Zain Deploys Full Traffic Management Portfolio from Enea

Zain Kuwait is deploying the full traffic management suite from Enea to amplify its 4G and 5G network deployments, and support the country’s increasing appetite for mobile technology.

For a country of just over 4 million people, Kuwait has more than 7 million mobile subscribers, making its mobile penetration rate of 168 percent one of the highest in the world. Zain Kuwait also has an extremely high mobile data consumption per SIM, driven in large part by users sharing and streaming mobile videos.

To ensure that its subscribers don’t suffer from poor quality of experience (QoE) – such as long wait times and degraded video quality – Zain Kuwait is using the Enea Openwave Encrypted Video Manager, which enables transparent classification of encrypted video flows to balance picture and playback video quality in real time according to radio network conditions.

Additionally, the solution features the Enea Openwave TCP Accelerator to maximize download speeds for both 4G and 5G, and the Traffic Classifier to augment application and encrypted content classification.

“Zain Kuwait is an innovative pioneer in the region with an outstanding track record, having deployed the first mobile network in the Middle East,” said Nawaf Algharabally, Chief Technology Officer of Zain Kuwait. “Our partnership with Enea ensures that we deliver outstanding subscriber experience by putting the right solutions in place to provide smoother video streaming and improved Internet browsing. This solution enables us to optimize video streaming and deliver the highest in-country download speeds, regardless of whether the content is encrypted.”

John Giere, President of Enea’s Openwave Division, said, “Zain is an outstanding example of a truly innovative operator. Our research in the Middle East shows that video buffering can be a major frustration that causes subscribers to abandon a video within just six seconds, which often is enough to make a subscriber switch to another operator. By deploying Enea Openwave technology, Zain Kuwait is future-proofing its 4G and 5G networks and ensuring they’re equipped to manage the rising levels of encrypted video traffic to deliver outstanding QoE for their subscribers.”

The Enea Openwave Division provides mobile operators with 5G-ready products for the mobile core. Our Traffic Management Solutions alleviate RAN congestion, accelerate video delivery, and maximize subscriber QOE. Our 5G Core Solutions provide a common data layer to unify subscriber data. Enea Openwave solutions have been deployed in 8 out of the 10 largest multi-territory mobile operator groups in the world.