Zain Iraq picks EXFO to enhance customer experience

Zain Iraq and EXFO announced the extension of their long-term partnership to transform the network operator’s service delivery and customer experience.

The agreement will allow Zain Iraq to benefit from EXFO’s service assurance technology to proactively monitor network and service performance, identify and troubleshoot potential degradations, and better understand customer needs to transform its mobile network operations centers (NOC) to service operations centers (SOC).

Across the globe, the communications industry is moving towards advanced service assurance technology, and for good reason; 88% of customers stated that quality of service is crucial in selecting their service providers.

Zain Iraq, part of Zain Group, is the leading telecommunications company in Iraq. After successfully launching and rolling out 4G-LTE service across the country—the leading telecom company in Iraq to do so—the operator is increasing its focus on providing customers and partners with the best services through its fastest and largest network coverage and state-of-the-art infrastructure. During its 10-year partnership with Zain Iraq, EXFO has undertaken a range of service assurance projects, including customer experience management (CEM), service quality management (SQM) projects and network monitoring solutions.

EXFO SOC services’ team will also be involved in accelerating the transformation process and providing actionable insights, in addition to introducing automated reporting to improve the time-to-repair, enhance service quality, and increase customer satisfaction.

Building on its partnership with Zain covering 2G and 3G monitoring technologies for voice and data services, EXFO will deliver a monitoring solution for the 4G-LTE network and the SOC services, which include network performance, service degradation analysis, and customer experience performance and development allowing for better visibility on potential network issues, including customer applications such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and other services.

Ahmed Abdulsalam, CTO of Zain Iraq, commented, “We base our strategy at Zain Iraq on our solid understanding of subscribers, partners’ needs and the global market trend.. This transformation is part of our keen efforts to provide the superior and fastest 4G-LTE network in the country that allow us to meet the aspirations of more than 16 million subscribers. Fueled by the strong knowledge and expertise of EXFO, this transformation is set to help us efficiently monitor our service quality and better understand our customer needs and expectations, ultimately enabling Zain Iraq to be a truly digital service provider in the growing digital economy.”

Wim te Niet, VP EMEA at EXFO, said, “We are proud to have worked with Zain Group for over a decade on innovative service assurance solutions. EXFO enables operators around the world to transition to service-focused operations, and we are delighted to work with Zain Iraq, which places such a great emphasis on customer experience. It is critical for all mobile operators to undertake initiatives to proactively identify potential issues and troubleshoot them quickly in order to retain customers and deliver the best possible experience to subscribers. We look forward to engaging with Zain on further adaptive service assurance initiatives in the areas of automation, machine learning and advanced analytics.”

Zain Iraq is a telecommunications company in Iraq. It is part of Zain Group - the leading mobile telecom innovator in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Zain Iraq’s strategy is based on understanding the needs of its consumers and partners. It places them at the core of any service or idea, providing them with the best and most advanced services that can meet more than 16M subscribers’ aspirations, utilizing its superior and fastest 4G-LTE network in the country.

Zain Iraq's vision builds on establishing partnerships with the youth, providing them with products and services that will empower and help them connect with the world.