U Mobile today has officially named Huawei and ZTE as its technology partners for the deployment of Malaysia’s second 5G network, or as the brand calls it, the “Next Gen 5G Network“. An official signing between all three parties was held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre earlier today, which was attended by communications minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil and China’s party secretary of industry and information technology Li Lecheng.
During the ceremony, U Mobile chairman Vincent Tan revealed that the telco aims to achieve 80% of populated area coverage within the first 12 months of the Next Gen 5G rollout, with 90% targeted for the following year. However, the burning question on everyone’s mind remains unanswered, as the exact date of its rollout has yet to be made known, though U Mobile CTO Woon Ooi Yuen mentioned during the Q&A session that it could potentially happen during the second half of 2026.
The telco clarified that its Next Gen 5G network is designed to be enterprise-grade, offering 5G and 5G-Advanced solutions, robust security and future-ready infrastructure for both businesses and consumers. According to Woon, U Mobile will utilise 5G SA (5G Standalone) infrastructure from day one of deployment.
As for the involvement of Huawei and ZTE, it is revealed that the former will be in charge of the Next Gen 5G rollout in Peninsular Malaysia while the latter will handle East Malaysia. Both will support the telco by providing advanced hardware and software technologies, including the former’s MetaAAU and the latter’s 5G CommonCore and Radio Access Network (RAN) solutions.
U Mobile said the two companies were chosen through a transparent and competitive tender process. Prior to this, Huawei had supported the telco in conducting a 5G trial on the first Penang Bridge, achieving seamless network coverage with speeds exceeding 120Mbps across its 13.5km span. ZTE, meanwhile, showcased its technologies during last year’s SUKMA games, enabling the event to be broadcast live via 5G-A.
On 5G network pricing, CEO Wong Heang Tuck says U Mobile’s wholesale rates is expected to be similar to those offered by Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), which currently is at RM30,000 per gigabit/second a month (or 13 sen per gigabyte) for telecommunication companies. He added that it wouldn’t make sense for the company to offer lower or higher than what’s already been set by DNB.
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