With Openwave Mobility’s solution, Zain can seamlessly manage the rising levels of encrypted traffic on the network

REDWOOD CITY, California–October 4, 2017 – Openwave Mobility, the market leader in mobile data traffic management solutions, today announced that it has deployed an NFV-based mobile data traffic management solution for Zain Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA). The virtualized solution enables Zain KSA to manage and monetize encrypted data including streaming videos and delivers outstanding subscriber Quality of Experience (QoE). This is the latest in a series of successful deployments by Openwave Mobility in 2017.

Encrypted data from OTTs is “darkening” mobile networks. This is preventing operators from being able to gain insight on network traffic to manage QoE. In some parts of the world, over 60% of data is encrypted and this could reach 80% before the end of 2017.

Zain KSA, like most mobile operators globally, has experienced an increase in encrypted traffic travelling on its network. Khalid Charaa Core Planning Senior Manager for Zain KSA said: “We have seen a sharp rise in HTTPS and QUIC traffic over the past few months and we proactively took steps to find solutions that could ease congestion and deliver superb QoE. The innovative solution from Openwave Mobility has been impressive. They have demonstrated their expertise and backed it up with excellent levels of service.”

Indranil Chatterjee SVP of Product & Sales at Openwave Mobility commented: “Over 50% of data travelling on mobile networks is video and this phenomenal growth is straining networks. This, along with encrypted data, adversely impacts QoE. Our research has shown that subscribers will only tolerate 6 seconds of buffering before they abandon their video and even consider leaving their operators. In a highly competitive mobile landscape, carriers can ill-afford to overlook quality.”

Ammar Hamdan, Director of Sales for MEA region added: “Zain has shown its leadership in the industry by utilizing NFV. As a pioneer of NFV-based solutions, Openwave Mobility has the expertise and the technology to strengthen Zain’s virtualized infrastructure and boost QoE for subscribers. We are delighted to partner with a company that shares our strong commitment and ethos to advancing virtualization and enhancing the customer experience.”

Left to Right:
Irfan Abdulgafor – Technology Core General Manager, Zain
Hernan Munoz – Engineering Executive General Manager Zain
Ammar Hamdan – Regional Director, MEA Openwave Mobility
Abdulrahman AlMufadda – Technology Delivery General Manager, Zain
Khalid Charaa – Core Planning Senior Manager, Zain

About Zain Saudi Arabia

Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia (Zain) is the 3rd mobile operator entrant in KSA, it commenced its commercial operations in August 2008. Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia offers mobile telephony, and Internet services under the brand name Zain Saudi Arabia to +12M customers & has extended its network coverage to 94% of the population.

About Openwave Mobility

Openwave Mobility empowers mobile operators to manage and monetize encrypted traffic. Based on the industry’s most scalable NFV platform, our solutions alleviate RAN congestion, create new revenue opportunities and unify subscriber data. The company provides solutions for mobile data optimization, targeted promotions and subscriber data management.

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