Nokia has announced the opening of a new regional maintenance hub in Saudi Arabia that will support its customers across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.
Nokia says the new centre, sited in Riyadh, will provide repair and support services for its 5G and legacy telecoms network equipment as well as training to local engineers. The move, says the company, supports Nokia’s efforts to extend the lifespan of its network equipment through the adoption of circular practices that enable greater material efficiency and reduced waste, enabling more sustainable networks.
The initiative is also part of Nokia's plan to expand its operations in the kingdom and support digital transformation and the localisation of equipment services. Nokia says its investment is dedicated to knowledge sharing, particularly in undertaking complex and critical repair and reuse services, while ensuring sustainable localisation.
The new centre, says Nokia, is expected to save at least four weeks of end-to-end logistics time as well as to reduce the environmental impact of logistics by having a local centre instead of a global model. Nokia will work in partnership with a local firm, Saak International, on the initiative.
The centre is one of Nokia's first initiatives following the signing of an MoU between the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) of Saudi Arabia and Nokia in 2019. The agreement supports the country’s Saudi Vision 2030 strategy.
