Zain, a leading mobile telecoms operator in the Middle East and Africa, has signed a three-year agreement with DNV to prepare its 22 operations for ISO certification.

A handshake between Haitham Al Khaled, Chief Strategy Officer of Zain, and Torger Baardseth, Country Manager for DNV Industry Middle East, seals the Zain-DNV agreement. Zain Group Excellence Manager Alan Hill looks on.

Front left to right Haitham Al-Khaled Zain’s Chief Strategy Officer Torger Baardseth DNV VP and Middle East Regional Manager and Alan Hill, Zain Group Excellence Manager accompanied by Zain’s Business Excellence representatives from Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Sudan.

“This is an important agreement for DNV because ICT and telecoms is one of our main focus areas. DNV will, through this agreement, help Zain demonstrate sustainable performance. We look forward to working with Zain to guarantee quality, success and safety each step of the way,” says DNV Industry Middle East Country Manager Torger Baardseth.

“The Zain Group vision is to be a global top ten mobile telecommunications operator by 2011. To be a global leader we have to operate to the highest possible international standards, and this agreement sets a global benchmark for our core business processes,” says Haitham Al Khaled, Zain’s chief strategy officer.

Adding value
“We are delighted to be working with one of the leading accreditation bodies in this field, and I am sure that DNV will add immense value to our operations and the service experience of our customers,” adds Haitham Al Khaled.

DNV will ensure that the processes and procedures at the 22 Zain operations in the Middle East and Africa are certifiable across all critical business areas and functions. The four certifications that all Zain operators will seek to achieve are:

• ISO 9001 Quality with TL9000 Telecommunications Leadership
• ISO 14001 Environmental Management System
• ISO 27001 Information Security Management System
• BS 25999 Business Continuity Management