for a state-owned 5G network, with DNB quite clear that it was to be the only 5G network in the country.

U Mobile opted to sell its stake in DNB last year to pursue its own 5G network, selling 33,333 shares each to CelcomDigi, Maxis, and YTL.

Late last month, Telekom Malaysia and U Mobile separately announced a three-year wholesale agreement that will see TM offer 5G services via U Mobile instead.

U Mobile has selected Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE as network technology partners for its 5G network, a stark contrast to DNB, which opted for Ericsson.