Kuwait-based telecom operator Zain Group has announced a strategic investment in Smart City advisory and consulting firm NeXgen Group headquartered in the United Arab Emirates.

Zain said the investment will enable the company to create a specialised business unit delivering Smart City services to governments and real estate developers facilitating the deployment of Smart City solutions and managed services across Zain’s regional footprint.

Zain said its Smart City business unit will focus on delivering solutions and managed services, and will include design and integration for applications including smart living in city districts, smart safety and security, smart education and health, and smart metering for the utility sector among others.

“With this strategic investment, we want to be able to develop all the different verticals for Smart Cities and make sure that we have both the platforms and the analytics,” said Zain Group CEO Scott Gegenheimer.

“We see growth opportunities in Smart City projects across all the markets where we operate, but Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will be probably our key markets in terms of smart city developments.”

Zain’s investment in NeXgen Group builds on the establishment of the Zain Digital Frontier and Innovation business unit. ZDFI is said to focus on innovation, digital services, corporate venturing and smart cities.

Zain operates mobile networks in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Jordan and Bahrain, and currently offers LTE services in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan, as well as in Lebanon through the operation it manages on behalf of the Lebanese government.

LTE is Long Term Evolution, which is a 4G wireless broadband technology.