Nokia, Zain KSA boost 4G network speeds to meet growing subscriber demand

NEW DELHI: Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) and  Finland based telecom giant Nokia have announced the deployment of LTE-Advanced three component carrier aggregation technology that will enable Zain to provide unprecedented data speeds of up to 187.5 Mbps across its network.

The network, launched in the high-profile business and residential districts of Jeddah, will move the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's second largest city a step forward to becoming a smart city.

Carrier aggregation is a technique widely used in LTE-Advanced standards. It allows operators to bond together non-contiguous bands of spectrum to create wider channels, resulting in faster LTE speeds.

The implementation of three component carrier aggregation in the FDD-LTE band (FDD-LTE 3CC) concludes an extensive commercial network trial by Nokia and Zain. As a result, Zain will be able to increase data speeds at the cell edge - close to neighboring cells, where interference and signal loss can impact the subscriber experience - to meet the evolving demand from its customers, and in turn support the growth of its business and customer base. Zain customers will be able to enjoy enhanced quality of experience when downloading HD video or sharing images at events where network congestion can occur due to high demand for data access.

The higher speeds are already available in several high-traffic areas of Jeddah, allowing users of Category 6 (CAT 6) capable devices to benefit from available and upcoming data intensive services, such as virtual reality.

Sultan AlDeghaither, Chief Technology Officer of Zain KSA, said: " With this new launch, we can help to fulfill these demands by providing ultra-user experience through higher data throughput levels and optimum network performance. Moreover, this technology will allow us to move toward our goal of transforming Jeddah into a role model for smart and digitally connected cities across the world, and enrich the experience of Zain customers in Saudi Arabia."

Ali Aljitawi, Head of Zain KSA Customer Team at Nokia, said: "We're pleased to support Zain as it puts in place infrastructure that will allow Jeddah to become a smart city. With this project, Zain becomes the first Operator in Saudi Arabia to carry out the refarming of spectrum in the 900 MHz band from GSM to LTE, and using three component carrier aggregation to increase speeds on Zain's 4G network."

Zain KSA and Nokia recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a major initiative that will transform Jeddah into a model for smart cities in the kingdom and worldwide by 2018.

Under the MoU, Nokia and Zain KSA will apply advanced networking technologies in the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Cloud to connect and manage a wide array of devices, vehicles, homes and applications. Use of these technologies will improve municipal services, enhance the business climate in Jeddah and create a better quality of life for the city's nearly three million residents.