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Background

　　As one of the most developed countries in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has advanced economy and good development of mobile telecom networks. Though it has advanced telecommunication business, its data service is relatively poor. The data service penetration in 2007 did not reach 5% of the country’s population. In 2007, Atheeb made a joint bid with Batelco to obtain a fixed telecom license from the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC). After achieving this license, Atheeb got a nationwide 3.5 GHz spectrum and was allowed to offer fixed-line services in the Kingdom. In the same year, Atheeb made preparations for network construction, aiming to enter the data service and fixed-line voice service market in the shortest time and attain the commanding height of the fixed-line market in Saudi Arabia.

　　As a leading telecom equipment provider in the world, ZTE boasts excellent comprehensive solutions and network delivery capacity. To help Atheeb grow and establish a long-term cooperation partnership with Atheeb, ZTE built core networks including IMS and MPLS for Atheeb in 2008 and put these networks into commercial operation in June 2009. This cooperation in building a WiMAX access network signifies the further enhancement of mutual trust.

Customer Requirements

　　Atheeb obtained a fixed telecom license in Saudi Arabia in 2007. As an emerging carrier, Atheeb faces an acute lack of telecom operation experience. In Saudi Arabia, STC and Mobily have dominated the telecom market for a long time. Facing a tough competition from carriers such as SITC and Verizon, it is critical for Atheeb to find an equipment supplier who has leading technologies, outstanding comprehensive solutions and rich network delivery experience.

　　In addition to the IPO in Feb 2009, all the other capital of Atheeb comes from the Atheeb Consortium and other shareholders. To win the shareholders’ long-term trust and to gain profit quickly, controlling network construction and operation costs becomes Atheeb’s key issue. The crucial problem confronted by Atheeb is how to get most of the spectrum resource and select the best solution to satisfy the customers’ network construction requirements in Saudi Arabia.

ZTE Solution

ZTE’s turnkey network delivery solution helps Atheeb to grow

　　Under the strategic cooperation partnership based on mutual trust and mutual benefit, ZTE provided Atheeb with an end-to-end WiMAX solution covering WiMAX, IMS, terminals and application platform, thus becoming the biggest equipment supplier of Atheeb.

　　ZTE has accumulated rich experience in turnkey network delivery throughout the world and set up a strong after-sales service team in the Middle East. The turnkey project delivery solution for Atheeb this time included network planning & design, equipment provisioning and site survey & acquisition as well as power supply and whole network commissioning to ensure high-quality network deployment. In addition, ZTE’s excellent comprehensive operation & maintenance service and continuous auxiliary operation also play an important role in Atheeb’s healthy operation in future.

High-quality and low-TCO solution helps build a premium WiMAX network

　　By virtue of rich experience in network planning & optimization, ZTE provided professional network planning and networking solution for Atheeb. ZTE helped Atheeb to get most of the spectral resource while satisfying the network coverage and capacity requirements.

　　Considering that Saudi Arabia has a heterogeneous terrain, terrible climate and is unevenly populated, ZTE introduced the base stations supporting both 4×8 BF and 2×4 MIMO. ZTE used the minimum number of sites to reduce the network construction cost by balancing coverage and capacity through flexible configurations. In addition, due to distributed design and small size as well as low power consumption, ZTE base stations can effectively reduce the engineering cost and future operation & maintenance costs.

　　ZTE’s unique dual-carrier RRU enables excellent network scalability, facilitating capacity expansion and reducing network expansion investment. Besides, the dual-carrier RRU makes Phase 1 network more specific to customer demands, thus guaranteeing the return on investment.

　　ZTE provided a full range of indoor solutions and abundant terminals to guarantee Atheeb’s business development in future.

Customer Benefits

　　The signing ceremony of WiMAX Phase II between Atheeb and ZTE and the ceremony of launching Atheeb’s commercial services of IMS/MPLS were held in Riyadh on June 6, 2009.

　　ZTE’s low-TCO turnkey network solution offers Atheeb a competitive edge in terms of cost in Saudi Arabia, which helps Atheeb to keep the leading position in user tariff and market promotion.

　　In December 2009, ZTE will help Atheeb to finish constructing the WiMAX network covering major cities in the east of Saudi Arabia including Dammam. By then, Atheeb will have the first nationwide WiMAX network in Saudi Arabia. Atheeb plans to develop 50,000 to 100,000 subscribers in the east in 2010 and lay a foundation for leading the data service market in Saudi Arabia.

　　Atheeb and ZTE have intended to establish a joint lab in Saudi Arabia to develop new technologies and give a new impetus to the development of WiMAX industry worldwide. Building up goals of “Simple, Premium-Quality, Efficient”, ZTE will construct a quality WiMAX network for Atheeb and witness Atheeb’s growth of data service market in Saudi Arabia and even in the Middle East.