With TM’s extensive nationwide fiber footprint — spanning over 740,000 kilometers — U Mobile seeks to expedite the rollout of its next-gen 5G network
$568 million deal – Telekom Malaysia will provide nationwide fiber, data center access, and interconnect services to support U Mobile’s 5G rollout during 10 years.
Aims for 80% coverage in 12 months – The partnership leverages TM’s 740,000 km fiber network to accelerate U Mobile’s deployment of Malaysia’s second 5G network.
TM deal ensures robust nationwide support – TM’s edge facilities and trunk lines will help U Mobile deliver low-latency 5G services across key sectors like healthcare, transport and smart cities.
Malaysian carrier U Mobile has selected compatriot operator Telekom Malaysia (TM) as its fiber backhaul partner to accelerate the deployment of its 5G network nationwide. The telco said that the 10-year partnership agreement is valued at RM2.4 billion ($568 billion).
Under this partnership, TM will provide U Mobile a comprehensive suite of backhaul infrastructure services, including fiber leased line access to U Mobile’s 5G radio access network (RAN), data center and TM edge facility leasing for points of interconnect (POIs), as well as trunk leased line for inter-regional connectivity.
With TM’s extensive nationwide fiber footprint — spanning more than 740,000 kilometers —U Mobile seeks to expedite the rollout of its next-gen 5G network across the Asian country.
Wong Heang Tuck, CEO of U Mobile, said: “Together with TM and other partners, we are committed to reaching 80% coverage of populated areas within 12 months.”
U Mobile recently said it will exit from the shareholders’ agreement (SHA) with state-run 5G network Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), divesting its entire 100,000 shares in the entity.
The telco said that this move is part of its transition as the country’s newest 5G network provider. U Mobile assured its customers that their 5G experience would not be impacted by their SHA exit, as the company will continue to maintain a 5G wholesale access agreement with DNB.
The Malaysian carrier has recently selected Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE as its key technology partners to build a new 5G network in the country.
The new network will support advanced features like network slicing and 5G-A capabilities from the beginning. These tools will help businesses tailor their network usage based on specific needs, such as for healthcare, transportation and smart cities, U Mobile said.
The company also plans to improve indoor coverage by increasing the number of indoor 5G sites. Key areas of focus for the rollout include transport hubs, medical centers, sports venues, smart cities and data centers.
The Asian telco noted that Huawei and ZTE were chosen through a competitive tender process launched last year. While suppliers from various regions were invited, only the two Chinese firms submitted proposals, it added.
In November 2024, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) gave the approval to deploy the second 5G network to U Mobile, the third-largest operator in the country.
At that time, U Mobile said that it will also be working with DNB to ensure the quality of 5G service is maintained.
In May 2023, Malaysian authorities had said that the country would shift to a dual 5G network once DNB achieved 80% coverage in populated areas, something that occurred in December 2023.
The government of Malaysia had also revoked a previous ministerial direction of 2021, which had designated DNB as the sole entity responsible for Malaysia’s 5G deployment.
DNB was set up by the Malaysian government in 2021 as a special purpose vehicle to develop the country’s 5G network infrastructure, which private telecommunications firms are currently using to offer 5G services to their customers. DNB’s 5G network was deployed by Ericsson.
As of today, all operators in Malaysia are offering 5G service in Malaysia via DNB.
CelcomDigi, Maxis, YTL and U Mobile currently hold stakes in DNB, each with a 16.3% share.
