U Mobile
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- Not to be confused with ümobile, a similarly-named company in the Philippines.
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 (As MiTV Networks Sdn Bhd) |
| Headquarters | Headquartered at 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. U Mobile has yet to comment. U Mobile is headquartered in Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Company Highlights
[edit] 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:
- 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
[edit] 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
[edit] 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.
[edit] 2009
- February: In conjunction to the Valentine's Day, U Mobile as a consumer-centric brand, has launched a brand campaign called "Heart U" Valentine's Day, started on 9 February 2009 until Valentine's Day.
- Through this campaign, U Mobile offers unique ways to the public to express their feelings. Taking this opportunity, an interactive microsite was enveiled as the preferred platform to share messages for your loved ones, family members, and friends! Trailling down the campaign is the success on the ground event at Sunway Pyramid shopping mall.
- March: U Mobile launched IDD Bonanza, the company's IDD plan for its prepaid subscribers; providing attractive local call rates at 0.7sen/sec to China, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and India. Later, the service was extended until 30 June 2009 and includes Bangladesh in its country list. [10]
- May: U Mobile launched two services, U10 Supplementary Plan[11] & U Buddy Service[12].
- U10 Supplementary Plan offers up to 4 supplementary lines to each U Mobile postpaid line with monthly access fee of RM10 per supplementary line.
- U Buddy Service is a new Value Added Service (VAS) which allows U Mobile's postpaid customers to make FREE voice calls to unlimited number of friends and families within U Mobile network. The monthly subscription fee for this service is only RM10.
[edit] 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™.
- KT Freetel and NTT DoCoMo: in a strategic partnership, pledged US$200 million for equal parts of the 33% stake in U Mobile, with voting rights, allowing them to jointly participate in the management of the company[13]
- Huawei: World leading Telecommunication Equipment Provider, from access layer to core transmission.
[edit] References
- ^ Jeff, Ooi (April 11, 2007). "018 mobile prefix put to better use". CNET Asia. http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/lemaklemang/post.htm?id=62004095. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ Clement, Teo (June 18, 2007). "MiTV and Nokia announce live DVB-H mobile TV service for Malaysia". Nokia MobileTV Forum. http://www.mobiletv.nokia.com/news/showPressReleases/?id=91. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ Jo, Timbuong (September 20, 2007). "U Mobile is newest cellular service provider". TheStar Online: Tech Central. http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2007/9/20/technology/18926591&sec=technology. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ "KT Freetel will sell 16.5% stake in U Mobile". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=avvCBUhYJZ7k. Retrieved on 2009-4-19.
- ^ Surin, Murugiah (April 10, 2007). "MiTV to offer 3G service in 2H". The Edge Daily. http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_dac80a6d-cb73c03a-161f39e0-93513a96. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ "U Mobile Launches its Post Paid Service – U38 Plan". 2008-04-15. http://corporate.u.com.my/sec_press/pdf/150407-PressRelease-U38_Plan_FINAL.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
- ^ "Ericsson to build and manage MiTV's HSPA network in Malaysia". August 21, 2007. http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/releases/20060821-1070044.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ "U Mobile Launches Surf with U". March 12, 2008. http://www.lowyat.net/v2/latest/u-mobile-launches-surf-with-u-4.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
- ^ "U Mobile now has 100,000 subscribers". July 27, 2008. http://soyacincau.com/2008/07/27/u-mobile-100-subs/. Retrieved on 2008-08-01.
- ^ "U Mobile's IDD Bonanza". March 26, 2009. http://promotions.u.com.my/bonanza.html.
- ^ "U Mobile's U10 Supplementary Plan". May 1, 2009. http://promotions.u.com.my/supplementary.html.
- ^ "U Mobile's U Buddy Service". May 1, 2009. http://promotions.u.com.my/ubuddy.html.
- ^ Sharmila Ganapathy (2007-12-04). "U Mobile to get RM671m from Korea, Japan telcos". TheEdgeDaily.com. http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_a302462b-cb73c03a-38d46000-ab837bd9.
[edit] External links
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