U Mobile

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Not to be confused with ümobile, a similarly-named company in the Philippines.

U Mobile Sdn Bhd

Type	Private
Founded	1998 (As MiTV Networks Sdn Bhd)
Headquarters	Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Key people	Tan Sri Vincent Tan
Industry	Mobile Telecommunications Mobile TV
Products	Mobile LiveTV™ (discontinued) Mobile Data (Surf with U) Mobile Telephony Mobile Multimedia
Employees	700+
Website	http://www.u.com.my

U Mobile Sdn Bhd is Malaysia’s newest 3G 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.

Utilising the 018 prefix allocated to the organisation by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) ^[1], U Mobile seeks to enrich the lives of consumers by making communication, entertainment and information easily accessible through advance technology via one convenient, ubiquitous platform.

In addition to offering mobile telephony and mobile data, U Mobile intends to be Malaysia’s first ever true mobile TV service provider with its Mobile LiveTV™ service that utilises internationally accepted Digital Video Broadcast – Handheld (DVB-H) technology ^[2]. U Mobile targets to commence its mobile service and Mobile LiveTV™ user trial before the end of 2007. ^[3]

Based on Bloomberg's feed^[4], KT Freetel, one of U Mobile's foreign investor, has announced that it is selling its 16.5% stake (62.6 million shares) to U Mobile’s major shareholder.

History

In April 2007, U Television Sdn Bhd signed Malaysia’s first ever nationwide domestic roaming memorandum of understanding which paved the way to an agreement with the country’s widest mobile network operator Celcom (M) Bhd allowing U Mobile’s customers to experience nationwide coverage from day one of market availability as U Mobile continues to progressively rollout its own high-speed mobile 3G service nationwide ^[5]. The agreement was completed in June 2007.

In December 2007, U Mobile announced that two of the world's leading 3G communications operators KT Freetel and NTT DoCoMo have jointly invested USD$200million (est. RM669 million) for a total of 33% stake in U Mobile. The announcement is arguably one of the most important mobile communications deal in Malaysia to date as it has the tremendous potential to shift the business model of the local telecommunication industry from a coverage dominated landscape to a products and content driven one through the influx of knowledge and expertise from the global leaders.

In March 2008, U Mobile launched its first ever publicly available product called Surf with U. Surf with U is a data only plan for mobile users provided using U Mobile's own HSDPA-driven mobile network. The following month, it rolled out its first mobile service, the postpaid U38 plan.^[6] In July, U Mobile launched two new postpaid services, U68 and U98, and the 018 Prepaid service.

Company Highlights

2006

• March 2006: Awarded the IMT-2000 spectrum assignment by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)
• April 2006: Began operations at Bangunan Singer, recruited first employee
• June 2006: Moved operations to KL Plaza
• August 2006:
  • Presented detailed business plan to MCMC
  • Signed 3G Contract Award with Ericsson (HSPA Infrastructure & Managed Services) ^[7]
• October 2006: Established operations headquarters at Berjaya Times Square and the technical operations centre at Lot 28, Subang Hi-Tech
• November 2006: Completed first video call test on own network
• December 2006: Commencement of internal trial with U Mobile employees

2007

• March 2007: Spectrum Assignment issued and prefix allocation of 018
• April 2007: Signed Nationwide Domestic Roaming MoU with Celcom (M) Bhd
• June 2007:
  • Joint announcement with Nokia Siemens Networks to launch commercial DVB-H service (Mobile LiveTV™) in Malaysia by second half of 2007. It is the first such announcement ever made in the country
  • Signed Malaysia’s first nationwide Domestic Roaming agreement with Celcom (M) Bhd
• September 2007: U Mobile Sdn Bhd and U Mobile – the brand and logo – was unveiled to the Malaysian public for the very first time
• November 2007: U Mobile introduces early-bird Friendly User Program to the public
• December 2007: U Mobile announces strategic partnership with KT Freetel and NTT DoCoMo – a deal worth US$200million with KTF and DoCoMo taking 33% stake in U Mobile Sdn Bhd

2008

• March: U Mobile launched Surf with U, the company's first ever high-speed mobile internet plan for the public ^[8]
• April: U Mobile launched its postpaid mobile service, the U38 Plan.
• July: U Mobile launched its prepaid mobile service, the 018 Prepaid, acquired total of 100,000 subscribers ^[9]
• October: U Mobile launched its 3G content services.

2009

• February: In conjunction with Valentine's Day, U Mobile launched a brand campaign called "Heart U" Valentine's Day, started on 9 February 2009 until Valentine's Day.
• March: U Mobile launched IDD Bonanza, the company's first IDD plan for its prepaid subscribers. Later, the service was extended until 30 June 2009 and includes Bangladesh in its country list. Again, U Mobile extended its IDD Bonanza to 31 August 2009. ^[10]
• May: U Mobile launched two services, U10 Supplementary Plan^[11] & U Buddy Service^[12].

Partners

• 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 comprising of complete core and radio network equipment, transmission and service layer platforms, as well as a range of telecom service solutions.

• Nokia Siemens Networks: End-to-end deployment process which includes implementation, integration, and application development of DVB-H services. This includes the maintenance of MiTV’s infrastructure on a turnkey basis.
• Celcom: Nationwide Domestic Roaming partner.
• Rohde & Schwarz Malaysia: Supplier of low, medium and high powered digital television transmitters for the rollout implementation and rapid coverage expansion of U Mobile’s Mobile LiveTV™.
• Huawei: World leading Telecommunication Equipment Provider, from access layer to core transmission.

References

External links

• U Mobile

Reference [9]

v • d • e Mobile phone companies of Malaysia Mobile operators Celcom · DiGi · Maxis · U Mobile Mobile Virtual Network Operator Happy[10]  · XOX[11]  · Tune Talk[12]  · Redtone[13]  · Merchandtrade[14]  · Mobile WiMAX Operators P1 · YTL Communications[15] · Redtone[16] · Amax[17]