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 |
| 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 010 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 as of 2014.
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%)[7]
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.[8]
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.
- ↑ "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.
External links
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