Networking

Batelco Chairman Opens New NGN Laboratory

Batelco Chairman Shaikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al Khalifa declared that a new era in training & development had begun at Batelco, as he officially inaugurated the Company’s new NGN (Next Generation Network) laboratory. The Chairman was accompanied by members of the Batelco Board of Directors, CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos and Batelco senior executives.

Three representatives from Huawei – Managing Director Zhang Haiqiang, Deputy Managing Director Huang Zhibin and Account Manager Kunal Chandhok were also in attendance.

The Laboratory, which is located in Batelco Knowledge Hub at Hamala Headquarters, has been established in cooperation with Huawei, the world renowned next generation telecommunication network solutions provider. Huawei is partnering Batelco in the speedy implementation of their NGN project which is now in its final stages of implementation.

“Our people are without doubt the most important element in the development and support of major new technologies and we therefore invest heavily on an annual basis to ensure we provide the necessary training facilities and programmes,” said Batelco Chief Executive Officer Peter Kaliaropoulos.

Batelco Network General Manager Ebrahim Zainal explained that designing, developing and building Batelco’s state-of-the-art new generation network has required not only a major technological shift but also a people shift.

“Raising the skills of our engineers from legacy to NGN IP is a major challenge, but we are confident that with the availability of this new training initiative, our comprehensive development plans will be very successful,” he said.

“Batelco’s engineers will receive training at the new lab in order to enhance their knowledge and ensure our technical and network engineering staff is amongst the best in the region,” he added.

Haiqiang said that this is the first initiative for a Knowledge Hub between Batelco and Huawei Technologies.

“Full technical support will be provided to Batelco by Huawei for ‘Train the Trainer’ programmes at the new laboratory. Furthermore, the latest emerging technologies will be shared in a ‘Transfer of Technology’ initiative.”

“Batelco and Huawei will support each other through all the initiatives that require the need for sharing knowledge,” he added.

The lab will being used to train Batelco engineers based in Bahrain and also engineers from the Company’s joint ventures and subsidiaries on the MSAN (Multi Service Access Node), Soft Switches and network management. The venue will also be used for Research & Development and fault finding.

“Batelco’s continuing success as the leading telecommunications company in the Kingdom of Bahrain would not be possible without having qualified skilled teams in place. We will therefore continue to invest heavily in our people and provide the necessary training and development programmes,” concluded Mr. Kaliaropoulos.

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