Middle East operator Zain is to use Rakuten Symphony’s open RAN and cloud platform to deliver standalone (SA) 5G service in Kuwait, as part of the initial phase of a planned large-scale commercial deployment across the group.
The pair will team on a pilot project to set up cloud-native open RAN, which they claimed in a joint statement will be the first in Kuwait.
The deal includes Rakuten Symphony’s software for open RAN virtualised distributed and centralised units, as well as its cloud-native virtualised software.
Zain Kuwait CTO Daaij Al-Oud noted the collaboration “marks a significant step in our journey to transform Kuwait’s telecoms infrastructure”. He added: “We aim to unlock new levels of network agility, efficiency and scalability.”
Rakuten Symphony president Sharad Sriwastawa stated using networks driven by cloud-native and open principles offers the benefits of increased operational flexibility and reduced time to market.
The SA deployment will make use of the operator’s existing base stations, data centre infrastructure and SA 5G core with related transport connectivity.
Zain Group operates in eight countries across the Middle East and North Africa region.