Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has deployed Juniper Networks Contrail Networking to create cloud services for its customers.
The selection of Juniper Networks solution is part of STC’s strategy to make investment for utilizing Network Function Virtualization (NFV) to offer dynamic online services and applications to its customers in Saudi Arabia.
This approach is expected to increase STC’s business agility and revenue growth. Consolidated revenues of STC for the first quarter of 2016 was SR 12,759 million (+2.3 percent), while operating profit was SR 3,004 million (–11 percent).
STC is expecting increased international growth opportunities with the simplified roll-out of new virtualized services. STC’s revenues from domestic operations during the first quarter grew 2.9 percent, while revenues from the international subsidiaries rose 3.7 percent.
With dedicated cloud services powered by Contrail Networking, STC now has a flexible resource to sell to subscribers and customers on-demand as their IT requirements evolve and change. Contrail Networking enables full automation, better scalability, security and flexibility for STC’s NFV-based cloud computing services.
Juniper Networks said its Contrail Networking is a SDN solution that automates and orchestrates the creation of scalable virtual networks. It interoperates with an OpenStack cloud orchestration platform, enabling the agile creation and dynamic scaling of service instances.
OpenStack Users Survey has recognized Contrail as the most widely used commercially available SDN Controller in OpenStack deployments.
STC’s new Contrail Networking-based service platform reduces time-to-market for new customized services, applications and functions by connecting virtual resources located across private and public clouds.
In addition, Contrail Networking creates and orchestrates easy-to-manage virtual overlay networks that integrate seamlessly with STC’s physical systems.
“The network, underpinned by advanced NFV and automation capabilities, can deliver substantial value to our customers by providing the agility, speed and simplicity that today’s businesses require,” said Tarig M Enaya, senior vice president for enterprise at Saudi Telecom Company.
STC earlier said it will invest in unconventional telecom infrastructure through investments in networks and associated systems in order to allow smooth transformation to provide highly secured cloud computing services.
STC is currently making investment for the deployment of the fiber optic network for both business and residential. During Q1 2016, FTTH Customer base of STC increased 39.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Fixed broadband customer base increased 17.5 percent.
Enterprise business unit revenues increased approximately 17 percent — driven by the increase in business sector data services revenues and associated services.
“Using virtualization technologies to build a programmable NFV platform that creates agility and automation can provide the competitive edge for service providers operating in an increasingly competitive market,” said Adrian Pickering, vice president, Middle East and Africa at Juniper Networks.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com