Saudi Arabian telecommunications company Zain has set its sights on advancing the deployment of 5G-Advanced (5G-A) services beginning in 2024, according to Mohammed Abdulazis AlNujaidi, the company’s engineering executive general manager. This technological leap forward was first initiated in the capital city, Riyadh, and is expected to enhance Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) 2.0 services.
During his speech at the MWC 2024 event in Barcelona, Spain, AlNujaidi revealed the company’s strategic plan for the years 2024 to 2026, which includes launching 5G-A services in the eight most prominent cities in Saudi Arabia. In particular, Zain is gearing up to employ this technology for IoT-based CCTV systems, meeting the country’s public security governance needs through RedCap technology.
The subsequent phase, spanning 2027 to 2030, aims to extend 5G-A coverage to the main 18 cities in the nation. AlNujaidi emphasized the necessity for ‘5.5G’ technologies to support 3D and XR immersive services that demand considerable capacity and deterministic latency.
Previously, Zain collaborated with Chinese tech giant Huawei to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a ‘5.5G’ City joint innovation project. This partnership is poised to drive technological innovation aligned with the ‘5.5G’ evolution and amplify scalable solutions for individual, business, and government clientele throughout Saudi Arabia.
The alliance between Zain and Huawei is committed to establishing a pioneering network infrastructure, which is crucial for achieving the digitalization objectives set out in the Saudi Vision 2030 framework. Their collaboration will focus on delivering a gigabit experience in various environments and will include the deployment of MetaAAU, 5G carrier aggregation, and Huawei’s LampSite digital indoor solutions.
Moreover, the two companies are set to explore and develop innovative applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) and private network solutions, marking a significant step towards comprehensive digital transformation within the region.