Nokia hails MENA successes with 5G and cloud

Nokia is celebrating a number of wins in the region after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ooredoo Group to upgrade business connectivity with cutting-edge 5G solutions, as well as sealing a deal with Etisalat And (e&) United Arab Emirates (UAE) to supply cloud interconnect solution, providing connectivity services for hyperscalers in the country.

Ooredoo is an international communications company operating across the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia (MENA). Serving consumers and businesses in 10 countries, Ooredoo delivers data experience through a broad range of content and services via its data-centric mobile and fixed networks.

Under the agreement with Nokia, both companies will collaborate closely to develop and deploy 5G private networks, delivering “innovative market and enterprise-specific solutions” customised to meet the diverse needs of businesses across industries.

Nokia assures that Ooredoo’s business customers will benefit from high-performance, low-latency 5G connectivity, enhanced IoT capabilities and ultra-reliable communication networks. This will enable Ooredoo to enhance productivity and efficiency, accelerating their digital transformation journey and unlocking new opportunities for innovation and growth, according to Nokia.

“Our strategic collaboration with Nokia underscores Ooredoo’s commitment to always providing best-in-class 5G solutions that empower our enterprise customers to grow their businesses and build resilience in a competitive environment,” said group chief business services officer, Ooredoo Najib Khan.

“This partnership marks the beginning of a collaborative effort to build capabilities and develop a pipeline for future opportunities in the 5G enterprise domain.”

Meanwhile, driven by the rapid growth of cloud services, e& UAE is evolving its network to streamline its current architecture. By connecting to leading cloud service providers, e& UAE believes that its customers can benefit from decreased latency for response times, uninterrupted connectivity and easy access to cutting-edge applications.

Nokia’s cloud interconnect solution focuses on optimising and strengthening network performance within hyperscale environments. It is designed to address key connectivity challenges, ensuring efficient routing, traffic management, network security, and resource allocation to meet the specific demands of hyperscalers.

Under the terms of the deal, Nokia’s cloud interconnect solution will see use in providing connectivity services for hyperscalers in the UAE, which should lead to e& UAE’s network being able to support mission-critical applications delivered across evolved business-class services. 

By using its FP5-based technology, Nokia said e& UAE can now offer significantly high-quality connectivity to hyperscalers, representing a revolution in performance, scale and security.

The FP5-based platforms are said to be the industry’s first terabit-class routers that deliver high performance, capacity and security for cloud-scale networks. Additionally, Nokia’s ANYsec technology will provide end-to-end encryption and authentication for all data traffic across the network, ensuring data privacy and integrity.

“We are delighted to work with Nokia to deliver cutting-edge cloud-based network connectivity services in the UAE,” said Khaled Al Suwaidi, senior vice-president of core networks and platforms at e& UAE.

“This collaboration allows frictionless access to innovative applications that enhance the user experience. It also supports e& UAE’s objective of optimising our current network architecture to seamlessly integrate with public clouds while ensuring the highest levels of security and reliability for our customers.”