Etisalat underpins its digital transformation with SAHAB, a state-of-the-art telco cloud

This paper describes Etisalat’s journey to build a telco cloud – a carrier-grade cloud infrastructure – that will support any virtualised network functions (VNFs) and therefore any digital service that the operator cares to launch in future. It documents the drivers for, and benefits of, Etisalat’s multi-vendor approach to telco cloud and the lessons that the operator has learned in the 5 years since its journey began. The paper describes how an open-source-based telco cloud is critical to Etisalat’s ambitions to become a leading provider of digital services because it offers the ability to bring new services to market faster than competitors, with the right level of customer service and excellent operational efficiency. Etisalat’s cloud journey is led by Esmaael Al-Hammadi, Senior Vice President, Network Development.