U Mobile, the fourth largest mobile player in Malaysia, agreed a collaboration with equipment vendor ZTE covering live 5G trials in selected areas of Kuala Lumpur, the country’s capital.

Under the MoU, ZTE will support the rollout of Massive MIMO and accelerate the introduction of 5G services.

Woon Ooi Yuen, U Mobile CTO, said it has aggressively expanded its LTE networks across west and east Malaysia: “We are also plotting our journey towards 5G. As part of our 5G roadmap, we will be implementing Massive MIMO in certain areas in Kuala Lumpur to further enhance the customer experience by leveraging wider bandwidths.”

Steven Ge, MD at ZTE Malaysia, stated: “We have consolidated a long-term strategic partnership with U Mobile. This MoU will turn 5G into a reality in the near future to benefit Malaysians.”

U Mobile has 5.9 million mobile connections, giving it a 15 per cent market share, Q4 data from GSMA Intelligence showed. LTE connections account for a quarter of the total.