Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 12 | Page 44

COUNTRY FOCUS: KUWAIT WITH THE SURGE OF IoT DEVICES CONNECTING TO ENTERPRISE NETWORKS, CONVENTIONAL BYOD METHODS OF SECURING ACCESS HAVE BEEN RENDERED INADEQUATE country and will run marketing campaigns and participate at relevant industry events. Aruba was acquired in mid 2015 by HP, now HPE. Aruba will bring its best-of-breed wireless LAN infrastructure and policy management to the access layer, complementing HPE’s strong footprint in wired LAN and data center switching. Together, Aruba and HPE are offering a unified networking solution to help customers in Kuwait and globally successfully manage their networking needs throughout the transition to a ‘mobile first’ infrastructure. Sabahat says, “The key areas that will drive the business focus for Aruba are the advent of 802.11 ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi, the growing trend around the Internet of Things (IoT), and a vertical focus through the channel. The introduction of Wave 2 technology has been a pivotal moment for wireless networks; finally enterprises have an access medium that allows Wi-Fi to be faster than wired.” “With the surge of IoT devices connecting to enterprise networks, conventional BYOD methods of securing access have been rendered inadequate. Enterprises in Kuwait can safeguard their networks with Aruba’s unique mobility technologies to help ensure mobile devices communicate securely and efficiently across the network,” concludes Sabahat. IoT BOOST A ccording to a recent report by Arab Times, Ericsson and Ooredoo Kuwait announced a partnership to expand the established M2M and IoT partnership between both companies during MWC 2016, which took place recently in Barcelona. Ooredoo Kuwait is launching the advanced M2M/IoT Connectivity Management Service using Ericsson DCP platform, a service that will promote the creation of IoT business in Kuwait for them. Ericsson Device Connectivity Platform (DCP) Service will be developed for the first time in the Kuwaiti market and Ooredoo is the pioneer operator enabling the service. Further to this announcement, Ericsson and Ooredoo Kuwait also launched their to deploy Ericsson’s City Site and Ericsson state of the art indoor small cell solution Radio Dot System for the first time in Kuwait. As a result of the deployment, Ooredoo will be able to provide superior network performance and faster data speeds to enterprise and in-building consumers with a short time to market. The solutions will also blend with the city landscape without impa cting performance, a requirement that is increasingly high on operators’ agendas. Following the initial deployment, Ericsson will continue to cooperate with Ooredoo Kuwait to apply the City Site solution more 44 INTELLIGENTCIO extensively throughout the country. In addition to providing customers with advanced mobile broadband services, the deployment will enrich Ooredoo Kuwait’s existing 4G+ network and will ensure an improved customer experience. Mijbil Al-Ayoub, Director of Corporate Communications at Ooredoo Kuwait, says: “We have once again aligned ourselves with Ericsson, a trusted ICT transformation partner, to maintain our own leadership in deploying advanced, state-of-the-art mobile broadband solutions in the Kuwaiti market. As the fastest growing telecommunications company in Kuwait. We continue to innovate to serve our customers, including the large enterprise market, which requires superior indoor cellular connectivity to keep up with the pace of business.” Ahmed AbdelShafy, Vice-President at Ericsson, says: “By 2050, 70% of the global population will live in cities. As a result, operators are constantly looking to enhance their networks to meet urban dwellers’ expectations. Ericsson’s City Site and Radio Dot System solutions showcase our technology and services leadership in this area, and will empower Ooredoo Kuwait to deliver highperformance coverage and capacity for their customers.” www.intelligentcio.com