Zain Group, Cisco work to meet demands placed on network infrastructure
Zain Group and Cisco announced the former is leveraging the latter’s segment advanced routing platforms and WAN automation to introduce the advantages of distributed intelligence and centralized control to its network.
Zain Group is a telecom operator in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, serving over 45 million customers. The company said the uptick in web connected devices has placed increased demands and workloads on its network infrastructure. According to the annual Cisco Visual Networking Index, Middle East and Africa mobile data traffic will have increased 12-fold from 2016 to 2021 at a compound annual growth rate of 65%.
“The demands of the digital era means that we must prioritize improving speed and efficiency, defining a growth strategy based on new services, and ensuring security,” said Henri Kassab, managing director, international, wholesale and roaming, Zain Group. “These are the building blocks of our innovation that support our transformation in becoming an integrated digital lifestyle operator. With the support of Cisco’s leading technology, our future-ready network architecture positions us well to drive tangible business outcomes and meet the evolving demands of our customers.”
Under the agreement, Cisco said it will provide next-generation network capabilities to Zain Group, including simplified operations, programmability, scalability and additional network availability. The launch signals a general trend toward network automation and resiliency. Cisco also said it will help Zain Group optimize network operations and provide a suite of differentiated services.
“The capabilities of Cisco’s segment routing, automation and our best of breed routing engines enable Zain Group to implement a programmable network that allows them to rapidly adapt to future customer needs,” said Ali Amer, managing director, global service provider sales, Cisco Middle East and Africa. “By fast tracking their network automation, Zain Group are future-proofing their network with an agile, scalable and secure architecture that supports their growth strategy and enhances their competitiveness.”
