Zain Group and Cisco Blaze Innovation Trail to Drive Network Transformation for the Digital Era

KUWAIT, KUWAIT CITY--(Marketwired - Dec 19, 2017) - Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO)

• Collaboration supports the next wave of innovation for Zain Group, enabling it to adapt easily to future customer needs and deliver new services faster
• Successful IP/MPLS implementation drives next-generation network capabilities for digital transformation, brings benefits of segment routing and fast tracks network automation

Zain Group and Cisco announced today that they have successfully achieved a key milestone in expanding the telecommunications operator's IP/MPLS network with cutting edge technologies, setting the groundwork for new opportunities and business models to be developed.

As a telecommunications operator serving over 45 million customers across eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa, Zain Group's network infrastructure faces an increase of expectations and workloads driven by the growth of devices and connections. The annual Cisco Visual Networking Index™ (Cisco VNI™) forecast projects a 12-fold increase in Middle East and Africa mobile data traffic from 2016 to 2021, a compound annual growth rate of 65 percent.

This unprecedented growth requires service providers to transform their networks. Zain Group is leveraging Cisco® advanced segment routing platforms and WAN automation to bring the benefits of distributed intelligence and centralized control to its network. Cisco's industry leading innovation around cloud-scale and automation will deliver next-generation network capabilities to Zain Group to enable simplification, scalability and open innovation that drive business results.

"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."