The telco ended Q1 with almost 4 million subscribers in the Arab country
Kuwait-based telecom operator Zain launched voice-over-LTE technology in the Kuwaiti market through its LTE-Advanced network, the telco said in a statement.
Reps for the telco said VoLTE is currently fully compatible with the Apple’s iPhone 6/6s, iPhone 6 Plus/6s Plus and iPhone SE; and with Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.
“Customers making connections on the LTE-A network while on a phone call will be able to do so in a smooth manner without having any conflicts in lag time or the existing phone call. The VoLTE advancement technology offers users the chance to perform a clear phone call while surfing the internet in full-speed capacity,” Zain’s statement reads.
Zain commercially launched LTE services in Kuwait in 2012, using spectrum in the 1800 MHz band. In Kuwait, the telco ended the first quarter with 2.9 million subscribers.
Zain Group said it had 45.9 million customers at the end of Q1, across operations in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan. In Lebanon, the group manages local operator Touch on behalf of the government. Zain said it currently offers LTE in its Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan operations as well as in Lebanon.
MegaFon signs IoT deal with Huawei
In other EMEA news, Russian mobile operator MegaFon signed an agreement with Huawei to cooperate in the implementation of “internet of things” platforms.
MegaFon also announced it has started the development of integrated solutions via the NarrowBand-IoT standard. MegaFon said the first devices with support for NB-IoT technology are expected to become commercially available in late 2016 or early 2017.
