Etisalat and Huawei extend strategic partnership

Mobilk - Etisalat—the region’s leading telecommunication operator—and Huawei—a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider—have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will see the two companies deepen their strategic partnership in new areas such as Public Cloud, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV). The two companies have collaborated in strong support of UAE’s Smart City initiative.

The MoU signing took place on the second day of GITEX Technology Week in Dubai, UAE, being held from October 12-16. 

“For nearly 40 years, Etisalat has played a major part in sustaining UAE’s position as a regional hub for business, trade and foreign investment by providing expert and quality services. By teaming up with Huawei, we are looking to explore possibilities of deploying advanced technologies that provide advanced value added services and ultimately improve our customer’s overall experience. It is part of our commitment to our customers and consequently, to our nation,” said Saeed Al Zarouni, Senior Vice President – Business Planning and Technology Evolution, Etisalat.

“Leveraging Huaweis strengths in providing end-to-end ICT solutions and our heritage in research and development, this latest agreement between Huawei and Etisalat will help to further advance services offerings to individuals and enterprises across the UAE while at the same time supporting Etisalat to reap the maximum value of its future network investments,” adds Peng Xiongji, General Manager of Huawei UAE. 

Today, the UAE is one of the fastest developing markets globally for mobile broadband infrastructure. Etisalat has invested in cutting-edge infrastructure through its partnership with Huawei to provide UAE customers faster and more reliable access to the world’s most popular mobile apps and communication services. This has included an agreement earlier in 2014 for Huawei to provide Etisalat with a range of consultancy services aimed to offer mobile broadband services across the Middle East. Furthermore, Etisalat is also offering more reliable, faster, and affordable broadband services to homes and businesses. Earlier this year, the two companies—for the first time in the region—began trialing ultra-fast 40Gbps speeds on fiber network as part of their ongoing strategic collaboration. 

The latest MoU includes an expanded scope of collaboration around areas such as Public Cloud and SDN/NFV.

Etisalat and Huawei have worked on numerous landmark projects in the Middle East telecommunications sector over the last 10 years. The two companies had previously collaborated on the rollout of Etisalat’s 4G LTE mobile networks.