TM, U Mobile explores 5G network sharing opportunities

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 16): Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) and U Mobile Sdn Bhd have teamed up to explore network sharing opportunities using TM’s 5G Demonstration Project (5GDP) Langkawi network as the platform.

Under the partnership, both parties will be exploring several network infrastructures sharing models such as Multi-Operator Core Node (MOCN) or Multi-Operator Radio Access Network (MORAN), the companies said in a joint statement.

The collaboration reiterates both parties’ commitment towards enabling an efficient and cost-effective implementation for immersive, wide-area 5G coverage ahead of the full-scale infrastructure deployment in the country.

TM group chief executive officer Datuk Noor Kamarul Annuar Nuruddin said the company has been a strong advocate of infrastructure sharing, which had become the norm in many countries, including for 5G.

“As the industry gears up for the next wave of infrastructure investments to support innovative 5G use cases and ever-growing customer demand for mobile broadband, telcos are eyeing new ways of accelerating the deployment of an otherwise daunting investment.

"This is where collaboration will be key for telcos in an era of shared 5G networks," he said.

Meanwhile, U Mobile chief executive officer, Wong Heang Tuck said 5G is a core priority of U Mobile.

Over the past few months, it has been conducting live trials to unleash the unlimited potential of 5G for various verticals such as healthcare.

"We are ready to roll out these services once 5G becomes commercially available.

"With this MoU, we hope to establish a win-win partnership with TM in the coming months as we approach 5G commercial availability this year,” said Wong.

Before the spectrum becomes available later in the year, both telcos are now running full-fledged 5G live trials while continuing to upgrade their core network.

TM has already embarked on 11 use cases out of a total of 35 use cases under the 5GDP project undertaken by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in Langkawi.

The use cases deployed by TM cover Smart City, Smart Tourism and Smart Agriculture clusters, focusing on making life easier, meeting the needs and enriching the lives of the rakyat.

As for 5G network, TM has installed eight out of the total 26 live 5G testing sites in Langkawi.

In addition, it has also deployed the operations of an Integrated Operations Command Centre (IOCC) or known as TM 5G Command Centre (5GCC) which is at the heart of 5G implementation in Langkawi.

U Mobile, on the other hand, has deployed 5G network in Langkawi and is showcasing 5G use cases for Healthcare, Tourism, Entertainment and enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB).