Zain partners with Ericsson to implement innovative billing solution in three major operations

• Zain operations in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are the first to deploy Ericsson convergent Charging & Billing in One (CBIO).
•Zain will benefit from greater efficiency and their customers will enjoy greater service choice as a result of this partnership with Ericsson

Mobilk - Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has been selected by Zain Group to transform the current charging and billing system for its operations in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. This agreement with Ericsson signed during Zain’s Technology Conference held at the Atlantis, The Palm Hotel Dubai from December 1 to 3, 2013, is the first of its kind for Zain Group and spans across multiple countries.  

The solution demonstrates Ericsson’s capabilities in delivering solutions boosting operational efficiency, increasing flexibility to offer greater customer choice, improving customer experience. Zain will benefit from Ericsson’s expertise in charging, billing mediation and activation.This system facilitates central management of all users and all services for operators. It allows the unification of payment methods across all services. Zain customers will benefit from packages and promotions tailored to their needs, a simple and single bill for all Zain telecommunication services, and real-time control over their spending on mobile services. 

“With Ericsson’s Charging & Billing in One solution, both prepaid and postpaid Zain customers will be able to benefit from the benefits of a consolidated billing system. The highly efficient nature of this system means that our customers will enjoy greater flexibility and efficiency, thereby improving the customer experience and customer loyalty,” said Scott Gegenheimer,  Zain Group CEO. 

This new agreement underscores the longstanding relationship between Ericsson and Zain, and following the successful implementation of Charging & Billing in One solution in Zain Jordan. Ericsson’s partnership with Zain began in Kuwait, almost three decades back, and has grown to incorporate various products and services across eight countries in the region.

  “The rapid regional uptake of new technologies like 4G/LTE has increased the need for efficiency and flexibility, which extends to the charging & billing customer experience. We, at Ericsson, deeply understand the market developments, the operator and their customer needs, and with our wealth of knowledge and extensive global experience, we are proud to continue to be the trusted partner for Zain. With this partnership, Ericsson will continue to support Zain in its delivery of first-rate services to its customers in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia ,” said Ray Hassan, President for Global Customer Unit Zain at Ericsson

Ericsson has provided operators with real-time charging capabilities since 1996 and now serves more than two billion subscriptions through partnerships with over 185 operators using their Charging System.