U Mobile, the award-winning mobile and digital services provider, and ZTE Corporation, a global leading provider of integrated information and communication technology solutions, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on rapid and efficient deployment of connectivity solutions, particularly in rural areas.
In addition, both parties will also collaborate on 5G-powered Intelligent Agriculture use cases and applications to facilitate the digital transformation of the Malaysian agricultural industry.
Combining U Mobile’s rollout track record and ZTE’s technologies, both parties aim to jointly develop and implement solutions that will expedite and enhance network coverage in rural areas, bringing benefits to sectors like education, agriculture, healthcare and tourism in those areas.
Examples of such solutions include ZTE’s RuralPilot solution which has the capability to provide coverage to off-grid rural locations with the added advantages of being easy to install with minimum civil construction requirements as it uses a building block structure principle, as well as the ability to operate via a hybrid power solution involving solar panels as well as high-performance lithium batteries.
For rural areas without fibre infrastructure, both parties will explore innovations such as CPE-based Smart Relay to extend backhaul connectivity range for base station sites.
The MoU will also see both parties collaborate to drive usage of 5G-powered applications and solutions that will digitally transform Malaysia’s agricultural sector by tapping into insights obtained through relevant use cases and applications.
Both companies target to improve the efficiency of agricultural operations and enhancing productivity levels, leveraging the use of advanced technologies such as IoT, RedCap, and cloud platforms to support process automation such as autonomous agricultural machinery and machine vision inspection.
“In line with U Mobile’s quest to be Malaysia’s favourite digital services partner, this collaboration with ZTE is in line with our continuous effort to bridge the digital gap in Malaysia, particularly in underserved rural areas.
“We believe our ability to play an active role in the national agenda of transforming Malaysia into a digitally enabled and technology driven country will be further enhanced by the knowledge and insight sharing, as well as the leveraging of ZTE’s technology. We look forward to showcasing the benefits that 5G digital transformation will bring to key sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, tourism and education in Malaysia,” said Navin Manian, Chief Marketing Officer at U Mobile.
“With this partnership, we believe this collaboration between ZTE and U Mobile will unlock numerous business opportunities and facilitate U Mobile’s expansion into future markets. By leveraging ZTE’s advanced technology and solutions, we are prepared to explore new business models in the 5G to business applications field, supporting the digital transformation of agriculture in Malaysia,” remarked Steven Ge, Managing Director of ZTE Malaysia.
The MoU signing ceremony took place at ZTE Beijing office in China with Navin Manian, U Mobile’s Chief Marketing Officer and Neil Tomkinson, U Mobile’s Chief Information Officer; along with Steven Ge, Managing Director of ZTE Malaysia, and Xiao Ming, President of Overseas at ZTE Corporation. The signing was witnessed by Fahmi Fadzil, Malaysia’s Minister of Communications.
