OREANDA-NEWS. MegaFon PJSC and NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) today announced the successful completion of AI technology field tests in Russia-based MegaFon's live network in order to improve the efficiency of planning and maintenance of transport network resources. Tests were conducted in MegaFon Ural's network from October to November 2017, where NEC's AI algorithms carried out analysis of 150 radio links that are considered the most critical from a network construction standpoint.

During the verification tests, NEC and MegaFon jointly confirmed the effectiveness of the two key features (*1), "Demand Forecast" and "Preventive Maintenance," using NEC's AI technologies, "NEC the WISE" (*2).
 
Demand Forecast enables timely planning of transport network resources through accurate prediction of network traffic. During the tests, this service boasted an accuracy of over 97% for traffic prediction against actual traffic. This enables more efficient planning of transport network capacity expansion and helps to reduce expenses for unnecessary infrastructure, while also reducing losses from untimely procurement of equipment.

The Preventive Maintenance feature provides optimal maintenance schedules according to packet loss prediction. The feature accurately predicts packet loss figures several months in advance for each network device and identifies those that are likely to cause disruptions in services. By leveraging this service, MegaFon will be able to prioritize the maintenance of potentially faulty devices.  

"Our partnership with NEC aligns with our goals of efficiently improving the planning and maintenance of networks, which is becoming increasingly complex," said Anton Sherbakov, technical director, MegaFon Ural. "Through analytics of big volumes of data with NEC's AI technologies, ‘NEC the WISE,' we have verified that significant improvements can be achieved for the planning and operation of transport networks, resulting in more effective use of resources and providing the highest quality services to millions of subscribers."
 
"We are very pleased to see our services streamline and optimize MegaFon's network without the need to expend additional resources," said Mr. Hiroshi Kawada, managing director, CJSC NEC Neva Communications Systems. "We aim to enhance our partnership with MegaFon and to continue delivering the latest innovations to the entire operator network."

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About MegaFon PJSC
MegaFon PJSC is a leading Russian provider of integrated digital services, operating in all segments of the telecommunications markets in Russia, and in the Republics of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Tajikistan. MegaFon is a recognized market leader in the provision of mobile data services, was the first operator in Russia to launch commercial operation of a third generation (3G) network and was the first operator in the world to launch commercial operation of an LTE-Advanced (4G) data network. In February 2017, MegaFon acquired a 15.2% equity interest (which represented 63.8% of the voting shares) in Mail.Ru, a leading company in the Russian-speaking internet market. MegaFon is traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange under the symbol MFON. Mail.Ru is traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol MAIL.