Under the agreement, edotco will provide U Mobile with access to its tower infrastructure.
Malaysian telecommunications company U Mobile and the country’s telecommunications infrastructure company Edotco have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the rollout of 5G networks under the government’s dual network model.
U Mobile noted that the MoU with edotco endorses the company’s efforts to rapidly deploy its second 5G network in the Asian country.
Under the agreement, Edotco will provide U Mobile with information on and access to its tower infrastructure, as well as resource readiness and rapid site delivery to facilitate U Mobile’s 5G network rollout.
The two companies also plan to jointly develop processes to increase the efficiency of identifying suitable tower locations and structures based on AI and data-driven analytics, and work with various state government agencies to facilitate faster and more efficient land acquisition and permitting.
Additionally, the two parties will also discuss commercial arrangements for a range of infrastructure requirements, including bespoke sites, co-location, site upgrades and indoor coverage.
Woon Ooi Yuen, CTO of U Mobile, said: “With the Malaysian government mandating dual 5G networks to establish healthy competition in the telecommunications sector, U Mobile is pleased to leverage Edotco’s tower infrastructure footprint to accelerate our deployment and further strengthen our position to roll out the second 5G network.”
U Mobile said last month it had completed a share underwriting agreement (SSA) with state-run 5G network Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) and the country’s finance minister, and signed a shareholders’ agreement for its shareholding in DNB.
“U Mobile is pleased to have completed the SSA and signed the SHA with DNB, paving the way for the country’s transition to a dual 5G network model. We are committed to playing a key role in the development of Malaysia’s digital economy by driving the adoption of 5G and demonstrating its benefits to consumers, businesses and the public sector,” said U Mobile CEO Wong Hiang Tak.
Rival telcos Celcomdiji, Maxis and YTL have also signed similar agreements with DNB. Telekom Malaysia (TM) is the only telco that is yet to sign an SSA with DNB as it needs shareholder approval in accordance with governance requirements.
The SSA stipulates that operators will have the option to opt out of DNBs to join the planned second phase of 5G networks. Maxis, U Mobile, YTL and CelcomDigi have all issued statements of strong interest in joining the second phase of 5G networks.
Malaysian authorities had said in May 2023 that the country would move to a dual 5G network once DNB achieved 80% coverage in densely populated areas, which happened in December 2023. As of the end of April, DNB’s 5G network had reached 81.5% of all densely populated areas, with a deployment rate of 39.2%.
DNB was established in 2021 by the Malaysian government as a special purpose vehicle to develop the country’s 5G network infrastructure. Currently, private telecommunications companies are using this infrastructure to provide 5G services to their customers. DNB’s 5G network was deployed by Ericsson.
