Vodafone Group on Monday announced a partner market agreement with Kuwait-based telecom operator Zain Group, which will significantly expand the UK-based group's presence in West Asia.
Under the non-equity partnership agreement, Vodafone will work with Zain companies in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq to provide customers with communications services including voice, data and advanced roaming, Vodafone said in a statement.
The move will compliment Vodafone's own regional operations in Egypt and Qatar, it added.
Zain will have access to Vodafone's devices and services in its home markets and become the preferred partner of Vodafone in respect of the agreed areas of cooperation.
With this, Vodafone now has more than 50 partner market agreements.
Vodafone
"Our agreement with Zain provides an opportunity for Vodafone to build its presence and work with a leading operator in West Asia," Vodafone Partner Markets CEO Ravinder Takkar said.
"The partnership with Vodafone will allow Zain to bring tangible benefits to both its customers and employees," Zain Group Deputy CEO and chief operating officer Hisham Akbar said.
Zain, which operates across West Asia and North Africa, provides mobile services to over 41.4 million customers and has commercial presence in eight countries.
In 2010, Indian operator Bharti Airtel had acquired Zain's operations in 15 countries for over $10 billion.
