BARCELONA, February 28, 2024 – Telecom Egypt, the country’s first fully integrated telecom operator, has proudly marked a historic milestone with the first successful 4G trial call via Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technology in North Africa in collaboration with Rakuten Symphony, Cisco, and the global Telecom Infra Project (TIP). The successful trial was announced during MWC Barcelona 2024, held from February 26 until February 29.
The seamless integration of Rakuten's Symphony vRAN software — complemented by the deployment of cloud-native vCU and vDU — showcases Telecom Egypt's vision of moving toward the cloudification of telco workloads. This achievement not only underscores the company's commitment to shaping the future of connectivity but also highlights the future of mobile networks.
This milestone reinforces Telecom Egypt's position as an industry leader and exemplifies a smooth transition from traditional systems to cutting-edge solutions, in line with Telecom Egypt’s strategic drive to lay the foundation for a strong digital future. With the global race to adopt and support Open Radio Access Network technology for broader network deployment, Telecom Egypt’s latest success demonstrates its direction and leadership in developing Open RAN with maturity to fulfill a variety of capabilities required by our customers.
Rakuten Symphony, Cisco, and Telecom Infra Project*1 played pivotal roles in the project, demonstrating the power of collaboration in building a fully cloud-native platform. Their partnership helped to reveal the true potential of Open RAN technology in transforming Radio Access Networks into an open and fully interoperable RAN.
Mohamed Nasr, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Telecom Egypt, said, “This achievement surpasses technological excellence and is a testament to our commitment to innovate and serve our customers. It also represents a new historic achievement for Telecom Egypt as a result of continuous planning, strong determination, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of connectivity. Our successful journey reaffirms our steadfast dedication to shaping the future of connectivity while upholding the exceptional service standards our customers have come to expect."
Rabih Dabboussi, Chief Business Officer, Rakuten Symphony said, “The North Africa region is beginning to realize its technological potential and innovating its telecom infrastructure, and Telecom Egypt is leading the way. At Rakuten Symphony, we are proud to support Telecom Egypt in delivering the first successful 4G Open RAN call in North Africa. We look forward to supporting Telecom Egypt and mobile network operators around the world with open interfaces and automation capabilities that are reimagining telecom services.”
In contrast to traditional proprietary networks, Open RAN empowers various vendors to contribute different components. These networks are software-driven, adhere to open standards, and operate in the cloud on readily available servers. Network updates are implemented through software, offering continuous orchestration and automation for full-stack open RAN systems.
Notes:
*1 The Telecom Infra Project (TIP) is a global community of companies and organizations that are driving infrastructure solutions to advance global connectivity. Half of the world’s population is still not connected to the internet, and for those who are, connectivity is often insufficient. This limits access to the multitude of consumer and commercial benefits provided by the internet, thereby impacting GDP growth globally. However, a lack of flexibility in the current solutions – exacerbated by a limited choice in technology providers – makes it challenging for operators to efficiently build and upgrade networks.
Founded in 2016, TIP is a community of diverse members that includes hundreds of companies – from service providers and technology partners to systems integrators and other connectivity stakeholders. We are working together to develop, test and deploy open, disaggregated, and standards-based solutions that deliver the high-quality connectivity that the world needs – now and in the decades to come.
For more information, visit: https://telecominfraproject.com/
About Telecom Egypt
Telecom Egypt is the first integrated telecom operator in Egypt providing all telecom services to its customers including fixed and mobile voice and data services. Telecom Egypt has a long history serving Egyptian customers for over 160 years maintaining a leadership position in the Egyptian telecom market by offering its enterprise and consumer customers the most advanced technology, reliable infrastructure solutions and the widest network of submarine cables. Aside from its mobile operation "WE", the company owns a 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt. Telecom Egypt’s shares and GDRs (Ticker: ETEL.CA; TEEG.LN) are traded on The Egyptian Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. Please refer to Telecom Egypt’s full financial disclosure on ir.te.eg
For more information, contact:
The investor relations team
Email: investor.relations@te.eg
About Rakuten Symphony
Rakuten Symphony is reimagining telecom, changing supply chain norms, and disrupting outmoded thinking that threatens the industry’s pursuit of rapid innovation and growth. Based on proven modern infrastructure practices, its open interface platforms make it possible to launch and operate advanced mobile services in a fraction of the time and cost of conventional approaches, with no compromise to network quality or security. Rakuten Symphony has headquarters in Japan and a local presence in the United States, Singapore, India, Europe, and the Middle East Africa region.
For more information, visit: https://symphony.rakuten.com/
