Telecom operator Zain is keen to enter the 5G business to tap revenue opportunities from high-speed Internet, smart city and Internet of Things (IoT).

Nokia is the technology partner of Zain for developing 5G and define a clear path toward building the next-generation ultra-broadband networks in Saudi Arabia.

Peter Kaliaropoulos, chief executive officer of Zain Saudi Arabia and Ashish Chowdhary, chief customer operations officer of Nokia signed the agreement at the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2017) in Barcelona.

The Finland-based Nokia has signed similar 5G agreements with Saudi Telecom Company (STC), a leading telecom operator in the Middle East, Bharti Airtel and BSNL, two leading mobile operators in India.

Nokia and Zain Saudi Arabia already started working together to transform Jeddah into a smart city.

“With this MoU, we are taking our partnership to the next level, evolving toward building the next-generation 5G networks,” said Peter Kaliaropoulos, CEO of Zain Saudi Arabia.

“This agreement will take us closer to providing commercial 5G network in the Saudi market by introducing 4.5G Pro and 4.9G technologies to Zain’s network during the course of 2017,” said Sultan Abdulaziz AlDeghaither, chief technology officer (CTO) at Zain Saudi Arabia.

Zain’s priorities are looking at the deployments of 4.5G Pro, 4.9G, DFCA, carrier aggregation and the re-farming of the 900 MHz band.

Nokia will support Zain KSA to evolve the operator’s network toward 5G by introducing 4.5G Pro and 4.9G technologies in Saudi Arabia, and support the National Transformation Plan 2020.