The French vendor launched its NFV portfolio in February this year, and Mobily claims to be the first service provider globally to deploy the virtual RAN software.
Alcatel-Lucent’s solution is designed to improve service performance, reliability, scale and operational efficiency, and Alaa Malki, mobile network CTO at Mobily, said that the two companies have worked closely to ensure seamless adoption of the technology.
“We have a very technologically sophisticated customer base and we need to stay at the forefront of technological innovation to provide the level of experience that will keep them satisfied,” Malki said.
“To that end we have achieved our first goal and we look forward to the improved virtualised RNC performance, reliability and scale.”
Alcatel-Lucent’s virtual radio network solution controls functions over an open, carrier-grade platform, allowing for benefits such as geo-redundancy, minimised downtime maintenance and software upgrades, as well as load balancing and dynamic reconfiguration.
Amr K El-Leithy, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Azerbaijan region, said that the launch “authoritatively demonstrates that carrier-grade cloud network solutions is a reality”.
“We have achieved a significant milestone, with our virtual controller now handling live traffic in Mobily’s commercial network,” El-Leithy added. “Our accelerated investments in virtualised RAN applications are a clear proof point that we have all the elements to help operators create an open, agile, efficient cloud environment at a speed that meets their individual needs.”
The Saudi telecoms market is one of the most competitive in the Middle East, and earlier this year, Mobily announced a number of upgrades in partnership with NSN.
