Zain Bahrain makes region’s first LTE call

Zain Bahrain has made the Middle East’s first LTE call in a trial conducted with Nokia Siemens Networks, in preparation for the network upgrade to go live by the end of this year.

The trial achieved a record download data speed of 70 Mbps and a minimum latency of 15 milliseconds – the smallest ever in any public LTE call, according to a statement made by the two companies. The live call was used to showcase applications such as multi-video streaming, high resolution video conferencing, voice over LTE, and LTE terminal mobility within an office environment.

Before LTE comes online in the kingdom, Zain customers can expect a dramatic improvement in accessing the Internet with speeds of up to 14 Mbps with I-HSPA. There will also be a improvement in general coverage throughout Bahrain. It is planned that LTE upgrades will also be applied to all networks within the Zain Group.