Parallel Wireless Announces Partnership with Etisalat to Deliver Central Asia's First O-RAN Implementation in Afghanistan
AsiaNet 88847
NASHUA, N.H., April 7, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --
-- Companies to collaborate with Intel and Supermicro to bring cost-effective
rural and urban coverage
Parallel Wireless, Inc. (
), the leading U.S.-based Open RAN company, today announced its partnership
with Etisalat (
), one of the world's leading telco operators in Afghanistan (recognized by
Ookla® Speedtest(R) as the world's fastest mobile network in 2020) to deliver
the world's first cloud-native O-RAN compliant 5G 4G 3G 2G Open RAN solutions,
in collaboration with Intel and Supermicro, becoming the first in Central Asia
to implement Open RAN.
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1004727/PW_FullColor_CMYK_Logo.jpg
Afghanistan has seen a strong increase in mobile broadband with penetration
reaching 22% in 2019 up from 1% in 2013. While mobile broadband is still in its
early stages of development, growth is expected in 2022.
Mobile network operators in Central Asia are facing strong pressure to evolve
their businesses and operations to drive profitability. Addressing these
challenges requires industry innovation focused on reducing CAPEX and OPEX and
opening the networks to avoid any vendor lock-in. Traditional hardware-defined
2G, 3G or 4G networks require expensive and bulky equipment to deploy, operate
or upgrade.
Open RAN solutions are now ready for prime time as Parallel Wireless Open RAN
solution is delivering proof points of performance, quality of service, and
cost benefits on six continents. Parallel Wireless is also leading with
innovation in Open RAN, including the world's first network architecture that
unifies all mobile connectivity standards – 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G– under the same
software and cloud-native umbrella.
In Afghanistan, Parallel Wireless is innovating with ecosystem partners to
deliver:
-- Easy scale-out and hardware decoupling to provide mobile operators with
greater agility, resilience, and portability across cloud environments
for greater total cost of ownership (TCO) savings.
-- The Open RAN radio hardware ecosystem provides Remote Radio Units (RRUs)
that will allow Etisalat to replace legacy 2G/3G/4G systems with white
box solutions that can be upgraded to 5G in the future.
-- Intel's 3rd Gen Intel Xeon scalable processors delivered in Supermicro's
servers bring a future-ready architecture for a Distributed Unit (DU)
and a Central Unit (CU), deployed at the network's edge. The virtual
Baseband Unit (vBBU) resources can be shared among multiple RRUs on-site
in multi-carrier 1-sector, 3-sector, or 6-sector configurations to
achieve optimal resource pooling for TCO savings.
Etisalat's strategic goal is to build and grow wireless networks to provide
next-generation digital services to its customers in the region. Working in
collaboration with Parallel Wireless, Intel, and Supermicro, this can be
achieved by:
-- assembling viable solutions that build on an open and modular
architecture;
-- improving service agility through cloudification; and
-- reducing operational costs across geographically distributed sites with
automation.
Supporting quotes
Hatem Bamatraf, Chief Technology Officer-International, Etisalat Group, said:
"The combination of Open RAN, virtualization, and automation will enable
Etisalat to meet the needs of our customers most cost-effectively in Central
Asia. Being able to use an Open RAN system will help us not only extend our
initial investment, but also bring new services much faster. Parallel Wireless
together with Intel and Supermicro have become true strategic partners and key
enablers in undertaking this Open RAN implementation."
Jeff Sharpe, Director Edge/5G Solutions, Supermicro, said, "We are pleased to
be working with Etisalat, Parallel Wireless, and Intel to enable an open
ecosystem of disaggregated RAN solutions using vendor-neutral RAN hardware and
software-defined technology based on open interfaces and community-developed
standards."
Amrit Heer, Director of Sales, Parallel Wireless, said, "In collaboration with
the ecosystem partners, Parallel Wireless aims to make the RAN more open and
flexible. While there is significant innovation happening, there are
considerable gaps and challenges that make it difficult to deploy end-to-end
Open RAN solutions, putting a heavy burden back on operators. We believe it is
the ideal time to align and collaborate to solve the key challenges to deliver
innovative RAN solutions that are ready for commercial deployment. Implementing
our world's leading O-RAN compliant software platform will allow Etisalat to
enable new services to be deployed quickly, seamlessly, and more reliably."
About Etisalat Group
Etisalat Group is one of the world's leading telecom groups in emerging
markets. With consolidated net revenue at AED 51.7 billion and consolidated net
profit of AED 9.0 billion for 2020, its high credit ratings reflect the
company's strong balance sheet and proven long-term performance.
Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Etisalat was established over four decades ago in
the UAE as the country's first telecommunications service provider. An
international blue-chip organisation, Etisalat Group provides innovative
solutions and services to 154 million subscribers in 16 countries across the
Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Etisalat is ranked the strongest brand across all categories in Middle East and
Africa (MEA) region by Brand Finance. Etisalat was recognized as the fastest
mobile network globally by Ookla(R) Speedtest(R) in 2020, providing its
subscribers the most superior experience.
About Parallel Wireless
At Parallel Wireless, we believe that software has the power to unleash amazing
opportunities for the world. We disrupt the ways wireless networks are built
and operated. We are reimagining how hardware, software, and the cloud work
together to change deployment economics for our customers. Our ALL G (2G 3G 4G
5G) O-RAN compliant software platform forms an open, secure, and intelligent
RAN architecture to deliver wireless connectivity, so all people can be
connected whenever, wherever, and however they choose. We are engaged with over
50 global MNOs and have been recognized with over 74 industry awards. At the
core of what we do is our team of Reimaginers who value innovation,
collaboration, openness, and customer success. For more information, visit:
www.parallelwireless.com. Connect with Parallel Wireless on LinkedIn (
) and Twitter (
).
SOURCE Parallel Wireless
CONTACT: Eugina Jordan, VP, Marketing, Parallel Wireless,
Ejordan@parallelwireless.com, 978-660-8659
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