NEWS
Zain brings 5G to Saudi Arabia
with Nokia
SANS Institute
enhances
critical and
strategic
cybersecurity
skills in KSA
S
ANS Institute, a global leader in
cybersecurity training, has held
SANS Riyadh 2019, a training event for
cybersecurity professionals in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia. The event was held at Burj
Rafal Hotel Kempinski, Riyadh, and focussed
on developing skills in critical security and
strategic security planning. SANS Riyadh
2019 included two courses – Implementing
and Auditing the Critical Security Controls;
and Security Strategic Planning, Policy
and Leadership, conducted by global
cybersecurity experts, Brian Ventura and
Mark Williams respectively.
Z
ain Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA), one
of the world’s first 5G network
operators, is bringing unprecedented
change to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
with the roll out of its 5G network using
Nokia’s end-to-end portfolio.
Under a three-year deal, thousands of
5G sites are being deployed bringing
faster speeds and higher quality across
its networks to support a renaissance
in services for both the industrial sector
and consumers. As well as enhancing
mobile broadband services in KSA, the
ultra-high bandwidth and low-latency
5G network will enable new applications
and services for advanced industrial
automation, improved education,
healthcare, entertainment and more.
Amr K El Leithy, Head of the Middle East
and Africa market at Nokia, said: “We
www.intelligentcio.com
are committed to transforming the
service experience for Zain’s customers
and enhancing industrial productivity by
enabling extreme broadband services.
“This contract, which includes 5G
RAN, backhaul, security and services,
demonstrates the breadth of our full-
portfolio strengths and depth of global
expertise in deploying these next-
generation projects.”
Ned Baltagi, Managing Director, Middle East
and Africa at SANS Institute, said: “Nation
state cyberattacks targeting sensitive critical
infrastructure and large-scale enterprises
are now a norm that all governments
worldwide have to consider. Our courses are
designed to train cybersecurity professionals
in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to counter
such sophisticated nation-state driven
attacks on the Kingdom’s critical and
national infrastructure.”
In July 2018, a royal decree was issued
in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which
stressed that all government agencies
should upgrade their cybersecurity to protect
networks, systems and electronic data, and
abide by policies, frameworks, standards
and guidelines issued by the National
Cybersecurity Authority.
The deal introduces 5G using 2.6 GHz
and 3.5 GHz, along with massive Multiple
Input Multiple Output (mMIMO) to
deliver enhanced network capacity,
coverage, and improved downlink and
uplink speeds.
In addition, the deal will introduce E-Band
microwave in certain areas to allow for
ultra-high-capacity backhaul networks.
Ned Baltagi, Managing Director, Middle East
and Africa at SANS Institute
INTELLIGENTCIO
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