Corporate history
In April 2007, MiTV Corporation Sendirian Berhad (registered as Ansat Broadcast Sdn. Bhd.) signed the country's first nationwide domestic roaming memorandum of understanding, which led to an agreement with the mobile network operator Celcom (Malaysia) Berhad allowing U Mobile's customers nationwide coverage while U Mobile rolled out its own high-speed mobile 3G service nationwide.[18] The agreement was completed in June 2007.
In December 2007, the 3G communications operators KT Freetel and NTT DoCoMo jointly invested US$200 million (est. RM669 million) for a total of 33% stake in U Mobile.[19]
In March 2008, U Mobile launched its first publicly available product called "Surf with U", a data-only plan for mobile users provided using U Mobile's HSDPA-driven mobile network. The following month, it rolled out its first mobile service, the postpaid U38 plan.[20] In July, U Mobile launched two new postpaid services, U68 and U98, and the 018 Prepaid service.
In 2009, KT Freetel, one of U Mobile's foreign investors, sold its 16.5% stake (62.6 million shares) to U Mobile's major shareholder.[21]
In November 2012, U Mobile activated 3G RAN Sharing with Maxis and transitioned its 2G network provider from Celcom to Maxis.[22][23][24][25][26]
On 31 August 2013, U Mobile announced that En. Jaffa Sany Bin Md Ariffin has been terminated as the chief executive officer and ceased to be an employee of U Mobile due to disciplinary action. Accordingly, he is not authorised to act for and on behalf of the company in respect of any matter with immediate effect. He was appointed as chief executive officer of U Mobile on 1 June 2012.[27]
On 17 December 2013, U Mobile launched its LTE network on the 2600 MHz band that covers the Klang Valley. U Mobile has currently about 2 million subscribers at the end of 2014.[28]
On 1 April 2014, U Mobile announced the appointment of Wong Heang Tuck as chief executive officer (CEO) effective 1 April 2014, Jasmine Lee as chief marketing officer (CMO), and Alex Tan as chief sales officer (CSO) effective 1 January 2014[29]
On 21 December 2015, U Mobile announced that D.Y.M.M. Sultan Ibrahim Ismail Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj (“DYMM Sultan Ibrahim”) has acquired a further 5% stake in the company to increase his stake to 15%. DYMM Sultan Ibrahim acquired his initial 10% stake in U Mobile in 2014.[30][31]
In February 2016, U Mobile confirms that it has been allocated with 15 years spectrum assignment of 2x5MHz of 900 MHz and 2x15MHz of 1800 MHz for full nationwide implementation starting 1 January 2017.[32][33]
In March 2016, U Mobile announced that it has partnered with Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP) to be the Official Co-Sponsor of the Superbest Power Piala FA and Liga Premier Malaysia for three years, starting from the 2016 season. U Mobile will be the Exclusive Telecommunications Partner for the two premier football competitions. The partnership with FMLLP will give U Mobile marketing, promotion and engagement opportunities around the two competitions, in-stadium branding, corporate hospitality and use of the club and player image rights for advertising purposes.[34][35]
On 26 May 2016, U Mobile become the first carrier in Malaysia to support Wi-Fi calling, initially only supporting iPhone owners owning iPhone 5c or later running iOS 9.3 and above. Wi-Fi calling for Android users are only supported on selected devices.[36]
In August 2016, U Mobile launched its first 4G LTE Advanced network at Kota Belud, Sabah.[37]
On 28 June 2017, U Mobile is terminating its 3G network sharing and alliance agreement with Maxis Berhad which was signed in 2011. Maxis said on Wednesday the termination would take place in stages over 18 months and the completion date is on 27 December 2018.[38]
