CEWA Upgrades Its Lab with LTE Equipments from Huawei

New technology will transform CEWA to drive 4G+ technology adaption and research in the Middle East region

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 1, 2011 – Delivering on its commitment to become a state-of-the-art wireless research center, CEWA signed today an agreement with Huawei to add Long Term Evolution (LTE) capabilities to its Riyadh-based laboratory.

The Center of Excellence for Wireless Applications (CEWA), a joint research initiative between King Abduziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and Intel Corporation, was launched last year in a bid to enhance wireless technology knowledge and competency of individuals and organizations in the region.

The MoU agreement was signed today by Eng. Fahad Al-Hussain, CEO of CEWA on behalf of CEWA/KACST and Mr. ShengKai, CEO of Huawei Saudi-office. The event was attended by Dr. Hani Elgebaly, Director of Intel Middle East Mobile Innovation Center “MEMIC” together with several representative from the telecommunications industry from around the region.

“This agreement underlines KACST and Intel’s continued commitment to invest in wireless research in the region. It serves our goals of transforming CEWA to become a unique lab in the region that has WiMAX & LTE (Multiple 4G technologies) End-to-End networks in one lab. This will also help our researchers generate high quality wireless research out of CEWA”, said Fahad Al-Hussain, CEO of CEWA.

CEWA provides key capabilities include offering wireless research expertise and consultative services to operators, governments, vendors and regulators to drive wireless applications and provide performance competency to evaluate and optimize wireless networks. Overall, CEWA is heavily geared towards wireless research and is considered state of the art wireless research testbed in the Middle East.

Commenting on the agreement, Mr. ShengKai, CEO of Huawei Saudi-office, said: “Huawei, as a world leader in telecommunication technology, is proud to contribute toward achieving CEWA’s vision. As a testament to our continued support to improving telecommunication in the region, it is our pleasure to announce Huawei’s provision of the most advanced wireless technology (LTE) at CEWA lab.”