Riyadh, Tokyo & Barcelona – Rakuten Symphony and Zain KSA announced today the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enable strategic collaboration in building next-generation telecommunications networks based on open standards and network infrastructure provided by Rakuten Symphony.

Rakuten Symphony assists telcos worldwide with the deployment of fully cloud-native network services based on open standards and advanced automation and orchestration, enabling companies to easily build secure and open mobile networks at high speed and low cost. The signing of the MoU was announced at MWC23, held in Barcelona from February 27 until March 2.

Under the terms of the MoU, Rakuten Symphony and Zain KSA will collaborate to accelerate the delivery of mobile network services through the use of open technology that will facilitate and revolutionize wireless infrastructure, with the potential to deliver cost-effective solutions in a quick and efficient manner. Rakuten will work with Zain KSA on a blueprint for a cloud-native, fully virtualized, new-generation radio access solution architecture, which will be Open RAN 4G and 5G-based with advanced automation capabilities.

Zain KSA Chief Technology Officer, Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Mufadda, said: “We are delighted to work closely with Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony to drive innovation and deliver top-class services that meet and anticipate the ever-growing demand for reliable, secure, and ultramodern network experiences from our individual and enterprise customers. This collaboration will leverage and maximize the strengths of Zain KSA and Rakuten to accelerate innovation and drive the Saudi ICT sector toward achieving Saudi Vision 2030’s goals to transform the Kingdom into a digital hub that fosters a digital economy and hyper-connected society.”

“We are very excited to collaborate with Zain KSA and share our expertise in building next-generation telecommunication networks,” said Tareq Amin, CEO of Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony. “We believe that Rakuten Symphony’s network automation and orchestration solutions for cost-effective network transformation and timely deployment of next-generation network services will help Zain KSA deliver a superior experience to their customers.”

The signing of this MoU is in alignment with Zain KSA’s digital-first strategy and its goal of accelerating the inclusive digital transformation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while driving business growth and scaling up user experiences through a wide range of applications across sectors.

-Ends-

About Zain KSA

Zain KSA is a leading digital services and solutions provider in Saudi Arabia, offering its customers award winning and value-added services including Telecom services, 5G network and applications, Fintech services, Cloud computing, IoT solutions, Fiber services, Drones, Digital entertainment and many others while championing corporate sustainability and ensuring that ESG goals and principles continue to remain at the core of our business.

About Rakuten Symphony

Rakuten Symphony is reimagining telecom, changing supply chain norms, and disrupting outmoded thinking that threatens the industry’s pursuit of rapid innovation and growth. Based on proven modern infrastructure practices, its open interface platforms make it possible to launch and operate advanced mobile services in a fraction of the time and cost of conventional approaches, with no compromise to network quality or security. Rakuten Symphony has headquarters in Japan and a local presence in the United States, Singapore, India, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa region.

For more information, visit: https://symphony.rakuten.com/