U Mobile has teamed up with Huawei and ZTE to roll out Malaysia’s second 5G network. Huawei will handle the rollout in West Malaysia, while ZTE takes care of East Malaysia.
According to The Edge Malaysia, U Mobile said the decision came after a thorough selection process. The company plans to fund the network rollout through a mix of its own money, bank loans, vendor financing, and potential future IPO earnings.
While the exact cost isn’t being disclosed, U Mobile CEO Wong Heang Tuck mentioned it’ll be in the “billions of ringgit.” So far, U Mobile has already invested over RM8 billion in its network, with more than 10,000 sites.
As for pricing, U Mobile’s 5G wholesale rates will likely be around the same as what Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) currently charges—RM30,000 per gigabit per second per month (or about 13 sen per gigabyte). Wong said it wouldn’t make sense to go much higher or lower.
The government picked U Mobile last November to build the second 5G network. Their goal is to cover 80% of populated areas in the first year and hit 90% in the second year.