One of Malaysia’s youngest mobile operator, U Mobile Sdn Bhd, signed an agreement with SACOFA Sdn Bhd, the company with the exclusive rights to construct, own and manage communication infrastructures in Sarawak.
Via this partnership, U Mobile will be able to leverage upon SACOFA’s telecoms infrastructure footprint of over 700 sites (including base station) state-wide, as well as its bandwidth leasing service to expedite network expansion and to enhance U Mobile service quality in Sarawak.
As part of the agreement, SACOFA will deliver built-to suit-sites and provide bandwidth leasing services to U Mobile over a period of 10 years.
During the signing ceremony, U Mobile’s Chief Executive Officer, Wong Heang Tuck, shared that the partnership is a major milestone for the telco’s expansion plan in Sarawak as the telco will be able to reach more customers in more areas, “We are delighted to be able to collaborate with SACOFA to maximise the deployment of shared sites. Through this, U Mobile will have the ability to expedite the expansion of our network footprint and as a data centric telco, we are also delighted to be able to enhance our customers’ internet experience, whilst saving operational cost and reducing environmental impact. “
He added, “The partnership is also timely as SACOFA will be a key facilitator for our network expansion using the new 1800MHz and 900MHz frequency spectrum which was allocated to U Mobile by the government early this year. We expect to switch on these frequencies on 1 January 2017 and 1 July 2017 respectively. This tie-up with SACOFA signifies our increasing commitment to East Malaysia.”
In February, U Mobile has been allocated with 15 years spectrum assignment of 2x5MHz of 900MHz and 2x15MHz of 1800MHz for full nationwide implementation.
The Managing Director of SACOFA Sdn Bhd, Zaid Zaini said that SACOFA is pleased to partner U Mobile in the effort to accelerate their network expansion entry in Sarawak.
Zaid added, “SACOFA’s current extensive network of towers and fiber optic infrastructure which spans across the entire State of Sarawak, will cut down the rollout time for these service offerings quite considerably which will greatly benefit U Mobile. We are also confident the significant reduction in speed of deployment and the ensuing cost savings for these services rollouts will further boost competition, resulting in enhanced quality and lower cost of mobile connectivity to the Rakyat.”
U Mobile is currently offering its 2G and 3G service in Sarawak via the Maxis mobile network. The new partnership would allow U Mobile to offer 4G LTE service in Sarawak this year.
