MONDAY, 26 AUGUST 2013

ICR 2013/102

MEDIA RELEASE UM AND HUAWEI TO SET UP THE FIRST WORLD-CLASS BROADBAND TRAINING ACADEMY ________________________________________________________
KUALA LUMPUR, 26 AUGUST 2013 University of Malaya (UM), Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (HUAWEI) and Iconix Consulting Sdn. Bhd. (ICONIX) collaborate to setup the first-of-itskind world-class broadband training academy to cultivate future talents seed in the high growth broadband industry. The three parties signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) today to embark on this endeavour to make UM the regional reference model of academia-industry alliance for talents cultivation. The MoAs cover the setup of fixed broadband lab and the related supporting services for 3 years, joint research collaboration as well as exchange of publication, academic materials and others information between the organisations. This new lab facility, to be located at the Faculty of Engineering, UM, will be the first-of-its-kind in the region to provide Huawei Fixed Broadband Backhaul (FBB) integration hands-on laboratory and proficiency training for the academia and industry. This collaboration is the first milestone leading to the build-up of a solid base to support the UMs vision to ultimately set up an end-to-end ICT Solutions Learning Academy which will include Mobile Broadband Backhaul (MBB), Access, Transport and Core Network. This effort will raise the benchmark in Telecommunication and ICT capabilities and capacities amongst the institutions of higher learning. The broadband training lab facility will be set up based on Huawei GPON technology platform. GPON, stands for Gigabit Passive Optical Network, is the underlying core technology that is being deployed nationwide to power the TM UniFi and MAXIS Fiber Internet network infrastructure. GPON is the most reliable and affordable fixed-line broadband technology that can provide the speed and bandwidth as required to enable the seamless transmission and reception of Triple Play service, including voice over IP, high speed Internet and IPTV, right to the premises of the home and business users. UM, being the nations premier university, is taking a transformational step to work with Iconix Consulting Sdn. Bhd, a local social enterprise as well as the Huawei Authorised Learning Partner (HALP) and Huawei-University-Alliance Laboratory (HUALAB) Authorised Managed Learning Services Partner, to lead the Talents Seed Cultivation (TSC) community framework, which will create high

social impacts to nation building as well as bringing up the value and the standard of academiaindustry linkage in the region. Commenting on the collaboration, Tan Sri Prof Dr Ghauth Jasmon, Vice Chancellor of UM, was quoted as saying: UM is pleased to become a regional reference site in TSC programme. We continue to drive a higher level of entrepreneurship in the university community, establishing a more active international networking and forging greater interaction between the university and industry. Huawei is always committed to support national talents development program in the fields of telecommunication and ICT, and Huawei is proud to be the key technology partner empowering the fixed-line broadband service as offered by TM and MAXIS, the two leading broadband providers in Malaysia. The setup of this GPON Learning Academy come in timely to help develop the talent seeds to support the sustainable growth of broadband industry in Malaysia, says Mike Wang, CEO of Huawei Malaysia. According to the Malaysian Multimedia and Communication Commission (MCMC), the Government of Malaysia aims to ensure 75% nationwide high speed broadband Internet penetration by 2015, covering 2.2 million household and is projected to provide 100,000 jobs and uplift the GDP by 0.6%. For media enquiries, please contact: Mohd Julian Bin Borhanudin Corporate Relations Officer International & Corporate Relations Office University of Malaya (UM) Tel : +603-79677009 Email : julianicr@um.edu.my Adam Liew Chen Fah Technical Specialist Iconix Consulting Sdn. Bhd. Tel : +603-8073 3654 Email : adam@iconixconsulting.com Thank you Simon Ng Senior Director Public Relations Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd Tel : +603-21755302 Email : simon.ng@huawei.com

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Issued by: International and Corporate Relations Office (ICR) Level L, Chancellery Building University of Malaya 50603 Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03-79673273 Fax: 03-79560027 Email: icr@um.edu.my