U Mobile
- Not to be confused with ümobile, a similarly named company in the Philippines.
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry |
Mobile Telecommunications Mobile TV (discontinued) |
| Founded | 1998 (As MiTV Networks Sdn Bhd) |
| Headquarters | Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
Key people |
Tan Sri Vincent Tan Wong Heang Tuck (CEO) |
| Products |
Mobile LiveTV™ (discontinued) Mobile Data (U Broadband) Mobile Telephony Mobile Multimedia |
Number of employees | 700+ |
| Website |
www |
U Mobile Sdn Bhd is a Malaysian mobile telecommunications service provider and was founded in 1998 as MiTV Networks Sdn Bhd. U Mobile is a wholly owned subsidiary of U Television Sdn Bhd, which was formerly known as U Telecom Media Holdings Sdn Bhd and MiTV Corporation Sdn Bhd.
The company utilises the 018 and 011 prefix allocated to the organisation by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).[1]
In addition to offering mobile telephony and mobile data, U Mobile offers a mobile TV service, Mobile LiveTV, that utilises Digital Video Broadcast – Handheld (DVB-H) technology.[2] U Mobile commenced its mobile service and Mobile LiveTV user trial in 2007.[3]
History
In April 2007, U Television Sdn Bhd signed the country's first nationwide domestic roaming memorandum of understanding, which led to an agreement with the mobile network operator Celcom (M) Bhd allowing U Mobile’s customers nationwide coverage while U Mobile rolled out its own high-speed mobile 3G service nationwide.[4] The agreement was completed in June 2007.
In December 2007, the 3G communications operators KT Freetel and NTT DoCoMo jointly invested USD$200 million (est. RM669 million) for a total of 33% stake in U Mobile.
In March 2008, U Mobile launched its first publicly available product called "Surf with U", a data-only plan for mobile users provided using U Mobile's HSDPA-driven mobile network. The following month, it rolled out its first mobile service, the postpaid U38 plan.[5] In July, U Mobile launched two new postpaid services, U68 and U98, and the 018 Prepaid service.
In 2009, KT Freetel, one of U Mobile's foreign investors, sold its 16.5% stake (62.6 million shares) to U Mobile’s major shareholder.[6]
In November 2012, U Mobile activated RAN Sharing with Maxis and transitioned its 2G network provider from Celcom to Maxis.
On 17 December 2013, U Mobile launched its LTE network on the 2600 MHz band that covers the Klang Valley. U Mobile has currently about 2 million subscribers at the end of 2014.
In 26 May 2016, U Mobile become the first carrier in Malaysia to support Wi-Fi calling, initially only supporting iPhone owners owning iPhone 5c or later running iOS 9.3 and above. WiFi Calling for Android users will likely be rolled out on by 3Q 2016 according to U Mobile CMO Jasmine Lee.[7][8]
Stakeholders
The major shareholder of U Mobile includes Straits Mobile Investments Pte. Ltd (49%), followed by U Telemedia Sdn Bhd (21.46%), Sultan Ibrahim (15%), Magnum Bhd (6.33%), Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun (6.2%) and Berjaya Infrastructure Sdn Bhd (2.01%)[9]
Network
| Frequency | Frequency Width | Protocol | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2100 MHz (1920~1935, 2110~2125) | 2 * 15 MHz | UMTS/HSPA | |
| 2600 MHz (2520~2530, 2640~2650) | 2 * 10 MHz | LTE |
- U Mobile uses Maxis 2G nationwide network.
Partners
U Mobile's partners include:
- Atos Origin: Integrator of the BSCS iX Release 2 Billing System.
- LHS: Supplier of the BSCS iX Release 2 Billing System
- Ericsson: High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) solutions and management provider
- Nokia Siemens Networks: Implementation, integration, and application development of DVB-H services, including the maintenance of MiTV’s infrastructure on a turnkey basis
- Maxis: Nationwide domestic roaming partner. U Mobile is roaming on Maxis' 2G network nationwide, shares the 2100 MHz spectrum/3G network on the area outside Klang Valley, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Penang and Negeri Sembilan.
- Rohde & Schwarz Malaysia: Supplier of low, medium and high powered digital television transmitters for the rollout implementation and coverage expansion of U Mobile’s Mobile LiveTV.
- Huawei: Telecommunication equipment provider, from access layers to core transmissions.
- ZTE: Telecommunication equipment provider
Subscribers
As of June 2015, U Mobile has over four million active customers.[10]
References
- ↑ Jeff, Ooi (11 April 2007). "018 mobile prefix put to better use". CNET Asia. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
- ↑ Clement, Teo (18 June 2007). "MiTV and Nokia announce live DVB-H mobile TV service for Malaysia". Nokia MobileTV Forum. Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
- ↑ Jo, Timbuong (20 September 2007). "U Mobile is newest cellular service provider". TheStar Online: Tech Central. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
- ↑ Surin, Murugiah (10 April 2007). "MiTV to offer 3G service in 2H". The Edge Daily. Archived from the original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
- ↑ "U Mobile Launches its Post Paid Service – U38 Plan" (PDF). 15 April 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
- ↑ "KT Freetel will sell 16.5% of its stake in U Mobile". Bloomberg. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
- ↑ "U Mobile Launches WiFi Calling Service". Bernama. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ↑ Tan Kit Hoong (26 May 2016). "U Mobile offers WiFi Calling for iPhone users". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ↑ "Johor Sultan raises stake in U Mobile". The Rakyat Post. 19 December 2015.
- ↑ "Telco Deep Dive: U Mobile plans to be a 'strong No 4'". Digital News Asia. Retrieved 31 October 2015.