China-based ZTE Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia's U Mobile Sdn Bhd for the development of Pre5G mobile broadband technologies.

The partnership will help U Mobile deliver substantial network performance upgrades using ZTE's proprietary Pre5G technologies including Massive MIMO.

The MOU, signed in Shenzhen by Too Tian Jen, Chief Technology Officer of U Mobile, and Steven Ge, Managing Director of ZTE Malaysia, also covers collaboration between the two companies on research and development of 5G technologies, in addition to Pre5G. Financial terms of the deal were not released.

ZTE's collaboration on Pre5G research with U Mobile follows the announcements of similar partners with SoftBank Corporation in Japan, and KT Corporation in Korea.