Zain Iraq, Ericsson Offer Boosted Data Services

Press release

Published February 27th, 2018 - 08:53 GMT

Rafiah Ibrahim, Head of Ericsson Middle East and Africa

In preparation for the anticipated increase in data traffic and demand in Iraq, Zain Iraq has invested in the implementation of Ericsson’s (NASDAQ: ERIC) award-winning virtual Evolved Packet Core (vEPC) solution nationwide.

The deal is Ericsson’s first vEPC contract in Iraq, and one of the first in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

Ali Al Zahid, CEO, Zain Iraq says “Since we have introduced 3G on a large scale in Iraq, data traffic has surged, and demand continues to grow. This will present exciting opportunities as we move forward. This deal will bring greater connectivity and virtual capabilities to our subscribers,”

Ericsson’s vEPC will provide the scalability and flexibility required by Zain to reduce OPEX, introduce new services and virtual functions more easily and efficiently, and meet increased data demands without trouble. For end users, it will enable Zain to provide more personalized data offers, advanced smart bundles, and new smart services with the introduction of IoT.

Rafiah Ibrahim, Head of Ericsson Middle East and Africa, says: “The deployment of our vEPC will not only provide the scale and reach Zain requires, but it will also provide the demand management and advanced cloud infrastructure that will allow them to address new revenue streams in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Internet of Things (IoT).”

Ericsson vEPC provides verified solutions addressing a large number of vertical use cases, opening up new operator opportunities and improving deployment flexibility.

Background Information

Ericsson

Ericsson is one of the leading providers of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to service providers, with about 40% of the world’s mobile traffic carried through our networks. We enable the full value of connectivity by creating game-changing technology and services that are easy to use, adopt and scale, making our customers successful in a fully connected world. For more than 140 years, our ideas, technology and people have changed the world: real turning points that have transformed lives, industries and society as a whole.

Company Profile

Zain

Zain is the pioneer of mobile telecommunications in the Middle East. We began life in 1983 in Kuwait as the region’s first mobile operator, and since the initiation of our expansion strategy in 2003, we have expanded rapidly. Today, we are a leading mobile voice and data services operator with a commercial footprint in 8 Middle Eastern and Africa countries with a workforce of over 6,000 providing a comprehensive range of mobile voice and data services to over 50 million active individual and business customers as of March 31, 2019.