NEC Corporation and Netcracker Technology announced today that Etisalat has selected NEC/Netcracker's Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) to deploy a complete virtual customer premises equipment (vCPE) solution for enterprises. Etisalat's use of NEC/Netcracker's NaaS solution is part of the service provider's larger virtualization initiative and builds on its recent deployment of the NaaS platform for residential vCPE.

Etisalat is the leading communications provider in the Middle East, offering a wide range of 3G, 4G and fiber-to-the-home services to more than 142 million customers across the region.

As part of the enterprise vCPE program and larger cloud initiative, called the Sahaab program, Etisalat is using NEC/Netcracker's full-stack Network-as-a-Service solution comprised with Self-Service Portals, Service Orchestration and MANO offerings. The initial service includes security virtual network functions selected from NEC/Netcracker's Ecosystem 2.0 marketplace. Because NEC/Netcracker NaaS includes many pre-integrated VNFs from its Ecosystem 2.0 program, the VNF and service onboarding process was extremely fast, both technically and commercially. Virtualizing enterprise-focused customer premises functions, distributed in the customer premises or centralized in the data center, will enable Etisalat to deliver higher-value services to both large and small business customers faster and at a lower cost.

The new capabilities enabled by the vCPE program will help Etisalat's enterprise customers to securely order, manage and control their services on demand, becoming more agile and ready to succeed in the rapidly expanding digital ecosystem.

"Using virtualization to drive more sophisticated functionality to our business customers will play a major role in enabling their evolution into digital enterprises, allowing them to open new revenue streams by offering more diverse services," said Esmaeel Al Hammadi, Senior Vice President of Network Development at Etisalat. "We selected NEC/Netcracker's NaaS solution for our large-scale virtualization program because of its ability to support both residential and enterprise transformation."

"We are excited to continue supporting Etisalat's virtualization program, first driving its residential transformation and now its enterprise-focused initiative," said Shigeru Okuya, Senior Vice President at NEC Corporation. "Our solution will enable new revenue opportunities and support Etisalat's evolution into a next-generation digital service provider."

"Following the deployment of our NaaS solution for its residential vCPE program, Etisalat's use of the solution for its enterprise vCPE initiative underscores a commitment to giving customers the best functionality possible," said Aloke Tusnial, CTO of SDN/NFV at Netcracker. "By using our sophisticated NaaS solution and Ecosystem 2.0 Program, Etisalat is in a market-leading position to quickly transform into a cutting-edge digital service provider."

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.

Based on its Mid-term Management Plan 2015, the NEC Group globally provides "Solutions for Society" that promote the safety, security, efficiency and equality of society. Under the company's corporate message of "Orchestrating a brighter world," NEC aims to help solve a wide range of challenging issues and to create new social value for the changing world of tomorrow. For more information, please visit http://www.nec.com/en/global/about/solutionsforsociety/message.html.

Source: NEC Corporation

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Seiichiro Toda         
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