U Mobile teams up with IIUM to research 5G, keeps an eye on 6G

U Mobile is teaming up with the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) to develop and test 5G and future 6G use cases, with the university becoming the first academic partner to join U Mobile’s Enterprise Innovation Platform (EIP).

As part of the partnership, U Mobile will provide its Ultra 5G network capabilities to IIUM’s 5G Research Lab at the Kulliyyah of Engineering. This will give IIUM researchers and students access to a real 5G network environment for research, testing and teaching.

The collaboration will focus on areas including 5G-Advanced (5G-A), artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) applications, smart campus solutions and digital twins. The partners will also look at technologies and use cases that could eventually lead into 6G research.

On top of that, IIUM researchers will be able to use EIP Hub’s sandbox and testing facilities to develop and demonstrate selected projects. U Mobile said this could allow promising ideas to be tested in real-world conditions before potentially moving towards commercialisation.

The telco said the partnership will initially involve identifying at least two use cases for joint development. There will also be opportunities for students and researchers to gain industry experience through co-innovation programmes.

“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,” – Sandy Tsang, U Mobile Chief Financial Officer

The MoU was signed by U Mobile Chief Technology Officer Woon Ooi Yuen and IIUM Rector Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr. Osman Bakar. The exchange ceremony took place during the University Research and Innovation Investment Summit (URIIS) 2026 at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur on 22 September, with Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi witnessing the ceremony.

Professor Dr Mohamed Aslam Mohamed Haneef, the Deputy Rector, Research, Innovation and Development (DRRIDE) at IIUM noted that this partnership will help bring industry directly onto its campus, and that the telco will be able to help IIUM researchers and students with real-world 5G infrastructure and R&D opportunities that would otherwise take years to build independently.

U Mobile added that the EIP is open to further collaboration with other universities, researchers, technology partners and industry players. The company described the IIUM partnership as a way to connect university research with industry infrastructure and potentially move promising projects beyond the research stage.

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