Etisalat and Huawei Join Forces to Enable ‘Network2020’

Mobilk - Etisalat Group- the leading telecoms operator in the Middle East, Asia and Africa - and Huawei - a leading global ICT solutions provider - have today announced plans to jointly develop a framework and architecture for end-to-end network 2020. The companies believe that the year 2020 will require a different telecom networks to address customers needs.

Network 2020 is a vision that comprises of a number of technology advancements like virtualization, software defined networks, ultra high speed networks, cloud and etc. Those will be the building blocks for a completely new network architecture that should address the transformation towards a more connected society and digital living. As a result, end users will be able to enjoy existing and innovative new ICT services more rapidly and with the best reliability and quality. 

Hatem Bamatraf, Chief Technology Officer at Etisalat Group said: “Etisalat believes that current telecommunication networks must be agile, intelligent, flexible and open in order to transform customer experiences and take it to the next level. By introducing initiatives, such as Network2020, we hope to develop a network environment that will deliver a better, more connected world and enhance the experiences of all of our customers.” 

“For over a decade Huawei and Etisalat have enjoyed a longstanding partnership in the field of research & development. By constantly looking to simplify network architecture, we have in this latest memorandum identified a specific set of technologies that we believe will foster more inspired communication services for the public over the next decade.” says Alan Wang, President of Huawei Etisalat Global Key Account.

As part of this initiative, during 2015, Huawei will support Etisalat Group to design and plan a framework of target network architecture and evolution towards “Network 2020” vision. This framework architecture will encompass, but is not limited to, emerging technologies, such as software defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) and adaption of open ICT standards across all layers of network.

The joint plan was formalised by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during this week’s Mobile World Congress. The MoU builds upon a long-standing partnership, which has enabled Etisalat to bring a number of technology firsts to the region. Huawei has supported Etisalat on a number of such milestones, including a joint cooperation plan to explore and deploy super-speed 5G mobile broadband services.