Alaian: a global alliance for innovation

Six leading telecom operators, including KPN, are partnering in Alaian, an alliance that was founded to interconnect the various open innovation ecosystems of those operators.

In Alaian, Bouygues Telecom, Cellnex, MTN, Telefónica, WINDTRE and KPN are combining their forces and best practices in the field of innovation and are sharing the partnership with startups and scaleups.

“For several years KPN has been making extra efforts to foster outside-in innovation and to actively partner with innovative young companies and other parties in the startup and scaleup ecosystem,” says Jacob Groote, who is responsible for innovation and partnerships at KPN.

“To that end, we opt for an approach that mobilizes a broad partnership with various international telecom companies. This enables us to foster a rapid interchange of knowledge, potential joint product development and commercial and strategic partnerships. Consequently, the KPN network is being further expanded with the innovation networks of five other actors in the telecom industry.”

The objective of the Alaian alliance is to attract companies from across the globe that are in alignment with the joint strategic priorities with regard to innovation, including in the field of fiber and 5G.