Zain Kuwait and Rakuten Symphony have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a pioneering pilot project aimed at establishing Kuwait’s first cloud-native Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN). Leveraging Rakuten Symphony’s Open RAN and cloud-native software portfolio, Zain will deploy 5G Standalone (SA) sites as part of this groundbreaking initiative.
The MoU signing took place at Rakuten Symphony’s Tokyo headquarters, with Daaij Al-Oud, Chief Technology Officer at Zain Kuwait, and Sharad Sriwastawa, President of Rakuten Symphony, leading the delegation from both organizations. This pilot marks the initial phase toward a large-scale commercial rollout of Open RAN technology in Kuwait and throughout the Zain Group’s eight markets across the Middle East and North Africa.
Rakuten Symphony will provide its virtualized Distributed Unit (DU) and Centralized Unit (CU) software along with other cloud-native virtualized solutions, ensuring the Open RAN system is fully operational and capable of managing commercial traffic. Zain Kuwait will contribute the necessary cell sites, data center infrastructure, and 5G SA core network with related transport connectivity.
Daaij Al-Oud highlighted the project’s significance, stating that this collaboration represents a major milestone in transforming Kuwait’s telecom infrastructure. He emphasized that the pilot aims to unlock unprecedented levels of network agility, efficiency, and scalability, aligning with Zain Kuwait’s broader vision of leading digital innovation across the region.
Sharad Sriwastawa expressed Rakuten Symphony’s enthusiasm in supporting Zain Kuwait’s efforts, noting that adopting cloud-native, open network principles will provide enhanced operational flexibility, faster time to market, and superior customer performance. The project will also incorporate findings from a Japanese R&D initiative on post-5G infrastructure, subsidized by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
This collaboration sets the stage for Kuwait’s technological advancement and reinforces the growing momentum of Open RAN deployments in the Middle East region.
