Openwave Mobility drives Outstanding QoE for Zain Saudi Arabia with NFV-based Mobile Traffic Management

Openwave Mobility, a global enabler in mobile data traffic management solutions, 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.”