Zain KSA, a leading telecommunications provider in Saudi Arabia, and global ICT solutions provider, Huawei, have announced the launch of the first commercial LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation in two frequency bands (Band 1 and Band 3) network in the world. Following the launch of its popular LTE network in 2011, Zain has been focused on developing a more advanced mobile broadband experience to better serve its customers in Saudi Arabia.
By launching an LTE-Advanced network in partnership with Huawei, Zain can offer superfast mobile speeds of up to 150 Mb/s with high bandwidth and compatibility with its existing nationwide LTE network. Heralded as the first of its kind in the world, the LTE-A network was developed by implementing Carrier Aggregation in two frequency bands (Band 1 and Band 3). The new network not only doubles its capacity but enhances the user speed upper limit from 75Mbps to 150 Mbps in order to meet the growing levels of data usage from mobile subscribers in KSA. This commercial launch of Zain's new LTE-A network is an important part of its ‘Winning through Caring' market strategy. In collaboration with its strategic partner Huawei,Zain also set up the ‘Tech City' project in Saudi Arabia to establish protocols to understand the best user experience, aiming to achieve the best voice quality, web and video experience in the Saudi market. The LTE-A CA solution is one of many technologies intending to significantly enhance the network efficiency and improve the user experience speed. Hassan Kabbani, CEO of Zain KSA, said: “The launch of our new LTE-A network in Saudi Arabia is another step of our commitment to offer the best and most innovative solutions to our customers. As market trends continue to move toward high speed mobile data & video communication along with the proliferation of social applications, bringing unprecedented challenges to mobile broadband networks. We recognize LTE-A technology as the way of future connectivity.” Ramadan Ding, CEO Huawei Saudi Arabia, said: “The latest innovative solutions in mobile broadband connectivity are shaping the future of Saudi Arabia's telecom market. These technologies are increasingly viewed as enablers of continued economic and social development that support the government's vision of a knowledge-based digital economy. Huawei will continue to offer our partnership providing the latest mobile broadband innovations to help improve Zain's customer services.” Through its partnership with Huawei, Zain has developed a series of solutions aimed at improving user experience, with the LTE-A CA solution one of these groundbreaking technologies. In line with its strategy, Zain will continuously strive for technological excellence in order to meet the increasing mobile Internet demand in KSA. — SG
