TM R&D and ZTE to collaborate on optical network research

By Digital News Asia July 3, 2014

TM R&D already initiated photonics and optical research with Malaysian universities
To share their research facilities and create mirroring labs in China and Malaysia

TM R&D and ZTE to collaborate on optical network research

^{TM R&D CEO Dr Gopi Kurup (4th from left) and ZTE Malaysia MD Steven Ge exchanging the MoU documents (5th from right), while flanked by (from left to right): Dr Sufian Mousa Ibrahim Mitani, head of System Technologies, TM R&D; Zakaria Ahmad, general manager of research, TM R&D; Danapalan Vinggrasalam, chairman of TM R&D; Zhang Renjun, senior vice president of ZTE Corporation; Jeff Zhou, vice president of ZTE Corporation; Hassan Alias, sales director of ZTE Malaysia; and Neni Izumi, account director at ZTE Malaysia.}

TELEKOM Research & Development Sdn Bhd (TM R&D), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ZTE (Malaysia) Corporation Sdn Bhd to collaborate on next-generation passive optical network (NGPON) research to enable higher bandwidth for TM customers.

Under the MoU, both parties will share their research facilities and create mirroring labs in China and Malaysia, TM R&D said in a statement.

ZTE is the largest public listed telecom solution provider in China with 18 R&D (research and development) centres globally employing over 20,000 personnel. Every year, ZTE invests about US$1.5 billion in R&D, the Malaysian company said.

“TM R&D initiated and has continued to grow the local photonics and optical research in collaboration with Malaysian universities,” said its chief executive officer Dr Gopi Kurup.

“The capacity and capability developed in this field has attracted the attention of global technology companies like ZTE to collaborate in further pushing the boundaries in this important telecommunications technology,” he added.

ZTE has been operating in Malaysia for more than 10 years, serving all the major Malaysian telecommunication operators. Since 2009, it has been one of the key technology partners to Telekom Malaysia’s HSBB (High Speed Broad Brand) project.

Recently, Telekom Malaysia awarded ZTE a contract to roll out its first nationwide LTE (Long-Term Evaluation) wireless project.

“This MoU is in line with ZTE’s corporate strategy to continue working with top R&D centres throughout the world and we foresee this collaboration will benefit both parties, especially in NGPON development,” said ZTE Malaysia managing director Steven Ge.

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