KUALA LUMPUR, 29 September – U Mobile, Malaysia's best 5G network, today announced that the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) has become the first academic partner to join its Enterprise Innovation Platform (EIP), creating a practical pathway to connect university research with industry needs and real-world technology adoption.

Both organisations will collaborate to advance academic research, innovation, and talent development in 5G connectivity and emerging technologies. This collaboration will combine IIUM’s academic and research expertise with U Mobile’s ULTRA5G capabilities and EIP’s industry, technology and innovation ecosystem to explore applications powered by 5G-Advanced (5G-A) and artificial intelligence (AI), while building capabilities for future technologies including 6G.

As a key activation under the partnership, U Mobile will power IIUM’s 5G Research Lab at the Kulliyyah of Engineering with its ULTRA5G network capabilities, providing researchers and students with a controlled environment to conduct 5G research, testing and teaching. The lab will leverage U Mobile’s 5G network capabilities which have been independently recognised by Ookla and Opensignal as Malaysia’s fastest and a leader in quality and availability.

Through EIP Hub’s sandbox and testing facilities, selected IIUM research projects can be developed, tested and demonstrated, enabling faster validation of practical use cases and building capabilities relevant to future technologies including 6G. The partnership will also support talent and skills development through potential co-innovation programmes that provide researchers and students with practical industry exposure; and ecosystem development and routes to commercialisation for promising innovations and use cases.

Areas being considered include smart campus solutions, Internet of Things applications and digital twins, with promising use cases potentially progressing beyond the research stage. Insights from the pilot may also be developed into case studies for EIP’s showcase and knowledge repository.

The MOU was executed on behalf of U Mobile by Woon Ooi Yuen, Chief Technology Officer, and on behalf of IIUM by Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr. Osman Bakar, Rector. 

Representing the telco at the ceremony was Sandy Tsang, Chief Financial Officer of U Mobile.

“Welcoming IIUM as EIP’s first academic partner is an important step in bringing industry and academia closer together. By combining U Mobile’s ULTRA5G capabilities, IIUM’s academic expertise and EIP’s wider network of partners, we can give researchers and students a practical environment to test ideas and develop solutions with real-world potential. We will begin by jointly identifying at least two use cases for development, while also helping build the skills and experience needed to support Malaysia’s next phase of digital innovation. More importantly, this collaboration can serve as a proof point for how academia-industry partnerships can translate research into relevant, industry-driven and impactful outcomes, while creating a model that can be adapted and scaled through similar collaborations with other universities across Malaysia,” said Sandy.

“This strategic partnership brings industry directly onto our campus,” said Professor Dr Mohamed Aslam Mohamed Haneef, Deputy Rector, Research, Innovation and Development (DRRIDE), IIUM. “Through EIP, U Mobile is empowering our researchers and students with real-world 5G infrastructure and R&D opportunities that would otherwise take years to build independently. This collaboration strengthens IIUM’s values-driven research ecosystem, accelerates innovation in 5G, AI and future 6G applications, and equips our talent with practical industry exposure, reflecting our commitment to producing knowledge that benefits the nation and humanity.”

U Mobile welcomes other universities, researchers, technology partners and industry players to explore future collaboration opportunities through EIP and contribute to a more connected and open innovation ecosystem.

The MoU exchange ceremony was held during the University Research and Innovation Investment Summit (URIIS) 2026 at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur on 22 September 2026. The exchange was represented by U Mobile Chief Financial Officer Sandy Tsang (second from right) and International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Deputy Rector Prof. Dr. Mohamed Aslam Mohamed Haneef (fourth from left) and witnessed by Deputy Prime Minister Dato' Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.