U Mobile has signed an MoU with EdgePoint, making the telecommunication infrastructure company one of the telco’s preferred 5G In-Building Coverage (IBC) infrastructure partners. The new deal comes just over a week after U Mobile received the Letter of Award from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to roll out Malaysia’s second 5G network.
The telco already signed an MoU with EdgePoint last July, although the newly announced deal is more specific to 5G IBC. As part of the new cooperation, both parties will develop and deploy 5G IBC solutions specifically tailored to each site.
In addition to that, they also aim to rapidly roll out these solutions while remaining cost-effective and will also look into future expansions as well as innovations within the 5G IBC space. EdgePoint currently operates over 1,800 sites throughout Malaysia, while it also has a presence in other ASEAN markets such as Indonesia and the Philippines.
At the moment, EdgePoint has more than 15,000 towers in these three markets. With over 25,000 tenants currently using its service, the company is already looking to expand its reach to over 20,000 towers within the next 2 to 3 years.
U Mobile’s growing list of partners for the new 5G network
U Mobile already signed up with plenty of partners to support its effort even before it was officially selected to deploy Malaysia’s second 5G network last November. Back in July, the telco also signed with another major telco infrastructure company and a long-time partner, Edotco to help U Mobile expedite the deployment of the new 5G network.
Aside from that, U Mobile has also signed a strategic partnership with 8 state-owned network infrastructure companies. The list includes D’ Harmoni Telco Infra of Johor, Konsortium Jaringan Selangor, Perlis Comm, Infra Quest of Kelantan, Sarawak’s Sacofa, Desabina Industries from Terengganu, PDC Telecommunication Services of Penang, and Perak’s PINS Network Solutions.
The telco has also roped in several telco equipment companies, such as ZTE and Huawei, for the new 5G network. The latter has even helped U Mobile demonstrate seamless 5G connectivity across the first Penang Bridge.
U Mobile has also managed to obtain support from AmBank and CIMB to help the company roll out the nation’s second 5G network. At the moment, the telco has yet to publicly detail the deployment timeline for the 5G network, although U Mobile Chairman Vincent Tan has previously said that rollout may take place within the next 15 to 18 months.
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