COUNTRY FOCUS: KSA
5G is the future of the
telecommunications industry
in Saudi Arabia and tech
companies are working
together to make this
advancement a reality. The
country’s ‘next leap forward’
opens up a number of
exciting possibilities and has
the potential to transform
how people use this
pioneering and innovative
technology in their daily lives.
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5G: Making the
next leap forward’
5
G mobile connectivity has the
potential to transform Saudi Arabia,
bringing much faster connectivity and
driving the adoption of Internet of Things
technology (IoT) in many different aspects
of public life. Small wonder then that companies are
working hard behind the scenes to bring the
promise of 5G to Saudi Arabia.
One downside is the expense of deploying
Fifth Generation networks, yet in areas with
a high concentration of IoT interest it makes
perfect financial sense potentially solving
many of the country’s connectivity concerns. Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and Nokia
have announced that they are collaborating
to launch the STC 5G network in 2018. They
agreed to collectively work towards finding
the most optimal network strategy and
relevant use-cases for 5G deployment in the
Saudi market.
5G promises business owners and rural
communities the ability to make the most
of applications that had previously been of
limited use.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
STC announces collaboration with
Nokia for a 5G network launch in 2018
As a first step, hundreds of 5G base
stations are planned to be deployed in the
Western region in the kingdom (Makkah,
Madinah and Yanbu). The 5G collaboration
aims to use Nokia’s equipment and
solutions, including 5G-ready AirScale
platform and AirFrame data centre for the
network launch.
The unique combination of high-speed
and low-latency in 5G technology opens
up a number of new and exciting use-cases
such as virtual reality, augmented reality,
connected cars, industrial robots and remote
healthcare applications.
“We have been working closely with
Nokia over the last 20 years,” said Acting
STC Group CEO, Nasser Al Nasser. “It is a
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