Huawei eyes managed services deals with Etisalat, Saudi Telecom

Chinese equipment vendor Huawei Technologies is reportedly in talks with the UAE’s incumbent telecoms operator Etisalat and Saudi Arabian counterpart Saudi Telecom to manage their fixed line networks, Reuters cites Xia Chaojie, Huawei Middle East’s vice-president for delivery and service, as saying. The executive also revealed that the equipment supplier is in similar negotiations with several other Middle East operators, but declined to name them. ‘Huawei has strong partnerships with most regional operators and is constantly looking into ways of expanding these,’ Xia said, adding: ‘We see an opportunity to do this through moving towards new technologies and also looking at fixed line managed services. Our teams have initiated talks with all our fixed network partners in the Middle East, including operators like Saudi Telecom and Etisalat.’