In pursuit of its aspirations to elevate the Saudi telecommunications sector and position itself at the forefront of the industry’s regional and global scene, Zain KSA sheds light on the key industry themes discussed in the Mobile World Congress 2021 taking place in Barcelona, Spain between the 28th of June and 1st of July 2021.
Zain KSA reiterates its commitment towards developing its offerings to be on par with the highest global standards and the latest industry themes and global emerging trends to ensure aligning its strategy towards world-class technologies and updates. In this context, it achieved noteworthy lineup of achievements attained over the past phase, in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic which cast a shadow on several economic industries while also accelerating a rapid technological transformation on others including telecommunications.
Themes being discussed during the event include connectivity and its growing role and value in a post-COVID-19 society with the emergence of a “new normal” which brought about an increased demand for more reliable connectivity services achievable through fruitful partnerships between cloud and network leaders. Besides showcasing 5G deployment and exploring next-generation technologies like the 6G network, the congress will highlight Open RAN technologies, enterprise and private networks. On this note, Zain KSA is glad to be building a connected industry through its vast 5G network regarded as the largest in the region, enabling the next-generation IoT services and the development of reliable solutions and business models that serve shifting needs. In doing so, the company expanded its 5G onto two levels: horizontally, which is related to the deployment of the 5G network on the largest possible geographical scale through covering 50 cities, and vertically, focusing on specific sectors that the Kingdom has high advantages and competitive potentials in.
Furthermore, Zain KSA introduced new radio carrier aggregation between two 5G layers to continue to provide the best 5G customer experience by doubling up the download speed. In line with the 5G evolution, the network is moving towards enabling full 5G stand-alone mode that will have access to advanced 5G features.
As a key element in realizing a connected industry and a vital bridge to a smarter future, artificial intelligence (AI) will be a key topic during the event where telecom partners from all over the world will delve into AI opportunities and its key employments in almost all businesses and tech applications. The prospects of harnessing AI in customer experience to induce customer engagement is also a central issue of the congress.
In this aspect, Zain KSA is harnessing its efforts for a simplified, tailored, and engaging customer experience, where customer insights collected through big data analytics have been key to creating the proper campaigns and promotions that serve the market’s needs. The role of AI is also being underscored in data collection to enable higher innovation and personalization for users, as well as better-targeted advertising. The company’s efforts will also address the role of technology for a future society, and explore where it can be utilized in beneficial endeavors such as enabling remote work, employing digital health services, spreading true and positive information, combating misinformation, and using technology for good including driverless cars and drones for delivery. There is no escape from the fact that AI is going to continue finding applications in our daily lives. Thanks to a breakthrough in deep learning, we are on the verge of an AI (artificial intelligence) economy.
In addition, the event is exploring the latest concerns in creative technology, which is fostering a culture of creation and innovation for fields such as mobile entertainment, e-gaming, and virtual events, to name a few. In this context, Zain KSA seeks to highlight its e-gaming initiative ‘GeForce Now’ which was launched in response to a growing demand from Saudi Arabia’s digital generation of more than 5.8 million e-gamers, with a penetration expected to reach 17.5% of the population by 2025.
On this occasion, CTO at Zain KSA, Eng. Abdulrahman AlMufadda, described MWC as a timely and critical convention of leaders in the global telecommunications industry striving to navigate the sector towards a future of greater tech innovation and integration. He said, “From a global and national perspective, the ultimate goal of the Kingdom’s digital transformation is to create a digital economy and a knowledge-based society that leaves no one behind. At Zain KSA we have always been committed to this direction and we will continue to harness our expanding digital capacities to achieve sustainable connectivity for all. We hope to achieve this through a robust infrastructure investment, up-to-date services, and an ever-evolving business growth plan. We aspire to take this even further by exploring the latest applications in what will benefit us all globally.”
Spearheading Saudi Arabia’s transition to 5G, Zain KSA has contributed to the Kingdom’s digital roadmap, ultimately supporting its global ranking. The Saudi capital Riyadh ranked first among world capitals in 5G network service speed, ahead of Tokyo and Dublin. In the global Smart City Index 2020 (IMD), the Saudi capital also advanced 18 ranks, outperforming highly-connected hubs including Tokyo, Paris, and Rome.
Notably, Zain KSA has received several awards and recognitions honoring its major strides in the sector such as winning the “Best 5G Availability”; “Best Download Speed Experience - 5G Users”; and “Best 5G Download Speed” from Opensignal, the independent global standard for analyzing consumer mobile experience. Similarly, the globally acclaimed company Ookla presented Zain KSA the SpeedTest award for the “fastest fixed network” in the Kingdom for the year 2020. Furthermore, Global network testing firm, umlaut, recently announced that Zain KSA has achieved the best 5G coverage and data performance in Riyadh.