ESPOO, Finland -- Nokia Networks and Zain KSA today announced their successful completion of a pilot project using carrier aggregation to combine FDD-LTE bands 1800 and 2100 MHz. Conducted in the western region recently as part of Zain KSA's network enhancement project, the trial is the first in the country to take advantage of combining those bands. Nokia Networks used its Global Services team, advanced radio platform, and carrier aggregation software to improve performance and yield up to 150 Mbps speed in Zain's LTE network.

Carrier aggregation enables operators to create larger, virtual carrier bandwidths for telecommunications services by combining separate spectrum bands, thus boosting network capacity and speed. Using its carrier aggregation software, Nokia Networks helps operators worldwide achieve the highest possible network efficiency and data rates.

Hassan Kabbani, Chief Executive Officer of Zain KSA, said: "We are fully focused in our efforts to continue investing in our state-of-the-art 4G network to ensure a world-class, reliable mobile voice, data and video service experience for Zain's customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With the increased adoption of smart devices, the demand for superior quality, high-speed and new data services is growing, and we must deliver utmost mobile broadband performance to meet that demand. As a caring operator, we opted for a strategic and long-term partnership with Nokia Networks due to its reliable technology, differentiating expertise in network planning and optimization, and network implementation."

Bernard Najm, Vice President and Head of MEA, Nokia Networks, said: "Our carrier aggregation solution is capable of helping Zain KSA provide better network performance with higher throughput and speeds while reducing capital expenditure. We will help Zain KSA become a technology leader in the Saudi market, and provide the Saudi customers with the world-class service experience."

Nokia Networks