VIVA Bahrain has launched the first live and public 5G network demonstration in the kingdom ahead of its deployment at homes and businesses in co-ordination with a number of 5G-enabled devices.
The event took place at City Centre Bahrain’s Central Galleria in the presence of VIVA Bahrain’s Chairman, Abdulla Zmami, CEO of VIVA Bahrain, Ulaiyan Al Wetaid, and other VIVA senior management members.
It was also attended by the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Kamal bin Ahmed Mohamed; Capital Governor Shaikh Hisham Bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa; TRA Chairman Dr. Mohammed Alamer; TRA Managing Director Shaikh Nasir Al Khalifa; and iGA CEO Mohammed Al Qaed.
During the live 5G speed test, VIVA Bahrain achieved unprecedented gigabit speeds reaching up to 1.5 Gbps using a commercial broadband router, opening doors to a new era of sophisticated technologies enabled by reliably fast data speeds.
Eng. Kamal bin Ahmed Mohamed, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, said that this latest development in Bahrain’s telecommunications industry represents a major milestone. “We have put in place a solid infrastructure for the growth of the sector and are benchmarking ourselves against some of the global leaders in telecoms in order to achieve even more. We are in the middle of implementing our 4th National Telecommunications Plan and I am happy to see VIVA taking the initiative by capitalising on this infrastructure and expanding its services to provide users with the latest technologies.”
As an industry first, the milestone reinforces the country’s leading digital position in the region, and enhances the its readiness for next generation technologies in support of Bahrain Vision 2030.
Eng. Abdulla Zmami, VIVA Bahrain Chairman said, this step reconfirms the firm’s genuine commitment to accelerate the country’s digitisation and continuous effort to introduce the latest technologies to the people of Bahrain. “This links back to VIVA`s core vision in transforming Bahrain’s telecommunication landscape and offer an unprecedented telecom experience to the community.”
In his comment, Ulaiyan Al Wetaid, VIVA Bahrain CEO said that the aim of the live launch is to allow the public to get a feeling of what 5G technology brings to our life. “This is a major turning point for Bahrain. We’re closer to unlocking the transformative opportunities of 5G and the powerful cross-industry solutions being tested at VIVA`s Innovation Center that will benefit all key growth sectors including health, education, transportation and much more.”
