Zain KSA awards NSN LTE rollout deal for Jeddah

Saudi Arabia mobile operator Zain KSA has selected Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) as its LTE mobile broadband infrastructure and services vendor for Jeddah, the country’s second largest city. The operator aims to address the growing demand for mobile broadband and smartphone data services by refarming its 1800MHz GSM frequency band to offer 4G services. As part of the contract, NSN will also manage Zain KSA’s 4G network in Jeddah, in addition to the operator’s existing GSM and 3G networks in the city.

NSN will provide its Single RAN (radio access network) platform, based on its Flexi Multiradio Base Station for 4G deployment and 3G network modernisation. Optimised backhaul will be provided by FlexiPacket Microwave platform.

As part of the contract NSN will upgrade and expand Zain’s legacy Home Location Register (HLR) to the latest, One NDS subscriber data management solution, supporting a total of 25 million subscribers’ mobile services, including 4G. This solution will allow Zain to meet market demands, cover capacity requirements and generate operational savings.

NSN already manages customer networks that carry over 700 million subscribers worldwide and has provided planning and optimisation for over 23 commercial 4G roll outs.