U Mobile driving Malaysia’s digital economic growth with ULTRA5G indoor coverage

Posted by Harry Baldock | Apr 7, 2026 | Investment, TECHNOLOGY, 5G, COMPANY NEWS, People, AI, Networks, Asia-Pacific, Interviews, News At a recent WinWin Live interview at MWC 2026, U Mobile’s Senior General Manager and Head of Network Programs and Rollout, Jaime Chee, Huawei’s President of Huawei’s SmallCell Product Line, Dr. Philip Song, explored a strategic shift that is redefining Malaysia’s digital infrastructure. By embracing an “Indoor First” strategy for 5G, U Mobile is deploying the nation’s largest-scale indoor agentic mobile broadband network, positioning itself as a leader in the transition toward 5G-Advanced (5G-A) and mobile AI. A strong business case for ‘Indoor First’ The mobile industry has long understood that most mobile usage takes place indoors. Despite this, ensuring a high-quality network experience in an indoor environment remains a huge challenge, particularly as wireless technologies use spectrum in higher bands that have weaker penetration. “Data shows that up to 80% of mobile data traffic occurs indoors – whether in shopping malls, offices, transportation hubs, or residences. This means we cannot truly fulfil our promise of ‘ubiquitous’ high-quality connectivity without delivering an excellent indoor 5G experience,” explained Chee. For U Mobile, its “ULTRA5G” brand represents a proactive approach to tackling this challenge and delivering a differentiated user experience. U Mobile has pledged to roll out over 600 in-building coverage (IBC) sites by second half of 2029, aiming to deliver “full-fledged and comprehensive coverage” that serves as the foundation for mobile AI and 5G Advanced (5G-A) experiences throughout these environments. Transitioning to an Agentic MBB network The technical backbone of this rollout is Huawei’s 4G/5G integrated digital indoor solution (DIS). Unlike traditional Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), which often struggle with high traffic loads and lack scalability, the DIS approach provides a software-defined path to 5G-A. “Huawei’s next-generation intelligent indoor solution was designed from inception to transcend traditional connectivity, serving as an Indoor Agentic MBB Network platform for the mobile AI era with three key characteristics: intelligent pipes, intelligent connectivity, and intelligent O&M,” explained Dr Song. Distributed MIMO (D-MIMO) is used to offer high-capacity, high-uplink, low-latency capabilities to supp