GITEX 2012 INTERVIEWS ITU TELECOM World 2012 - Teletimes

Al RostamaniCommunicationscelebrating 10 yearsGITEX 2012 INTERVIEWSMichel Riva - R&MIan Snadden - IntermecJay Chaudhry - ZscalerFiona Moon - CommVault“Intelsat is theleading provider ofsatellite servicesworldwide”November 2012ITU TELECOM World 2012Brought together the key player acrossthe globe to shape ICT futurewww.teletimesinternational.com

Vol: 07 Issue: 11www.teletimesinternational.comABC CertifiedPublisher & Chief Editor: Khalid AtharExecutive Editor: Raheela AnjumAssociate Editors: Izhar Ahmad, QutubuddinAssistant Editors: Naveed Kiani, Gulraiz KhalidSub Editors: Muhammad Awais Hanif, Aslam MumtazDirector Sales (MEA): Valencio D’souzaGraphics Editor: Khurram ShahzadLegal Advisor: Hashmat HabibThe only tri-regional magazine focused towardsthe ICT & Telecom sectorsof The Middle East, Asia and AfricaE-mail: info@teletimesinternational.com7th year of publicationRecipient of“International Arch of Europe Award for Quality”and“Teradata ICT Execellence Award for Media”ADVISORY BOARDDr. Alaa Bader HindawiDr. Zafar Khan MBE Iqtidar ZaidiProf. Nasreen Khalid Haroon RashidMedia Partner to:Correspondents:Dubai: Khawar NehalLondon: Basim AsherParis: Aslam AnsariIstanbul: Yasemin SaygiJeddah: Akram AsadAbu Dhabi: Bashir AnjumMelborne: Javeria HashmatCasablanca: Dr. Khadija ArabanyPrinter: Khursheed Printers (Pvt) Ltd.International OfficeBuilding # 211,Street Al-Inshirah,Madinat Al Sultan Qaboos,Sultanate of Oman,Muscat,Tel: (+968) 22043911Asia OfficesIslamabad# 6, St - 39, G-6/2, Islamabad, PakistanTel: (+92) 51 2874225, 2279830,Fax: (+92) 51 2272405Cell: (+92) 300 9559879Karachi63/1, 6th Commercial Street,Phase IV, Defence Housing Authority Karachi.Cell.(+92) 345 2215050Regional OfficesKingdom of Saudi ArabiaKing Fahad Road, opposite Kingdom Souqe,RiyadhTel: (+966) 12 153200Sole Distributor for GCC countries:Malik News Agency, Dubai.US$ AED PKR € GBPPrice per copy 8 25 300 7 5One year subscription 80 250 3000 70 50Egypt5, Tanta St. Al Mohandsein, GizaCell: (+20) 12 2175185UAEBuilding T1, International City,P.O.Box 242512, Dubai.Cell: (+971) 0556398386U.K.235a, Old Brompton Road. London SW5 0EATel: (+44) 07831418072France7 Rue Ernest Roche, Escalier-C, 75017 ParisTel: (+33) 698990821A PROJECT OF PPA PUBLICATIONS

In this edition18Coverage on GITEX 201218202123242527303336GITEX once again establishes its role as the regional industry authority.Helal Saeed Almarri, CEO, Dubai World Trade CentreHis Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed inaugurated 32ndGITEX Technology WeekGITEX Technology Week 2012A single platform to explore the latest innovations and high-levelknowledge exchangeGITEX Technology Week 2012highlights MEA’s Big Data opportunityAfrica tipped as decade’s next big investment opportunitydu demonstrates exciting new digital applicationsat GITEX Technology Week 2012“We are bringing Flexibility, Speed Quality and reliability.”Michel Riva, Chief Executive Officer, R&MGulraiz Khalid“If you can’t do it in the cloud, you can’t do it at all!”Jay Chaudhry, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, ZscalerGulraiz Khalid“We are # 1 in many markets and # 2 in all others.”Ian Snadden, Vice President EMEA - Intermec TechnologiesGulraiz KhalidSimpana: Reducing complexity and increasing value.Fiona Moon, Marketing Director EMEA CommVault SystemsGulraiz Khalid1717and much more ....November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com05

Letter to readersKhalid AtharChief EditorDear Reader,Welcome to the November edition ofTeletimes International.The Emirate of Dubai, UAE recently hostedsome very significant ICT events connectedwith consumer electronics, leading ICTretailers and suppliers, innovation, smartapplications and policies responsible fororganizing future of telecommunications ona global level.Tagged among world’s top threeInformation and CommunicationTechnology (ICT) events, GITEX TechnologyWeek marked its 32nd anniversary heldfrom October 14-18 at Dubai WorldTrade Centre under the theme “WhereTechnology Means Business”. The eventwas attended by 138,000 ICT professionalsrepresenting more than 144 countries andregions whereas near 3500 exhibitors from77 economies showcased latest technologyproducts.As the Middle East’s growth in informationand communication technologyoutperforms global growth, GITEXTechnology Week 2012 witnessed a flood ofnew devices, software’s, smart phones andsecurity solutions. GITEX Technology Week2013 will be held in Dubai, UAE from 20-24October, 2013.ITU Telecom World 2012 brought togetherICT stakeholders from across the entireindustry ecosystem in Dubai from 14-18October at Dubai International Conventionand Exhibition Centre. Over 300 worldleaders, including Heads of State, Headsof Government, Ministers, ambassadors,heads of regulatory agencies, and CEOsfrom big business gathered to deliberate onfuture of ICTs.Adding to the stature of October wasthe strategic co-location of both of theseInternational events at the heart of UAE.Teletimes International as a media partnerparticipated in both of these events. In thisedition we are featuring a special coverageof ‘GITEX Technology Week 2012’ featuringevents happenings, interviews by TeletimesInternational and exhibiters profile andengagements.We are also presenting a special report onITU Telecom World 2012. This month we arefeaturing an interview of Mr. MohammedZameer, General Manager, Al RostamaniCommunications, celebrating its 10thAnniversary. Mr. Shahrokh Khanzadeh-Amiri, Sales Director for Europe / MiddleEast, Intelsat also spoke to Teletimes onIntelsat and its satellite business.We are also presenting articles and reportstitled ‘du partners with World EnergyForum to support UAE’s progressionto sustainability’, Machine 2 MachineCommunication- Not a fiction anymore’,‘4rth Generation Mobile Networks’ and‘Huawei and ZTE fall into trouble at USA’.This month’s online survey inquired therespondents to tell us If they believethat ‘Freedom of Expression’ is taken asprivilege rather a right over the Internet?,results show that 79% of the respondentwere of the view that it is been taken moreas a privilege than a right. Readers willalso enjoy latest news and reports fromCisco, PTCL, Comguard, Qtel group, du,Etisalat, Alibaba.com, Wateen, Huawei,Wi-tribe, Nawras, Airtel and Comptel. Asa regular feature, the edition also present“Teletoons” and upcoming events calendarfor Global ICT and Telecom events.We would look forward to receive yourcomments and suggestions to assistus in bringing more value to TeletimesInternational. We are also planning tointroduce a special ‘asks the editor’ sectionin order to invite and publish your views &opinion on the magazine and its reporting.Enjoy Your Reading.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com07

Naveed KianiMachine to Machine Communication -Not a Fiction anymoreM2M Applications – It contains the middleware layer where data goes through variousapplication services and is used by the business processing engines.Figure: M2M Communication ArchitectureM2M communication is useful when you have a significant number of devices tocommunicate with, whether they are mobile or wired interfaces, and when other methodsof communication are impractical or otherwise undesirable. The key concerns related withM2M communication are of addressing and security. M2M communication holds a lot ofpromises for both telecom operators and vendors. Operators have an opportunity tooverlay low-bandwidth M2M applications onto the present user service network. Vendorsare expected to produce and sell M2M-capable devices and provide necessary networkexpansion.November 2012Contd. on page 54www.teletimesinternational.com 09

ITU TELECOM World 2012Brought together the key players across the globe to shape ICT futureKhalid AtharITU is the leading United Natiovnsagency for informationand communication technology.For over 145 years, ITU has coordinatedthe shared global use ofthe radio spectrum, promotedinternational cooperation in assigningsatellite orbits, workedto improve communicationinfrastructure in the developingworld, and established theworldwide standards that fosterseamless interconnection of avast range of communicationssystems. ITU provides a platformto its members to deliberateson issues including broadbandnetworks, new-generationwireless technologies, aeronauticaland maritime navigation,radio astronomy, satellite-basedmeteorology, converging fixedmobilephone, Internet andbroadcasting technologies.ITU also organizes worldwideand regional exhibitionsand forums, bringingrepresentatives of governmentand the telecommunicationsand ICT industry to exchangeideas, knowledge andtechnology. ITU Telecom Worldis considered as a leadingplatform for the global ICTcommunity to meet, connect,discuss, share knowledge andbuild solutions to the mosturgent challenges facing ourworld.ITU Telecom World 2012brought together ICTstakeholders from across theentire industry ecosystem inDubai from 14-18 October atDubai International Conventionand Exhibition Centre. Over300 world leaders, includingHeads of State, Heads ofGovernment, Ministers,national ambassadors, heads ofregulatory agencies, and CEOsfrom big business, technologycompanies, manufacturers,operators, content andapplication providers.The event hosted over 40sessions featured MinisterialRoundtables, LeadershipSummits, Presidential Session,Visionary Keynotes, workshopsand interactive paneldiscussions, with participantsencouraged to put forwardtheir questions. It focusedon debates, discussionsand conversations on theradical transformation of theICT sector, the implicationsfor policy, technology andcompetitive strategy - and theimportance of ensuring thatconnectivity in a transformedworld is universal, fair, openand secure. Innovation,Broadband, Connectivity, SmartApplications and Designing the10 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

Future remained the key themeareas for ITU World Telecom2012. The event was proudlyhosted by TelecommunicationsRegulatory Authority (TRA) ofthe United Arab Emirates.Day 1, October 14The day started with theconference opening ceremonywhere Dr. Hamadoun I. Touré,Secretary-General, InternationalTelecommunications Union,extended his thanks to the hostcity of Dubai. During his speech,Dr Touré reiterated the ITU’saim to roll out broadband toevery corner of the world, usingthe transformative DNA of ICTsolutions for a better, brighter,more prosperous world.“The future that lies beforeus is promising, characterizedonly by change as the onlyconstant,” said Dr Touré. “Ihave not met anyone whoquestions the dynamic of thetime. Mobile broadband, M2M,fiber optics and social networksdefine today’s networks. Withsix billion mobile subscribersand 2.3 million internet users,the stage is set for a technologydriven life.”Mohamed Bin Ahmed Al Qamzi,Chairman, TelecommunicationsRegulatory Authority, UAE,Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar,CEO, Etisalat Group, SheikhAbdullah Bin Mohammed SaudAl-Thani, Chairman, Qtel Groupwas among the other speakersduring the opening ceremony.The day also staged anumber of workshops onemergency communications,next generation broadbandnetworks and LTE. Theparticipants offered anumber of actions that,in their experience, haveproved effective in leveragingtechnology to mitigate withprevent natural disasters, bringhigh speed data connectivityand enhance mobile services.The Leadership Summitfocused on future of ICT. Theattendees agreed that globalinteroperability remains vitalto ensure that multiple devicescan continue to communicatewith each other, to enablenew systems, applications andservices and drive innovation.The emergence of closedecosystems based on newbusiness models may place thisinteroperability in jeopardy:balancing competition andregulation calls for a “lighttouch”regulation.Mohamed Al-Ghanim,Director General of theTelecommunications RegulatoryAuthority from host countrythe United Arab Emirates, UAE,pointed to an upcoming ITUevent that his country will hostas a possible opportunity toadvance the future discussion.“WCIT in December is anopportunity to put these issueson the table, said Ghanim, weneed a global solution to theseproblems.’’Maximizing shareholder valueshould be obtained by keepingin mind the long- and shortterminterests of society, byestablishing customer-centricmodels and by treatingemployees fairly, accordingto Mr Khalid al Ghoneim, CEOof Saudi Arabia’s STC Group.Acknowledging the needto engage with the currentdisruption of the industry, hesaid, “If you are not part of thischange, you will be eaten by thechange.”On the first day of ITU TelecomWorld 2012, the finalists of ITU’sYoung Innovators competitionalso met up with their patronsNovember 2012www.teletimesinternational.com11

and set up their stands at anexclusive InnovatorSpace.Day 2, October 15The day started with openingpanel session as an officialstart of the event, featuringdignitaries and representativesof the Leadership Summit.Dr Dr. Hamadoun I. Touréwelcomed the coming togetherof public, private and regulatorysectors, with agendas andperspectives that complement,but also conflict with eachother.During the leadership summiton innovation, MohammedNamadi Sambo, Vice Presidentof Nigeria spoke of theimportance of ITU TelecomWorld 2012 in bringing togetherpublic and private sectors withthought leaders, the shapersof future technologies andmajor media stakeholders in theglobal innovative city of Dubaito discuss, share knowledgeand build ICT solutions to theurgent challenges facing theworld.The second leadership summitof the day highlighted theimportance of ICT to savelives. Representatives fromsatellite companies Immarsat,Iridium, SATMEX and Thurayagave examples of some ofthe technical advances theyhave made that can be of usein a disaster, including manytechnologies focused ondisaster detection, warning andprevention.As part of the session, DrToure gave a number ofhumanitarian awards fromthe ITU-Development Bureauto the following governmentministries, companies andindividual including TheMinistry of Industry (Canada),The Ministry for Broadband,Communications and the DigitalEconomy(Australia), Inmarsat,Iridium, Thuraya and a personalaward for humanitarian effortswas also given to consultant,Navin Kapila.The regional CEOs roundtableinvited major industryexecutives from the MiddleEastern region to carry a livelydeliberation and exchangeof ideas from the industryprospective. Osman Sultan,CEO of du, acknowledged thedisruption currently beingexperienced by the industry,calling for it to taken seriously- but also seen as a source ofexciting new opportunities.“We are all witnessing pressureon our top line revenues asOTT players monetize more -and we find ourselves at theforefront of sector investment,but no longer at the forefrontof revenue,” he said, echoinga common sentiment amongstdelegates at ITU Telecom World2012.Mohamed Bin Isa Al-Khalifa ofBatelco, Bahrain, saw the needto reinvent and to change theway investment is monetized,with two distinct possibilities:collaborating with OTT playersto allow access to the network,or simply move to becoming anOTT player.Khaled Al Ghoneim, CEO ofSaudi Arabia’s STC Group,highlighted the need toprovide sufficient bandwidthto meet the human right tocommunication cost effectively.The layered or tiered approachwould see operators attractingrevenue from premium servicesto a minority on top of basicprovision at low or no cost.The day also staged Paneldiscussions on CloudComputing, Mobile Broadband,and Benefits of Open SourceTechnologies followed by avisionary key note by EugeneKaspersky, co-founder and CEOof anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab.Day 3, October 16The Day 3 started with BigConversation with BBC onPrivacy, Trust and Innovation.Panelists share their view onthe ambiguities as to whoowns data, which can or shouldcontrol information on the weband how open source fits withininnovation and IP: these arethe fault lines of the internetsociety, driving lack of trust andprivacy concerns.The day also called onGovernments and ICTbusinesses to MinisterialRoundtable on “TheImportance of Women in ICT”.Representing the governmentof Costa Rica, Health MinisterDaisy Maria Corrales Diazcalled for increased inclusionof women both horizontallyand vertically, building on thesuccess of countries such asCosta Rica itself, where femaleparticipation in the workforcehas risen from 20% in the 1970sto 39.4% now. ICTs are vital toreach women in their homes,in particular in rural areas, anddrive economic prosperity.Introduced as the personwho had brought theInternet to Tunisia, KhédijaGhariani, Secretary Generalof the Arab Information andCommunication TechnologyOrganisation, said, “We mustencourage women to reachposts at the level decisionmakers, in government and inthe private sector- and then wewill see results that are trulyextraordinary.”Hessa Sultan Al-Jaber, SecretaryGeneral of ictQATAR, concludeda lively and positive sessionwith a passionate appeal forsociety in general to respect forwomen and girls, as withoutthis respect, no amount ofeducation, career progressionand empowerment will see realprogress. “Change must comefrom within society, from withincommunities and from withinwomen themselves. Parents,raise your children equally!”In the second MinisterialRoundtable on ‘InternationalInternet Access and Tax’,communications andtechnology ministers andindustry leaders from acrossthe world gathered. Ministerspresent largely accepted theposition, though they alsonoted that taxation levels aresadly not always within thepowers of the communicationsand technology ministries.“There is a problem with theminister of communication andthe ministry of finance,” saidMinister for Uganda RuhakanaRugunda, “One wants lowtaxes to facilitate growth butthe finance minister is moresenior and he wants to raisemoney.”During a Panel discussionon addressing the spectrumchallenges, GSM AssociationDirector General AnneBouverot called on operators,governments and regulatorsto work together to freeup spectrum through thedigital dividend, refarmingor technology neutrality as“We need a lot of spectrumfor consumers to do whatthey want to do with mobiledevices and for economies tobenefit from that.” Competitionis welcome as a means toencourage growth and reducecosts for consumers.The Day’s visionary Keynotespeech was given by AndersLindblad, President andCEO Middle East, Ericsson.According to Anders Lindblad,his company Ericsson is atthe cutting edge of thistransformation, workingtowards a fully networkedsociety. “The interesting thingis that we [ICTs] are enteringnew ecosystems – health care,12 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

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Exclusive CoverageKhalid Athar2012November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com17

GITEX once again establishes its roleas the regional industry authorityHelal Saeed Almarri, CEO, Dubai World Trade Centrespeaks at pre-event press conferenceOver 80 per cent of leadingglobal ICT brands, featuringC-level executives representingICT budgets of over USD50billion, are attending GITEXthis year. The exhibitors andspeakers list is packed withindustry heavyweights suchas Cisco, Dell, Du, Etisalat,Facebook, Google, HewlettPackard, Huawei, Kaspersky,Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, RIM,Samsung, SAP and Symantec.Notable new exhibitors includeChinese telecommunicationsequipment company ZTE,Saudi Telecom Company,Sage, Vocalcom and AfricanIT distributors Mitsumi.GITEX Technology Week isan authority in the regionand has proven each yearits adaptability in presentingtrending technologies andsetting the current businessagenda. As a leading ICTevent in the region, GITEX2012 has highlighted key focusareas including Africa and itsburgeoning ICT market, startupsand innovation in an SMEZone, the Consumerisation ofIT, Big Data and the ongoingcloud phenomenon amongothers. With the ICT sector inthe Middle East forecast toreach USD173 billion and 7.5% ofGDP by 2015, according to Booz& Company, GITEX continuesto play a lead role in theadvancement of the technologyindustry by providing theideal platform for businessinvestment and future growth.Taking its cue from ITtechnology’s rapid shift fromutilitarian tool to lifestyleaccessory, GITEX ConsumerTech will offer a strong lineupof entertainment andleisure hardware, softwareand accessories to a MiddleEast audience. The UAE’sconsumer electronics devicesmarket is estimated to reach avalue of USD3.8 billion in 2012and is expected to increaseto USD4.8 billion by 2016,according to Business MonitorInternational’s UAE ConsumerElectronics Industry Report.Bolstering this year’sconferences line-up is a seriesof Industry Briefings. Borneof out of a demand for moreindustry-focused peer-to-peerdiscussions, GITEX TechnologyWeek has introduced exclusiveIndustry Briefing sessionsfor Oil and Gas, Banking andFinance, Education, Healthcareand Government sectors. SAP,which is among the marketleaders in enterprise applicationsoftware, is a Strategic Sponsorof the Industry Briefings atGITEX Technology Week thisyear. These highlights werepresented by Helal SaeedAlmarri, CEO, Dubai World18 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

Trade Centre (DWTC) and theorganizer of the event duringa Pre-Event press conference.“We are honored that HisHighness Sheikh Hamdan BinMohammed Bin Rashid AlMaktoum, Crown Prince ofDubai and Chairman of theGITEX has once again attractedthe leading industry playersand driven ICT business dealsand partnerships with genuineimpact.” He further said that“GITEX Technology Week hasalways been a vital force in drivingthe ICT sector to generatebusiness visitors streamedthrough DWTC’s doors withinthe first hours of what isexpected to be GITEX’s mostglobally influential editionyet. Sharing some furtherhighlights of the event, HelalSaeed Almarri told that overdue to the continent’s boomingICT industry with strong tradedelegations expected fromAfrican countries includingZambia, Kenya, Nigeria,Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania,South Africa, Lesotho, Tunisia,Algeria and Morocco. TheExecutive Council for DubaiGovernment, has openedthe 32nd edition of GITEXTechnology Week” said Almarri.“GITEX is the region’s unrivalledplatform for industry players tocapitalize on the steady growthof the region’s ICT market asglobal and regional investorslook to lucrative emergingmarkets.”Helal Saeed Almarri, said: “TheMiddle East’s ICT industry isamong the most dynamic in theworld, and global decision-makersexpect access to the keyplayers, as well as a roadmapfor how the latest trends willplay out, at GITEX TechnologyWeek each year. This yearboth profit and performance inthe industry, not only throughoutthe Middle East and Africaregion but also on a globalstage. As the momentum oftraditional ICT markets slowsdown and reaches saturation indeveloped nations, the MiddleEast and Africa region offers lucrativeopportunities for investorsand global companies in arapidly expanding industry.”“Over its successful 32 years,GITEX Technology Week hasbeen a catalyst and influencein growing technology tourismand strengthening trade tieswith Africa as the continentexperiences an ICT boom.”Thousands of trade and130,000 industry professionalsand more than 3,500 suppliersfrom 144 countries acrossfive continents are expectedthroughout the week. Morethan half of the total exhibitingcompanies are international,with countries like Algeria,Denmark, Malaysia and NewZealand debuting at the show.This year GITEX has initiatedfocus in new strategic areasincluding the launch of adedicated SME Zone, whichwill serve as a conduit forSME ICT businesses fromMEA to engage with a highconcentration of influentialinvestors. Africa in Focus isanother important highlightnewly launched InternationalZone is a platform dedicatedto giving more than 30 specificcountry groups the chance topresent their most innovativetechnology products and seekprofitable cross-border salesand collaboration.“Adding to the stature ofGITEX this year is the strategicco-location of the InternationalTelecommunication Union(ITU) Telecom World 2012, theleading platform for high-levelnetworking, strategic debateand knowledge-sharing for theglobal ICT community, whichtakes place for the first time inDubai alongside GITEX TechnologyWeek”. He added.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com19

GITEX Technology Week 2012A single platform to explore the latest innovationsand high-level knowledge exchangeTagged among world’stop three Information andCommunication Technology(ICT) events, GITEX TechnologyWeek marked its 32ndanniversary taking placefrom October 14-18 at DubaiWorld Trade Centre under thetheme “Where TechnologyMeans Business”. The eventwas officially inaugurated byhis Highness Sheikh HamdanBin Mohammed Bin RashidAl Maktoum, Crown Princeof Dubai and Chairman of theExecutive Council for DubaiGovernment.The event was attended by138,000 ICT professionalsrepresenting more than 144countries and regions whereasnear 3500 exhibitors from 77economies showcased latesttechnology products. Thisyear, GITEX observed a 23%increase in exhibitors fromcountries like Algeria, Egypt,Libya, Morocco, Nigeria andSouth Africa. Strong tradedelegations are also presentfrom countries like Zambia,Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda,Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa,Lesotho, Tunisia, Algeria andMorocco. The exhibitors andspeakers included ICT industryheavyweights such as Cisco,Dell, Du, Etisalat, Facebook,Google, Hewlett Packard,Huawei, Kaspersky, Microsoft,Nokia, Oracle, RIM, Samsung,SAP and Symantec while STCGroup and ZTE were among theGITEX newcomers.The event also broughta unique strategic colocationof the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU)Telecom World 2012, which tookplace for the first time in Dubaialongside GITEX TechnologyWeek.Helal Saeed Almarri, CEO, DubaiWorld Trade Centre , organizerof the event, said: “The MiddleEast’s ICT industry is among themost dynamic in the world, andglobal decision-makers expectaccess to the key players, aswell as a roadmap for how thelatest trends will play out, atGITEX Technology Week eachyear. This year GITEX has onceagain attracted the leadingindustry players and driven ICTbusiness deals and partnershipswith genuine impact.”Africa is set become oneof the Information andCommunications Technology(ICT) investment opportunitiesof the decade, accordingto leading industry experts.With a focus to explore thisemerging market and promoteits significant ICT opportunitiesfor global and Middle Eastbasedcompanies, GITEXTechnology Week 2012 provideda special highlight ‘Africa inFocus’ hosting key African ICTdecision makers, exhibitors andspeakers to participate.The technology week alsofeatured a dedicated SMEZone, a conduit for SME ICTbusinesses from Middle East &Africa (MEA) region to engagewith a high concentration ofinfluential investors alongwith a dedicated InternationalZone, a platform dedicated togiving more than 30 specificcountry groups the chance topresent their most innovativetechnology products and seekprofitable cross-border salesand collaboration.STC Group participation inthe exhibition incorporatesa number of the group’ssubsidiaries, including STC, VIVAKuwait, VIVA Bahrain, AWAL,and INTIGRAL. STC revealed itsnew partnerships with EricssonNovember 2012www.teletimesinternational.com21

GITEX Technology Week 2012highlights MEA’s Big Data opportunityTop technology leaders discuss the challenges and potential at Cloud Confexconferences as big data steers commercial strategies and shifting marketsBig Data was big news at GITEXTechnology Week 2012, as increasingnumbers of businessesand organisations across theMiddle East and Africa (MEA)region seek to unlock valuefrom massive and exponentiallygrowing datasets.The much-hyped trend wastop of the agenda at CloudConfex. The largest and mostinfluential platform of its kindin the Middle East, the eventoffered an in-depth look at thepossibilities of moving from anetwork-centric to a data-richenvironment, and the challengesand opportunities of managingBig Data in the Cloud.“Every 10 years the IT industrycreates a major tectonic shift.Handheld devices, sensorsand data generated by socialnetworking are generatingan explosion of data mostlyoutside the corporate firewalls.Big Data is the next big gamethat will allow companies toanalyse all kind of data andmake business decisions basedon deep analysis and not justgut feeling. Big data is not arevolution but an evolution ofthe current data warehouseinfrastructure that is alreadyin place but it requires clear industryexpertise to reap thosebenefits,” said Jean-ClaudeMichaca, Vice President – EngineeredSystems for Oracle,Eastern Europe, Middle East &Africa, during his presentationat Cloud Confex conference.“Big Data is threatening tomake IT more complex. Oracletakes the view that by simpli-Adriana Karaboutis - Dellfying the IT stack by closelyengineering applications,middle ware, database andinfrastructure, companies canmanage big data effectively. Asimportantly companies can respondto the results of big dataanalysis in an effective way,”Michaca added.Jason Bath, Director - BusinessAnalytics, Database and Technology,SAP MENA, which is asponsor of Cloud Confex, said:“Data is no longer a by-productof running a business, it is theraw materials needed to stayin business and compete effectively.”“Many businesses are also beingforced to adhere to strictergovernment regulations callingfor increasingly detailed dataaccumulated over many years.The good news is that theaffordability of powerful commodityhardware, combinedwith the right software, is makingit possible to rapidly collectand crunch massive datasetsinto genuinely game-changingactions. Big Data offers massiveopportunities for businessesin the MEA region, and it isencouraging that GITEX isDavid Chalmers - HPfeaturing the topic so heavilyand authoritatively this year,”Bath said.Topics discussed at Cloud Confexincluded how chief informationofficers (CIOs) can capturethe most important data anddeliver it to the right people inreal-time, how they can storeand analyse it and, crucially,Trixee Loh, SVP - DWTChow it can be kept safe. TodayBig Data is beginning tosteer commercial strategiesand shifting markets, and itscompetitive value is becomingone of the most crucial discussionsamong businesses. BigData is also featuring prominentlyat the Cloud Confexexhibition. Key speeches werealso delivered by SebastienJean Claude Michaca - OracleMarotte, VP Enterprise EMEAat Google who discussed BigData Cloud Convergence andsolving challenges in the cloud.In addition, the state of cloudcomputing in the real world interms of adoption, approachesand attitudes was addressedby Adriana Karaboutis, VP andCIO at Dell; David Chalmers,Chief Technologist at Hewlett-Packard and Mark Chaban,Director of Server & Cloud PlatformMarketing at MicrosoftMEA, at Cloud Confex today.Robert Swinnen, VP and GMat Intel Service Provider Groupdiscussed the improvement ofbusiness analytics performanceusing cloud-based environments.According to IDC’s 2011 DigitalUniverse Study, ExtractingValue from Chaos, which wassponsored by 2012 GITEX attendeeEMC, the world createda staggering 1.8 zettabytes (1.8trillion gigabytes) of digitalinformation last year. Over thenext decade, the amount ofinformation managed by enterprisedatacentres will grow bya factor of 50, and the numberof files the datacentre will haveNovember 2012Contd. on page 24www.teletimesinternational.com 23

Africa tipped as decade’s next big investment opportunityGITEX Technology Week 2012 helps Middle East businesses tap into emergingcontinent’s latent ICT potentialAfrica is set become one of theInformation and CommunicationsTechnology (ICT) investmentopportunities of thedecade, according to leading industryexperts. Keen to explorethis emerging market and promoteits significant ICT opportunitiesfor global and MiddleEast-based companies, GITEXTechnology Week is putting itsmost prominent spotlight yet onthe continent. GITEX Technologyis running from October 14-18 atDubai World Trade Centre.This year, GITEX has seen a23% increase in exhibitors fromcountries like Algeria, Egypt,Libya, Morocco, Nigeria andSouth Africa. Strong trade delegationsare also present fromcountries like Zambia, Kenya,Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania,South Africa, Lesotho,Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.“We see GITEX as the idealopportunity to foster businesslinks between Middle East andAfrican companies. Now, giventhe new geopolitical situation,countries like Tunisia, Moroccoand Egypt are looking for newmarkets and new opportunities,and Dubai is now the mostimportant place to look forpartners and promote eventsand products. For us, and ourdelegates, GITEX is where wewill find what we’re lookingfor in the ICT sector,” saidChihab Bargaoui, BusinessDevelopment and RelationshipManager with Sfax InternationalFair Association, a partgovernment-backed exhibitionorganiser in Tunisia.GITEX’s “Africa in Focus”highlight comes at a time whensignificant regional investorbuzz is moving from the BRIC(Brazil, Russia, India and China)nations to also encompass theemerging continent, particularlypotential economic powerhousessuch as Nigeria, whichfeatures the largest Africanpopulation, as well as notablenatural resources such as goldand oil to aid its growth.Africa’s ICT sector has flourishedin recent years and ispredicted by IT market intelligencespecialists InternationalData Corporation (IDC) to grownearly 13% year on year in 2012.Anticipating this prospect,GITEX will provide the opportunityto broaden existing linksand develop new partnershipsin the ICT sector betweenAfrica and the Middle East. Accordingto DHL, South Africa isthe UAE’s 13th most importantmarket for non-oil exports,while Dubai Exports notes thattotal exports and re-exportsfrom Dubai to South Africaalone valued at USD408 millionin 2011. Trade between Africaand Dubai had previously registeredsteady growth as moreand more African countriescontinue to adopt free tradepolicies, and recognise Dubai’sposition as an internationaltrading hub.Trixee Loh, SVP, Dubai WorldTrade Centre, organiser ofGITEX, said: “Africa is seeinga tremendous shift towardsrealising the full potential ofthe benefits of technology,across all sectors. ICT in Africais growing at a vigorouspace and there is ampleopportunity to take advantageof technology solutions asthe information economy isbecoming one of the maindrivers for growth.”Now in its 32nd year, GITEXis introducing a host of newfeatures which are expectedto appeal to African visitors tothe world’s third-largest ICTexhibition and conference.Contd. from page 23du demonstrates exciting new digital...to deal with will grow by a factorof at least 75. Meanwhile,the number of IT professionalsin the world will grow by lessthan 1.5 times.IT research company Gartnerbelieves that 85% of Fortune500 organisations will beunable to exploit big data forcompetitive advantage up until2015, presenting a lucrativeplaying field for those providingviable solutions. Opensource analysts Wikibon recentlypredicted that the marketwill experience a compoundannual growth rate of 58% betweennow and 2017 to hit the$50 billion mark.According to a report onmerger and acquisition activityby independent mid-market investmentbank Berkery Noyes,sheer potential of this naturehas prompted a tripling of BigData company purchases duringthe first six months of 2012.Trixee Loh, Senior VicePresident at Dubai World TradeCentre, which organises GITEX,said: “From aggregating socialmedia for enhanced businessperformance and dialogue tocrunching search engine trendsto map disease outbreaks orpredicting unemploymenttrends, the ability to harnessthe power of Big Data isbecoming an absoluteimperative. GITEX TechnologyWeek is intent on moving theneedle on this issue across theMEA region, ensuring that bothopportunities and challengesare understood from allangles.”Now in its 32nd year and runningunder the theme “WhereTechnology Means Business”,GITEX Technology Weekconnects more than 130,000industry professionals and over3,500 suppliers from 144 countriesacross five continents,making it one of the world’stop three ICT exhibitions.08 24 www.teletimesinternational.comNovember 2012

Teletimes Reportdu demonstrates exciting new digitalapplications at GITEX Technology Week 2012“Our vision is to enhance ourcustomers’ lives, anytime andanywhere. That is preciselywhat our newest suite of digitalcontent solutions does, byresolving matters such as missingthe start of your favouriteTV show, or finding your wayaround the city,” said FaridFaraidooni, Chief CommercialOfficer, du. “We are delightedwith the response of visitors toour stand at GITEX this year, andare pleased to have shown themthe many ways in which we addlife to life through our innovativeservices.”On display at du’s GITEX TechnologyWeek stand is:●●Rewind TV: Never miss thebeginning of a show again!Rewind TV allows du TV customersto rewind up to fourhours on selected channels,without the need to prerecord.●●Multiscreen: With this nextgeneration service, slated fora launch next year, du’s customerscan access du TV on“We are delighted with theresponse of visitors to our standat GITEX this year.”Farid Faraidooni, CCO - dutheir smartphones or tabletsusing either Wi-Fi or 3G, toexperience ‘TV everywhere’.●●du Navigator: Based on theaward-winning Wisepilot, thiscustomised du navigation solutionwill keep customers intouch with their surroundings,no matter where they are.With voice and visual instructions,traffic information andupdated maps, du Navigatorwill become an essential partof customers’ lives.●●Talk to the Star: This uniqueservice allows du’s customersto talk to their favouritestars via a pre-defined line.This included a live interactionwith UAE songstress ShammaHamdan at GITEX, whohosted her Talk to the Starsession at 5pm on Wednesday17th October!●●OTT service: The servicewill enable satellite dish TVcustomers to access the fullcatalogues of du’s hugelypopular Movies on Demandand On Demand Club servicesthrough their satellitereceiver.During GITEX Technology Week2012, visitors to du’s stand(#Z-F20) are able to experiencefirst-hand an exciting selectionof the telecom’s bouquet ofdigital content solutions. Theyrepresent the ways in which dugoes the extra mile in order toprovide its customers with thelatest revolutionary technologiesthat bring more convenienceto everyday life.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com25

Teletimes InterviewsBy: Gulraiz KhalidWe are bringing Flexibility,Speed Quality and reliabilityMichel RivaChief Executive Officer, R&MTeletimes - Could you give abrief about your role in thecabling industry.Michel Riva - We have been operatingin the Middle East for thepast 14 years and our regionalhub is here in Dubai. And weare today number one in FTTHdeployments in UAE, Saudi andOman we have good references.We are among the top 3 playersin the private side.TT - How big is this market asof now?MR - It is full of opportunities.This is what you can see here atGitex. Where we are extremelystrong is that we don’t targetonly one vertical market assuch. So we are really addressingmany vertical markets mostof them asking for quality andadded value. So we have twostrong legs- one is copperand the other is fiber. On thefiber side we are able to addressvertical markets such ascity developments by telecomoperators or utilities. On thecopper side we are able to addresshealthcare, hospitality,finance, education and basicallywherever people want to have astrong network.TT - Is the move towards thecloud affecting the business ofthe cabling industry?MR - In a certain way, it is notbecause if you look at thecloud, it is data being store indatacenters. And datacentersfor us is a key component of thedatacenter. Both fiber and copperare the two strong legs.And to highlight why cablingis so important, consider theexample. If you want to have anice car and you want to enjoythe speed, youneed to havea niceroad. To change the road is verydifficult but to change a car isvery easy. When you want tostart building infrastructurewhen it comes to IT, the cars arethe are like the data. And nowyou have a data explosion. Youneed more and more data. Andyou need a good cabling solutionto handle all this. And thisinvestment in cablingis going to runfor 20 to 25 years so it is reallyimportant to invest right fromthe beginning in good qualityinfrastructure.TT - Everyone seems to be talkingabout green data centers.The 47-year-oldSwiss has held seniorpositions at a numberof companiesin Switzerland andabroad, including atHoffmann-La Rocheand DuPont. Overthe past eight years,Michel Riva has giventhe Bonding SystemsDivision at theForbo company inBaar a new strategicdirection and hasstimulated highlyprofitable growth.He supervised 1400employees thereand achieved a salesfigure of CHF 600million.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com27

What is your stand on that andhow are you playing a role ingreen datacenters?MR - Data centers are builtaround the world. And our setup is in this manner, out of ourheadquarters in Switzerland wehave localized our warehouse.We bring our products in and forlocal data centers we have lessertransport costs since we bringour products directly to the datacenters. We look at how wepackage our products. And howwe send the products to our customersand we dispatch themas quickly as possible so that theinstallers can quickly install ourproducts and leave the datacenters.So this is both time efficientand also in the green environmentmore reliable.The other thing that you have tolook at is the entire value chain.One aspect is with the productitself wherein we can use lessmaterial or recycled material.But then you have to considerthe entire value chain. As a swisscompany we have very goodproduction which meets thehighest military level standards,low carbon emissions.So I would say right from thepurchasing to the production todelivering the products to themarket we have tried to makeit as ecological as possible. Andwe consider reducing the entirefootprint and that is the valuethat we give to the datacenter.TT - What countries are you currentlyoperating in?MR - R&M is a Swiss basedorganization but we are activein Asia, we are active in mostcountries in Europe and we arevery active in the Middle Eastand Africa which is actually oneof our big target markets.TT - Are you planning to enterany new markets?MR - We are planning to bemore successful in the existingmarkets where we are present.There are still a lot of growthopportunities.Where we intend to enter newmarkets for example we haveTurkey where we intend to enternext year. We will add peopleand offices and infrastructurethere. So our plan is a combinationof growing in existingmarkets which targeting newmarkets as well.TT - You recently launched anew patch cord assembly. Whatdoes that mean for your customersand for your company?MR - If you look at this marketand the datacenter in particular,the time to market is important.Our customers don’t want towait 8 weeks- they want toexecute quickly. And that’s whywe have decided that certainkey components we want todecentralize. And we are nowthe first company to producethese patch cords locally here inDubai. So we now differentiateourselve not only though ourSwiss quality and innovativeproducts but also though speedin supply to the market andoffering of course the complete“Where we intend to enter new markets,we add peopleand offices and infrastructure there. So our plan is acombination of growing in existing markets whichtargeting new markets as well.”solution.TT - I hear that you’re alsobringing a new product- theFreenet UniPhy system?MR - This is an intelligentinfrastructure managementsolution that gives the customerthe ability to their cable systemsbetter than they could in thepast. This is an electronic wayto manage how movementchanges. This is why we arelaunching uniphy to meet theneeds of the customer today.TT - Are you working with anytelcos in the region?MR - Yes. Unfortunately I cannotname these but we deal withthe leading operators in theUAE, Saudi and Oman and weare continuing to develop ourpartnerships with the fiber tothe home.TT - What is your go to marketstrategy in the Middle East?MR - I think what’s importantis that we are not here to sell abox but rather to sell a solution.To sell a solution we need some28 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

expertise in the market. So wehave our first level supportsfor technical, supply chain andmarketing and communication.And I think this is what makesus so different from thecompetition. We are not justhere selling boxes.Another thing is local presence.In dubai we have our regionalhub but also believe in ‘in thecountry for the country’. Forexample we have local presencein Saudi, Oman, Qatar, Jordanand Egypt. So it’s really a lot ofopportunities in all these regionsthat we are present in.TT - Do you find the Middle Eastmarket different from the othermarkets that you are operatingin?MR - I think when you startspeaking about telecomoperators, all countries presenta challenge. Inside each countrywe have different challengesas well. If you take dubai andAbu Dhabi for example, inAbu Dhabi there are a lot of“We are renowned for Swiss quality. This company hasbeen in the market for 48 years. We have really produceda number of innovative products over the last 40 yearsand I think that the top priority though all this has beenreliability and high quality.”towers and skyscrapers whiledubai is very flat. So whenyou start deploying your fibersolution, you don’t have thesame challenges. As I said wedo not sell a box so what weare good at is being able togive some expertise to telecomoperators. They then employ theinternational experience that weprovide form european nationsfor instance and they can thendeploy products which exactlyfit their requrements.TT - How do you see the futuregrowth for the cabling industryin the Middle East? And howdo you see your own growthas I believe that there is a lot ofcompetition in the market.MR - The thing is that peopleare not just interested in theprice. People are interested inquality. This is something thatwe are leaders for in the market.As I told you with cabling youare talking about an investmentfor the next 20 to 25 years. Sowhen you are speaking aboutsuch an investment, you arevery concerned about quality.We are bringing Flexibility,Speed Quality and relieablity.At the same time for the past2 years, the Middle East hasgone through the Arab Spring.And this created for us a lot ofopportunities when it comes toJean-Pierri Labry, EVP MEA - R&M and Richard Eichhorn, CSO - R&M also participated in the interviewinvestment. A lot of countriesstarted investing in buildinginfrastructure not just intelecom but also in healthcare,in education. Governments bringmore services and since wefocus on so many verticals thisrepresents a huge opportunityfor us.TT - Reliability- how does yourproduct compare to the othersin that regard?MR - We are renowned for Swissquality. This company has beenin the market for 48 years. Wehave really produced a numberof innovative products over thelast 40 years and I think that thetop priority though all this hasbeen reliability and high quality.This is really the Swiss standardand this is across all our markets.For example the patch cordassembly in dubai is fullycomplaint with our internationalstandards.I think that’s why our customersvalue us as this is a long terminvestment. And here we are intop of the industry.TT - How has your experiencehere at Gitex been? What areyou hoping to achieve?MR - It’s not the first time thatwe have been here. It’s over10 years that we are presentat GITEX. And I think this hasalways been a great opportunityfor us to share our expertisehere and to show also thenew innovations. And this issomething that we are strongat- INNOVATION. The future isthere but it requires innovativeproducts. And we are spending8 to 10% in R&D.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com29

“If you can’t doit in the cloud,you can’t do itat all!”Jay ChaudhryFounder and Chief Executive Officer,ZscalerInterview: Gulraiz KhalidTeletimes - How is yourexperience at GITEX on abusiness level?Jay Chaudhry - Good. ActuallyZscaler couldn’t be happier,our partner Etisalat haslaunched our services at GITEXso it’s a wonderful businessopportunity for us. Etisalat isthe biggest telecom providerin the country and having themas a partner to go to marketwith us is a wonderful businessopportunity for us.TT - Could you elaborate onyour complete business modelfor the region? And howyou’ve grown?JC - So we are technologyprovider for cloud basedservices. We’ve built thistechnology from scratch. Itspurpose built for cloud basedservices unlike lots of othercompanies that are takingtraditional applications andthey are racking and stackingthem in a data center andcalling it a cloud.But we also realise that inthe Middle East, serviceproviders play a very importantrole. There are regulatoryrequirements. Your traffic mustterminate within the countryfor inspection. Your logs mustJay Chaudhry is a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record ofsuccess. He is an innovator and trendsetter who has founded andfunded several successful companies including Zscaler, AirDefense,CipherTrust, CoreHarbor, Air2Web, and SecureIT. Chaudhry’s 25years of sales, marketing and engineering experience also includesleadership roles at leading companies such as IBM, NCR andUnisys.Chaudhry was honored as Entrepreneur of the Year in the USSoutheast and as a finalist for the US National by Ernst & Young.He was named an Innovator & Influencer by Information Weekmagazine and “Who’s Who” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Hewas recognized as a Market Entrepreneur by SC Magazine. He wonEntrepreneur of the Year award from Catalyst magazine threetimes and has appeared in Atlanta’s “Top 50 Names to Know”many times.Chaudhry founded AirDefense, which pioneered the wirelesssecurity market and had a successful merger with Motorola.He also founded CipherTrust, creating the industry’s first emailsecurity gateway appliance and led its successful merger withSecure Computing. He also founded CoreHarbor, the first ASPfor e-procurement solutions, which was acquired by USi/AT&T.In 1996, Chaudhry founded SecureIT, the first pure-play Internetsecurity services company, as a self-funded venture. SecureITexperienced exponential revenue growth and was acquired byVeriSign, where Chaudhry served as vice president and generalmanager of the Security Services Division. Prior to that, he heldvarious sales and marketing management positions at NCR,IBM, Unisys, and IQ Software. He holds a Master’s in ComputerEngineering, Master’s in Industrial Engineering, and Master’s inBusiness Administration from the University of Cincinnati.30 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

stay in the country. So ourarchitecture was designed tobe able to do so. This is why wehave partners like Etisalat inthe UAE. Partners like Telecomin Egypt or our partner in SaudiArabia. So these partners areessentially leveraging ourtechnology and providing localservices to local customers.TT - So with your technologyare you primarily focusing onTelcos or other institutions aswell?JC - Telcos are our channel orour go-to-market partners.So they are actually goingto enterprises and otherinstitutions and organizationsthat maybe be highereducation, retail, financialservices. These are all targetcustomers for us.We are the only ones providingcloud services in the regionthat are approved by theauthorities.TT - In your opinion, what arethe differences and how isthis better- having securityin the cloud as opposed tovendors who provide securityapplications?JC - That’s a fairlystraightforward answer. Youknow years ago we didn’thave running electricity. If youwanted electricity you bought apower generator. But then theparadigm shifted to the powercompanies who built powerplants and then consumerssimply plugged into the socketand got their power. And youpaid for what you used.Computing and security isgoing through the sameparadigm shift. Why should youhave to buy and manage boxeswhen you can get it from thecloud based on your needs. Itjust makes business sense.The customer need to buy anyhardware or any software.So where do we sit? We sitbetween the user and theinternet as a check post. So alltraffic that goes from the pcor phone, goes through ourcloud that makes sure thatsecurity is offered and thatyour company’s policies areenforced. Customers do notneed to buy anything or deployanything. They pay an annualsubscription fee based on thenumber of employees that theyhave.TT - So when you go in formeetings is it mostly the casethat they are not so receptivesince cloud itself is at aconceptual stage these days?JC - I think there are someadditional dynamics going onin the corporate world in howit addresses security. So if youimagine what’s going on withinan organization. Historicallyyou would have users, anetwork and services. And theywould have all been within theorganization. And the ability“We sit between the user and the internetas a check post. Securing all trafficthat goes from the pc or phone.”to build a hard security wallaround that environment wasvery easy.If you think about what’shappening now today.Where are your users? Arethey all stuck on a networkin the office? NO. They areout on their iphones on theirblackberries, they are outside.So it becomes more difficultto protect our users becauseguess what. They aren’t ona corporate network anymore. Now think about what’shappening to the servers. Doyou use things like dropbox,salesforce.com? The servers areno longer within the corporatewalls. The servers are now outof the organization. So now asan IT security director I havejust an impossible situation. Ihave to apply security to myusers and my data who areno longer on my corporateenvironment.So it’s now a case of- if yournot doing it in the cloud youcan’t do it at all. So you’revery right, the hesitance ofcorporate in moving to thecloud is definitely there butthis is not something thatthey can or cannot do. Theyjust have to get down to itbecause their users and theirdata are now moving out tothe internet. And if you thinkabout it from an architecturalperspective. There is no way ofbuying a box and putting thatbox in my corporate enterpriseand applying security ona conversation that nevertouches that box.You know there are 2 kind ofparadigm shifts- that’s that onein terms of where our usersand our data are and thenthere’s a separate one. Of ‘Idon’t want to buy hardwareand software anymore’. Iwant to buy security as autility service. If my businessgrows and I have more usersI will increase my usage if mybusiness shrinks I can reducethis. It’s kind of a utility basedpricing as well as a utility basedservice.TT - Can you talk us throughin-country privacy issues andhow you are managing to getaround that?JC - The country requirestwo things from cloud basedNovember 2012www.teletimesinternational.com31

services. One, the inspectionand termination of traffic musthappen in the country. Andsecond, the logs and data muststay in the country. We actuallymeet both requirementsThat’s why we are theapproved cloud service (andthe only one).TT - Besides Dubai do you haveany other operating offices inthe region or do you plan toopen any offices here?JC - From a cloud perspectivewe have Telecom Egypt, ZajilKuwait and a telco in SaudiArabia who we cannot nameright now. But yes we aretargeting every major telco inthe middle East to have thesame partnership that we havewith Etisalat and leverage morein country footprint as we goover time.TT - You’ve recently launched afree mobile app profiler. Couldyou tell us a little more aboutthat?JC - There are all kinds ofmobile apps being built anduploaded to all these mobilestores. All those apps aren’tgood though. Some aremalicious, some have securityissues, some have privacyissues wherein they send yourpersonal data out there andsending it to people who runads. So our mobile app profilerallows you to check what levelof security and privacy issuesare associated with a givenmobile app.TT - How are you able toprovide that?JC - Our research team inspectsthese apps. We have thetechnology to figure out andthen verify how good or badan app is. And then we scoreit and make that informationavailable to the public sothat they can make informeddecisions about whether or notto download the app or not.TT - Since you are the founderof this company would you liketo share something about thefounding of this company andthe big achievements?JC - I had before this company5 startups with a lot of goodluck, good timing, good teamsand hard work. This time mygoal was to solve some veryhard problems and built alasting business. We were veryambitious and decided to takea major undertaking of buildingthis kind of technology fromground up. We put about 230man years into this technologyso far. Now it was in stealthmode for about 20 months. Wewere just building. We’ve beenselling this for about 3 and ahalf years now. So what do wehave? 9 million users acrossthe globe who use our cloud toprotect themselves everyday.And they come from over160 countries. This is a bigachievement of having so manypaying users all over the globewith our technology deployedin hundreds of data centers.We are very proud of this.TT - Are you planning to launchany new software applicationsin the future- like the appprofiler?JC - So actually that is thenatural thing for us. There are 2kinds of things. There are coreapplications and there are addon services like the app profilerand we also did another toolcalled Zulu which checksmalicious URLs. Obviously thatwork will continue.On the core services side ofit, we will keep on enhancingand adding functionality. It isnatural for us to do that.TT - There have been numeroushigh profile security breachesin the Middle East like AramcoNidal Taha, VP-ME and Craig Hicks-Frazer, VP-Service ProviderBusiness Unit, Zscaler during the interviewand RasGas. So how wouldyou tell our users that by usingsuch services they could getaround this?JC - If you look at securityhacks and attacks years ago,hackers used to target servers.Now servers are pretty wellprotected these days withbig firewalls sitting in from onthem. So what do they do?Now they are targeting endusers. They are compromisingthe machine of the end userand then using it as beachheadto go and attack the networkand the servers.So really the point that’s notdefended is the mobile userand the mobile device. Ifpeople use Zscaler services,we can make sure that yourmobile users are well protectedand we’re seeing that everycompany has about 5-10% oftheir pcs infected with Botnets.These are like spies that callcommand and control centersand get instuctions fromthem. This could say- startcapturing passwords and ids,start a phishing attack. Wecan identify machines that areinfected and users can cleanthem up and this is importantfor security.We are the best protection forattacks against end users so wecan make sure that they do notbecome beachheads.TT - Could you talk in detailabout your long term plans forthe region?JC - This region is rapidlygrowing from internetadoption point of view. Asinternet adoption grows,security becomes an importantarea. That’s why we’re here.We think there is greatpotential for growth and weare counting on investingin resources and buildingour business along with ourpartnerships with local servicesproviders.TT - Do you intend to expandto South Asian markets?JC - We are already in southAsian markets. We havepresence in Asia-pac from HongKong to Singapore to Taiwan toMalaysia and further India.TT - Is there anything elsethat you would like to add forpublication?JC - I think if I were to addsomething I would said cloudis happening and as cloudhappens companies will needproper security that is bothin the cloud and requiresproper technology and properarchitecture. And really that’swhat we’ve built.32 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

We are # 1 in many marketsand # 2 in all othersIan SnaddenVice President EMEAIntermec TechnologiesInterview: Gulraiz KhalidTeletimes - Please talk aboutthe main constituents ofIntermec’s operations.Ian Snadden - Our businessstakeholders/ our main constituentsare IT, operations andbusiness. Those are the threemain areas. If you’re a dairyproduce company, then yourstaff in marketing will want tobe able to sell more productsto more customers, faster.And the business will demandof IT a ‘sell the merchandising’applications. And then IT goand architect that design andoperations will support it whenit’s in the field.Ian Snadden leadsIntermec’s largestInternational Region.A seasoned salesleader and generalmanager, Ian hasamassed over 20years of technologyindustry salesmanagement andleadership experiencein the Europeanregion; includingpositions with UnisysUK Ltd. as VicePresident & GeneralManager of Systems& Technology andFujitsu SiemensComputers Ltd. asDirector of Enterprisebusiness, andpreviously Directorof Channels, SME andConsumer Businesses.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com33

The business, the operationsand IT will have to work togetherin bringing the hardware,the application and the underlyingservice, whether that isfixing products that break orthe airtime etc. into the handsof the user.Our business is B2B and ourbusiness is based on puttingthe right tool for the job intothe hands of the user and oneof the areas that we have to bevery careful of is putting thewrong tool into the hands ofthe user. And in the area of mobiletelephony in particular thetemptation to put the wrongdevice in the hands of the useris great because it looks likesuch a low cost option. But thetotal cost of ownership and thereturn on investment can bedestroyed by the wrong typeof device. So for example if yousee our device the CK3.TT - Could you elaborate moreon your business and the toolsthat you are providing?IS - Intermec is a global leaderin auto id. That is the identificationand data capture orproduce as it travels throughthe supply chain from point ofproduction be that a manufacturingplant or a farm all theway through the supply chaintill the point of consumption.Intermec is involved with thetracking and tracing of all that.Everything to do with the barcode and everything to do withdata capture. When you get onto an aeroplane, you boardingpass is being printed by anintermec printer, your bag tagwould be printed by our printerand as it travels through a logisticscenter, it will be trackedand traced all the way through.We are the only company inthe world that has the breathof portfolio from scanningtechnologies, rugged mobilecomputers and printing technologies.TT - What specifically are theproducts that you offer to theIT and telecom companies inthe region?IS - We represent a major newbusiness opportunity for theICT in the region. And thereason that we represent thisbig opportunity is that todaymost mainstream ICT resellersthink of mobility as lap tops orsmart-phones. And this is whatI call white collar mobility.Where we contribute is theblue collar mobility which is forthe general workforce. So thatrepresents a huge opportunityfor IT resellers because franklythere is not a lot of margin inmobile desktop computers orconnections. It is very difficultto wrap services and valuearound these.However our type of ICT is stillvery profit rich for resellers.It’s still very much solutionoriented. Our rugged mobilecomputing has to have an application.These are all differentand largely these are unique toeach customer’s business andrequire customization.TT - In your own personalopinion how would you makea comparison between thetablets and the rugged mobilephones?IS - Intermec has been aroundfor 46 years and have been oneof the founders of the barcodeindustry. We have moreintellectual property and morepatents and more expertise inbarcode and RFID technologythan any other company inthe world. So this isn’t a newbusiness area. But the questionwe get asked all the timeis whether smart-phone andtables represent a threat or anopportunity for us.We think that it is an opportunity.The reason for this is thatsmart devices represent anexpectation of much greatermobility by everybody. Theother thing that ICT especiallyis benefiting from is thatcustomers also expect rapidapplication development anddeployment. The introductionof these devices means that everyoneexpects more mobilityand faster app development.But that brings with it complexity-in terms of handling datatraffic, and security, asset management.If you’re deployingmobile devices, the breakagerate or the failure rate becomesvery important especially inharsh environments where youhave environmental extremes.In this case our technology isbuilt for the purpose- the righttool for the job.If you have the wrong tool forthe job, the issue is not howmuch it costs you to buy thedevice. The issue is how manydevices are out of service becausethey have to be repaired.That is the total cost of ownershipissue that customers arefacing.The smart-phone an opportunitybut what happens tocustomers is that after theyhave bought the device thatthey have bought the wrongdevice. You have not think notjust about the attractiveness ofthe tablet but also about how itis going to be used and in whatextremes of environmental anduser behaviours are going toaffect the total cost of ownership.TT - Can you tell us about yourgo-to-market strategy?IS - Our global model is partnerIntermec has been around for 46 years and have been one of the foundersof the barcode industry. We have more intellectual property and morepatents and more expertise in barcode and RFID technology than anyother company in the world.based. We do have a smallnumber of global accountswhich are large global customerswho in some geographieswe deal with directly. But inmost geographies we deal withthem indirectly.This is because even largecompanies do not have theexpertise necessary for thelocal markets. And this is the‘global’ ability- global capabilitywith local delivery. We dealwith a number of local partnersand we have a global partnerprogram that is consistentaround the world. More than80% of our business is transactedthough the channel and ourmodel is very dependent onskilled and capable partners.TT - Can you name some partners?IS - Mirnah Technology Systems,Danway, Data CaptureSystems, SOTI, Unlimited andSPAN Group.TT - Basically your equipmentis not going to end users but tocompanies?IS - We focus on four main de-34 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

Simpana:Reducingcomplexity andincreasing valueInterview: Gulraiz KhalidTeletimes - Can you please giveus some background on the ‘BigData’ trend?Fiona Moon - Big data is beingtalked about by everybody andit affects every industry butparticularly the telcos becauseof the amount of data that theyare running. Big data basicallymeans how you analyze it. Soyour volume of data isn’t anybigger other than your businessis growing- it’s the analysisof the data that is the big dataoperation. So that’s really whatpeople are looking at today.And if you look at telcos in thisregion, we have several customersin the region who are telcos,the issues that they have is thatthey have to analyse a lot of livedata. People using their mobilephones are always sending textmessages etc. Phones now arevery sophisticated. You have allsorts of cameras and so picturesbeing stored on mobile devicesand they are no longer just makinga phone call. So the volumeof data and the social classificationof data is immense and itwill continue to grow.What the service providers wantto do is to enable their analysisto show them what you do withyour phone. So for exampleif you take any pictures andyou store them they will knowhow much network your using,whether you store things to thecloud. And they will learn aboutyour usage and because of yourbehaviour and they can guideyou towards product that youwould be interested in.TT - How would you differentiateyour operations from thoseof Google and Amazon.FM - Our customers make theirown decisions on how theyhandle their data. Telcos for examplehave to store data such asphone records, transactions, behaviouralrecords- for purposesof billing, compliance and due togovernment restrictions. Googleand Amazon on the other handare transactional. It is the usersbehaviour- you go on to googleand you ask questions. Theybuild a personal profile of youbut the data does not have to bestored anywhere. They analyzewhat you do and then they usethat to send inforrmation to you.And Simpana is the software thatenables such kind of operations.We ourselves don’t interferewith any of the data. We enableour customers whether they arebanks, telcos, social media, utilities,manufacturing.Fiona MoonMarketing Director EMEACommVault SystemsFiona joined CommVault in September 2006and has full responsibility for Marketing acrossthe region, and has over 20 years experiencein the Software industry.As part of the seniormanagement team Fiona helps to definemarket strategy for CommVault and with thesupport of her team implement the marketingelements across the region. Fiona came fromSymantec formally Veritas where she held asenior EMEA role and previously has also runmarketing organizations for SSA, Marcam,Walker and Manugistics.Fiona enjoys cooking, reading and collectingrare and vintage shoes. She started running in1994 and has now completed over 50 10k runsacross the world.36 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

TT - How are you helping yourcustomers protect their data?FM - We store and they canretrieve and archive the data.It’s sophisticated how we actuallystore the data for them.So we actually deduplicate thedata. So if you have 55 copies ofone email or attachments oursystems will recognize that andwill only store one. So we’resaving you space, time andeffort. And our system will tagthat one copy of data to say thateveryone had an involvement init. We keep our customer’s datastorage structures very simple.TT - What is it that differentiatesSimpana from other playersin the market?FM - We have a single communicationplatform which is a unifiedinformation management.We have 5 products that workon the same single platform. Sothe cost to manage the productis very low. And the communicationof the technology betweeneach other is very simple. Sofor the business, the footprintof the software on the serverand the time it takes to workis much quicker. So if you’rebacking up and saving yourdata every day, you will do it farquicker with us than with othervendors. Because we recognizethe same data and we only backup to a point in time. We’re notthe only backup vendor and ourcompetitors are powerful andstrong but they are much morecomplex than we are.TT - What markets are youfocusing on region wise?FM - In the region, the marketsthat are very good for us aregovernment and public sector.We do a lot with police andwith govt. agencies, education.I represent europe, africa,middle east and india. We are aglobal organization though withpresence in many other regionsas well. We have over 3000employees worldwide.The Middle East region isparticularly buoyant for usbecause the investmentsthat are being made by localgovernments in the publicsector and in utilities, oil andgas, steel manufacturing andeducation and finance are verygood for all businesses in theregion.TT - Which markets are moreprofitable for you, the emergingmarkets or the comparativelydeveloped markets?FM - The emerging markets havea bigger opportunity becauseby nature they are newer forus. The cost of sale can be moreexpensive in a new market. Wehave been in the Middle Eastfor 10 years, we have many ofour major customers here andthe customer base is increasingrapidly.TT - What about south Asia?FM - South Asia-most of thatwe are established in. Japanwe have only been there forabout 2 years and by nature oflanguage and culture, it takes“Our competitors are powerful and strongbut they are much more complex than weare saving you space, time and effort.”a bigger investment. So it’s acost for us to build the businessbut the rewards are there. Wehave one of the world brandproducts.TT - How was your experienceat Gitex?FM - This is one of the flagshipevents that we do annually. Itdraws in expertise from all overthe world in IT products. Wemake a significant investmenthere and it is a show thatdelivers us lots of feedbackbothfor us and our partners.We only sell Simpana thoughour partners so it’s an importantopportunity for our partners tobring their customers to us andfor our partners such as Dell,Hitachi Data Systems, HP- to beable to work with us in closeproximity to the community.So it works very well for us andour partners.TT - And are you hoping thatgood things will come off this?FM - Yes absolutely. And Ibelieve that if you are lookingto buy software or applicationsthen this is the place to comebecause everyone is here. The3 or 5 days that you take out ofthe office- are of value to you.We work with partners and it’sall very good to be under thesame roof all in one day.TT - Could you briefly sum upthe value SImpana is providingto the industry?FM - We keep it simple and wedeliver value and today peoplein the industry are looking tospend less and get more value.And this is complex and difficult.The amount of data you havenever gets smaller- it’s alwaysgoing to grow. Therefore, wereduce complexity, increasingvalue.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com37

Huawei and ZTE fall into trouble at USAAs foreshadowed in iTWirethe US Congress’s PermanentSelect Committee on Intelligencehas recommended thatthe US government should notinclude equipment from Chinesetelecommunications companiesHuawei and ZTE in their IT andcommunications systems. Norshould government contractors.The recommendations come asno surprise – leading membersof the committee had alreadysaid that the companies posedsecurity risks. The report hadalso been widely leaked beforehand.But the publication of the reportmakes it all official. Its commentsare “recommendations”,but in the current security environmentthey may as well bewritten in stone. The report hasramifications for Huawei Australia,which has had similar but lessformal adverse findings againstit by a parliamentary committee(leading some Australian pressoutlets to say the USA is “followingAustralia’s lead”).It is now extremely unlikely thatHuawei will be able to supplyequipment to the NBN, or toother Australian governmentprojects, for the foreseeable future.ZTE is also affected. It alsohas a presence in Australia, mostnotably as supplier of many ofTelstra’s low end home brandmobile phone handsets.The report’s recommendationsare couched in strong language.No weasel word bureaucratesehere:US government systems,particularly sensitive systems,should not include Huawei orZTE equipment, including componentparts. Similarly, governmentcontractors – particularlythose working on contracts forsensitive US programs – shouldexclude ZTE or Huawei equipmentin their systems.The Committee on ForeignInvestment in the United States(CFIUS) must block acquisitions,takeovers, or mergers involvingHuawei and ZTE given the threatto US national security interests.Private-sector entities in theUSA are strongly encouraged toconsider the long-term securityrisks associated with doing businesswith either ZTE or Huaweifor equipment or services. USnetwork providers and systemsdevelopers are strongly encouragedto seek other vendors fortheir projects. Based on availableclassified and unclassifiedinformation, Huawei and ZTEcannot be trusted to be free offoreign state influence and thuspose a security threat to theUSA and to our systems.It doesn’t come much clearerthan that. There is no room forappeal, no comeback. The onlyway forward for Huawei andZTE is to demonstrate over timethat they will change their spots.That will take years, and giventhe increasing tension betweenthe USA and China, it may neverhappen. Huawei’s rumouredstock market listing in the USA –and Australia – is one way it willattempt to do this.The report also says that Huaweidid not fully cooperate with theinvestigation and was unwillingto explain its relationship withthe Chinese Government orChinese Communist Party, andthat “credible evidence” existsthat Huawei fails to comply withUS laws. Similar criticisms weremade of ZTE.Huawei, obviously anticipatingthe outcome, immediatelyreleased a long statement rebuttingthe report’s findings. “TheUnited States is a country ruledby law, where all charges andallegations should be based onsolid evidence and facts. Thereport conducted by the Committee,which took 11 monthsto complete, failed to provideclear information or evidence tosubstantiate the legitimacy ofthe Committee’s concerns.“We had hoped to ensure thatthe investigation would be factbasedand objective in its reviewof our business activities and theglobal issue of cyber-security.Over the past 11 months, Huaweihas cooperated with the Committeein an open and transparentmanner, and engaged ingood faith interaction. However,despite our best effort, the Committeeappears to have beencommitted to a predeterminedoutcome.“The ranking member of theCommittee stated at the hearingthat the investigation by thecommittee ‘is not political joustingor trade protectionism masqueradingas national security’.Unfortunately, the Committee’sreport not only ignored ourproven track record of networksecurity in the USA and globally,but also paid no attention to thelarge amount of facts that wehave provided.“Even before the investigationbegan, the chairman of the committeeadvocated to media that‘I stand by my caution to theAmerican business communityabout engaging Huawei technologyuntil we can fully determinetheir motives’”.Huawei says the report “employsmany rumours and speculationsto prove non-existentaccusations.” It also says thereport does not address theglobal realities of the IT industry,where “almost every ICT firmis conducting R&D, softwarecoding and production activitiesglobally. They share the samesupply chain, and the challengeson network security is (sic) beyonda company or a country.”“We have to suspect that theonly purpose of such a reportis to impede competition andobstruct Chinese IT companiesfrom entering the US market.”So there. Not much room forcompromise. ZTE published asimilar statement. “ZTE has setan unprecedented standardfor cooperation by any Chinesecompany with a US congressionalinquiry. ZTE has presentedthe Committee with ample factsthat demonstrate ZTE is China’smost transparent, independent,globally focused, publiclytraded telecom company. ZTEis listed on the Hong Kong andShenzhen Stock Exchanges. Thecompany already is recognizedas a Trusted Delivery Partnerby 140 governments and 500network carriers.”There was been no realfallout yet in Australia. TheParliamentary Joint Committeeon Intelligence and Security hasalready made its deliberationsregarding Huawei. They arenow very unlikely to changetheir views.A Huawei Australiaspokesman told iTWirethat “the facts speak forthemselves. You don’t becomethe world’s number-onetelecommunications equipmentprovider unless your partnerstrust your technology, yourproducts, and your staff. Huaweiworks with 45 of the world’stop 50 operators and all majorAustralian operators, and ourtechnology is second to none.Those are the facts today andthose will continue to be thefacts, political agendas aside.”“Political agendas aside”. Theproblem for Huawei, and forZTE, is that political agendas arenever left aside. This is bad newsfor the two companies involved,but it is also bad news for the ITand telecommunications industries,for globalisation, and forinternational relations.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com39

Intelsat isthe leadingprovider ofsatellite servicesworldwideShahrokh Khanzadeh-AmiriManaging Sales DirectorEurope/ME Intelsatspeaks to TeletimesShahrokh joined Intelsat in 2006 as Managing SalesDirector. Shahrokh is responsible for all Intelsat Operationsin the Middle East and is based in Dubai, UAE.Shahrokh has more than 25 years experience in communications.Before joining Intelsat Shahrokh was withPanAmSat Corporation as Regional Director for theMiddle East. Shahrokh worked for the BBC World service,where his area of expertise was the former SovietUnion and Eastern Europe.Shahrokh holds a First Class Honours degree inElectronic and Electrical Engineering from the Universityof Newcastle, United Kingdom and Post Graduatequalifications in Data Communications from BrunelUniversity, U.K. Shahrokh is a Chartered Engineer andmember of Institute of Engineering and Technology inthe U.K.Intelsat is the leading provider of satellite servicesworldwide. For more than 40 years, Intelsat has beendelivering information and entertainment for manyof the world’s leading media and network companies,multinational corporations, Internet service providersand governmental agencies. Intelsat’s satellite, teleportand fiber infrastructure is unmatched in the industry,setting the standard for transmissions of video, dataand voice services. From the globalization of contentand the proliferation of HD, to the expansion ofcellular networks and broadband access, with Intelsat,advanced communications anywhere in the world arecloser, by far.Teletimes - Please tell us aboutIntelsat, its products andoperations in the Middle East.Shahrokh Khanzadeh Amiri -Intelsat is the leading providerof satellite services worldwide,supplying video, data andvoice connectivity for leadingmedia and communicationscompanies, Internet ServiceProviders and governmentorganizations. Intelsat’sterrestrial network of sevenstrategically-located teleportsand over 36,000 miles ofleased fiber complements aglobal satellite fleet of morethan 50 satellites, covering 99%of the world’s population.Today in the Middle East, weoffer media services, with fiveof our video neighborhoodsInterview: Khalid Atharserving Europe and theMiddle East. We also provideservices such as cellularbackhaul, corporate networks,broadband and mobilitythroughout the Middle Eastand around the globe.TT - What is Intelsat Epic NGand what will it provide to theindustry?SK - Intelsat Epic NG is a highperformance satellite platformbased on an open architecture,designed to deliver carriergrade,dedicated highthroughput capacity to meetthe growing bandwidth needsof our customers in all regions.Intelsat Epic NG representsthe progressive evolution ofour network infrastructure,a complementary, high40 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

performance layer to theIntelsat fleet.It will combine our spectralrights with the technicaladvantages of spot beamtechnology.It is designed to provide highperformance capacity to ourcustomers with an architecturethat gives them a greaterlevel of control and freedomof choice over hardware andservice attributes, allowingmore opportunity to developnew service offerings andgrow their businesses.TT - When will be the newsystem in operations?SK - To start, the platformwill be comprised of twoIntelsat EpicNG-class satellites– Intelsat 29e and Intelsat 33e -with expected in-service datesin 2015 and 2016, respectively.Combined, the satellites willhave extensive coveragethroughout the globe.TT - How do you distinguishyourself from other satellitesolution providers?SK - Our satellite fleetis integrated with ourIntelsatOne terrestrialinfrastructure, whichincludes 36,000 miles offiber, teleports, shared datanetworking platforms, andpeered points of presence(PoPs) to deliver themost efficient solutions tocustomers. Our allianceswith BT and PCCW enableIntelsat to extend the reachof IntelsatOne to customersoperating in new locationsaround the globe.TT - Are you looking forwardto attract the cellularcustomers in the Middle Eastregion?SK - The cellular backhaulsector is one of the fastestgrowing sectors in theindustry, not only in the MiddleEast, but in other regions likeAfrica.We offer connectivity toserve cellular backhaul inthe Middle East and Africa,either by working directlywith operators or via valueaddedofferings by Intelsatcustomers, who are offeringmanaged services to thissector. Currently, we havesignificant capacity on ourfleet that is utilized for cellularbackhaul.Satellite is a very cost effectiveway for the mobile operatorto deploy quickly new networkor to expand existing networkin less populated area. Inaddition to offering the localconnectivity, Intelsat is alsowell designed to provideinternational communication.Our product developmentteam is continuously workingon new solutions andapplications to support theongoing growth of this sectorand to ensure Intelsat remainsthe industry leader.TT - Please highlights somedetails for Media services?SK - There is moderate growthfor media services in theMiddle East following the ArabSpring. FTA channel platformsare adding more SD and HDchannels.Intelsat is providinginternational distribution fora number of Media customersin the region. We have beenselected by the ASBU (ArabSate Broadcasting Union)for the distribution of theirbouquet into North America.We also distribute a number ofchannels in Australia.TT - What do you rate as adriving force for broadcastingbusiness with reference toINTELSAT?SK - Customers taking theirprogramming to the globalplatform. Many programmers(Discovery) offer multipleversions of its channel indifferent languages in thesame region (Asia), forexample. More programmersgoing global than ever beforeand we enable that.New channels are beingcreated to reach smalleraudience and deregulationis creating a flurry of smallchannels.TT - Satellite communicationsare considered very expensivecommunication medium. Is ita reality?SK - Satellite communicationsis well suited for specificapplications that can benefitfrom the technology. Ifyou consider that satellitecan make available Gbpsof capacity to each homewith a dish, then you couldargue that this is significantlycheaper than laying fiber tomillions of homes. In someparts of the globe, satellitetechnology is simply a morepractical and reliable solution.Intelsat has the benefit ofoffering a ground and satellitetechnology solution thatprovides reliable and extensivecoverage to our customers ineven the most challenging ofcircumstances.TT - Some words aboutTeletimes International.SK - Teletimes is a publicationthat gives insight informationabout various sectors ofindustry, not only for theMiddle East, but in Africaand Asia. It provides valuableinformation about the hottopics of the Industry.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com41

Etisalat announces net profit of AED 2.2 billion for Q3 2012Aggregate subscribers grew annually by 20% to 130 millionEtisalat announced its consolidatedfinancial statementsfor the quarter ending 30thSeptember 2012. Etisalat sawnet profit after federal royaltyincrease to AED 2.2 billion, up28% year on year. Consolidatedrevenues remained flat at AED8.0 billion, while revenue frominternational operations grewto AED 2.4 billion, up 7%.Financial Highlights for Q3 2012●●Aggregate subscribers grewannually by 20% to 130 million;●●Net Profit after FederalRoyalty increased by 28% toAED 2.2 billion; Consolidatedrevenues remained flat atAED 8.0 billion;●●Revenue from internationaloperations grew to AED 2.4billion while their contributionto the top-line reached30%; Consolidated EBITDAincreased by 9% to AED 4.2billion while EBITDA marginimproved 4pts to 53%;●●Sold 775 million shares in PTXL Axiata TbK, representing9.1% of XL’s issued sharecapital;●●Consolidated capital spendingdeclined by 11% to AED 0.9billion, representing 11% of theconsolidated revenues;●●Improved financial flexibilitywith net cash balance of AED7.2 billion; and●●Net Profit after Federal Royaltyincreased by 19% quarteror quarterKey Developments during Q32012●●Etisalat UAE successfullycompleted the highest 4GLTE speed test in the world,reaching speeds of 300 Mbps;●●Launched the new LTE mobileWifi device allowing customersthe opportunity to enjoythe most reliable wirelessinternet access at all times;●●Launched UAE’s First IslamicTelecom Card in partnershipwith Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank(ADIB) and Visa International;●●Etisalat Misr launched itsexclusive first 3G Androidpoweredsmartphone.●●Etisalat UAE commenced SIMregistrations process to itscustomers in the UAE;●●Etisalat Nigeria introduced“Easywallet”, a secure anduser-friendly SIM applicationplatform for mobile moneypayments and transfers.●●Etisalat Information Services(eIS), a business unitof Etisalat Services Holdingannounced the first Arabicdomain name for the YellowPages in the Middle East.●●Etisalat Group won four GoldStevie award in the fourcategories entered, includingExecutive of the Year – Telecommunications,Most InnovativeCompany of the Yearin the Middle East and Africa,Best New Product or Serviceof the Year, and CorporateSocial Responsibility Programof the Year in the Middle Eastand Africa.GCEO’s MessageAhmad Abdulkarim Julfar,group chief executive officer,Etisalat, commented: “Overthe past three months, we haverecorded significant growth inour international operations,despite regional socio-economictensions, and we are pleasedwith the developments we havemade across our key markets,specifically in the Kingdom ofSaudi Arabia, Egypt and WestAfrica, as well as Afghanistanand Sri Lanka. “The positiveresults that we have achievedfrom our international operationsreflect the investment thatwe have put in to our markets,helping us increase customer retentionand acquisition, as wellas reinforcing our commitmentto delivering new technologiesand services across our globalcustomer base. “Etisalat hasstrong competitive positioningacross our 15 markets ofoperations in the Middle East,Africa and Asia, having built andinvested in the networks of thefuture, including FTTH and LTEin countries like the UAE andKSA, or being the first providerof 3G services in Pakistanand Afghanistan, and we willcontinue to study means toenhance our services to existingcustomers, and look at expandingin other markets should theright opportunities arise. “Ourfocus moving forward will be ondeveloping the level of serviceand meeting the expectationsand demands of our customersin the UAE and our key markets,as well as data services. We arecommitted to building the rightpartnerships with key playersto deliver applied services thatwill our customers’ lives for thebetter.”SubscribersEtisalat Group aggregate subscribernumber grew to 130 millionby end of September 2012representing YoY growth of20% and QoQ growth of 2%. TheGroup reported strong net additionsof 22 million subscribersas a result of growth across allof our operations. In the UAE activesubscriber base grew to 9.0million subscribers representingYoY growth of 8% and QoQgrowth of 1%. Mobile subscribersgrew to 7 million representinga YoY growth of 11%. Fixed linesubscribers reached 1.1 millionrepresenting YoY decline of 7%.However, This decline is dueto the successful migration ofcustomers to eLife segment(double play and triple play)that grew by 61% to 0.48 millionsubscribers. Internet subscribersgrew by 9% to 0.8 million.Africa cluster consolidated subscriberbase grew to 11 millionat the end of September 2012representing YoY growth of 29%and QoQ growth of 13%. WhileAsia cluster consolidated subscriberbase grew to 8.2 millionat the end of September 2012representing QoQ growth of 6%while declined YoY by 3% as year2011 included the subscribernumbers of Indian operationthat was deconsolidated inMarch 2012.RevenuesConsolidated revenues duringthe third quarter of FY2012reached AED 8,008 millionrepresenting a slight declineof 0.4% in comparison to thesame period of last year. Thecontribution from internationalconsolidated operations grewNovember 2012www.teletimesinternational.com43

to 30% of consolidated revenuesas compared to 28% contributiona year ago. This revenuegrowth is across all clusters. InEgypt revenues grew by 9% toAED 1,301 million in comparisonto the same period of last yearand grew by 3% quarter-overquarter.Revenues growth wasmainly driven by customer acquisitionand growth in mobiledata segment. Africa clusterconsolidated revenues grew toAED 689 million representingan increase of 2% in comparisonto the same period of last year.This revenue growth is mainlyattributed to the operations inBenin, Gabon, Togo and Canar.In Asia cluster, consolidated revenuesgrew to AED 408 millionrepresenting a growth of 10% incomparison to the same periodof last year. Growth is mainlydriven by subscriber uptake inboth Etisalat Afghanistan andSri Lanka.Operating ExpensesConsolidated operating expenseswere AED 4,619 million in thethird quarter, compared to AED5,024 million in the year-agoperiod and AED 4,858 millionin the second quarter of 2012.This represents an improvementof 8% year-over-year, while asa percentage of revenues animprovement of 5 points to 58%.Key components of operatingexpenses are: Staff expensesincreased to AED 1,079 millionrepresenting a year-over-yearincrease of 6%, while as a percentageof revenues remainedflat at 13%. Direct cost of Salesdecreased by 9% to AED 1,466million, while as a percentageof revenues decreased to 18%in comparison to 20% last year.Depreciation and Amortizationexpense decreased by 4% toAED 833 million. As a percentageof revenues, it declined by1pts to 10%. Other operatingexpenses declined by 19% toAED 1,241 million. As a percentageof revenues, it decreased by4 points to 16% in comparison to19% last year.EBITDAConsolidated EBITDA grew toAED 4,221 million representinga year-over-year growth of 9%.EBITDA growth was mainly dueto more effective cost managementthat led to lower networkcost, direct cost of sales andproject based expenses. EBITDAmargin improved to 53%, representinga 4 points increase incomparison to last year. In theUAE, effective cost optimizationefforts boosted EBITDA level.EBITDA increased year-overyearby 4% to AED 3,291 millionleading to EBITDA margin of60% in comparison to 56% of thesame period of last year. EBITDAof international consolidatedoperations increased year-overyearby 25% to AED 771 millionresulting in 18% contribution togroup EBITDA. In Egypt, EBITDAincreased by 7% to AED 483 millionand EBITDA margin marginallydeclined by 1 point to 37%.In Africa cluster, EBITDA grewyear-over-year by 10% to AED209 million and EBITDA marginincreased to 30% representing2 points improvements incomparison to the same periodof last year. In Asia cluster,EBITDA increased year-over-yearby more than four times to AED78 million and EBITDA marginincreased by 26 points to 19% incomparison to the same periodof last year. EBITDA continue tobe impacted by the deconsolidationof the Indian operation thatoccurred in March of 2012.Net Profit and EPSConsolidated net profit postFederal Royalties increasedyear-over-year by 28% to AED2,213 million which was achievedthrough higher EBITDA in additionrecognizing profit on disposalof asset. On September,Etisalat sold 775 million sharesof its investment in XL Axiata,representing 9.10% of outstandingshare at a price of IDR 6,300.Related net profit post transactioncosts and Federal royaltyreached AED 430 million. Earningsper share (EPS) reachedAED 0.28 representing anincrease of 28% as compared tolast year and 20% change fromthe second quarter of 2012.CAPEXConsolidated capital expendituresdeclined year-over-year by11% to AED 912 million resultingin capital intensity ratio of 11%, 2point lower than prior year. Capexlevel in 2012 were impactedby the deconsolidation of Indianoperation and slower FTTH investmentas compared to prioryear. Capital spending duringthe quarter focused on enhancingcoverage and deploymentof 3G networks and expandingLTE rollout. In the UAE, capitalspending in the quarter reachedAED 305 million, representinga decrease of 17% over thesame period of last year. Capitalinvestment focused on ensuring4G leadership. In Egypt, capitalexpenditures declined by 3% toAED 298 million as comparedto the same period of last yearresulting in a capital intensityratio of 23%. In Africa cluster,capital expenditure declined by42% to AED 114 million resultingin a capital intensity ratio of17%. In Asia, capital expendituredeclined by 14% to AED 120 millionimpacted by the deconsolidationof the Indian operation.During the quarter, deploymentcontinued of the 3G networks inAfghanistan and Ivory Coast.DebtTotal consolidated debt reachedAED 4,955 million, representing44 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

a decline of 23% in comparisonto debt balance as of September2011. Main reason for thedecline is the deconsolidationProfit and Loss Summary(AED m) Q3’11 Q2’12 Q3’12 QoQ YoYRevenue 8,042 8,254 8,008 -3% 0%EBITDA 3,890 4,261 4,221 -1% +9%EBITDA Margin 48% 52% 53% +1pp +4ppFederal Royalties 1,723 1,866 2,213 +19% +28%Net Profit 1,723 1,866 2,213 +19% +28%Net Profit Margin 21% 23% 28% +5pp +6ppBalance Sheet Summary(AED m) Q4’11 Q2’12Cash & Cash Equivalents 9,972 12,176Total Assets 72,892 73,699Total Debt 6,696 4,955Net Cash 3,276 7,221Total Equity 41,704 43,013Cash flow Summary(AED m) 9M’11 9M’12Operating 7,255 8,403Investing (1,744) (55)Financing (5,306) (5,994)Net change in cash 204 2,354Effect of FX rate changes 19 (149)Ending cash balance 10,500 12,176Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Financial MeasurementsAED m Q3’11 Q2’12 Q3’12 Q4’11EBITDA 3,890 4,261 4,221 4,218Depreciation & Amortization (871) (865) (833) (959)Exchange gain/(loss) (119) 71 (6) (122)Share of Associates and JVs results 366 324 272 404Impairment 0 0 0 (3,044)Operating Profit Before Federal Royalty 3,266 3,791 3,654 497of the Indian operation. Mostof the existing debt is relatedto international operations tofinance networks deploymentand the majority of the balanceis for long term maturity.Consolidated cash balancereached AED 12,176 million asof September 2012 leading to apositive net cash of AED 7,221million after deducting the debtbalance.Reconciliation of Non-IFRSFinancial MeasurementsWe believe that EBITDA isa measurement commonlyused by companies, analystsand investors in the telecommunicationsindustry, whichenhances the understanding ofour cash generation ability andliquidity position, and assists inthe evaluation of our capacityto meet our financial obligations.We also use EBITDA asan internal measurement tooland, accordingly, we believethat the presentation of EBITDAprovides useful and relevantinformation to analysts andinvestors.Our EBITDA definition includesrevenue, staff costs, direct costof sales, regulatory expenses,operating lease rentals, repairsand maintenance, generalfinancial expenses, and otheroperating expenses.EBITDA is not a measure of financialperformance under IFRS,and should not be construedas a substitute for net earnings(loss) as a measure of performanceor cash flow from operationsas a measure of liquidity.The following table provides areconciliation of EBITDA, whichis a non-IFRS financial measurement,to Operating Profitbefore Federal Royalty, whichwe believe is the most directlycomparable financial measurementcalculated and presentedin accordance with IFRS.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com45

ARC adopts aConsultative andSystem Integrationapproach towards itscustomers’ needs &requirementsMohammed ZameerGeneral ManagerAl Rostamani Communicationsspeaks to Teletimeson the occasion of10th anniversary of ARCTeletimes - Please tell us aboutAl Rostamani Group, its historyand specifics of group’s communicationbusiness unit.Mohammed Zameer - AlRostamani Group is one of thelargest and oldest business conglomeratesin the United ArabEmirates. Founded in 1957 withthe late Mr. Abdullah HassanAl Rostamani as Chairman, thegroup has grown steadfastly andconscientiously over the last 55years with the guiding principlesof commitment, care and visionwith a genuine concern for thecommunity. The group has anumber of businesses in areassuch as general trading, automobilesand heavy equipment, travel,foreign exchange, financialservices, property development,construction, infrastructuredevelopment, telecommunicationsand information technologyservices.Al Rostamani Communications(ARC), a member of Al RostamaniGroup, was establishedin 2002 to address the IT needsof the Telecommunication andEnterprise industries by offeringend to end solutionsARC adopts a Consultative andSystem Integration approachtowards its customers needs& requirements. It first understandsthe specific requirementsand then develops a customizedtechnology solution bycarefully selecting the rightmix of products from its end toend solutions which include ITInfrastructure, Enterprise Communications,Networking Systems,Data Centre Solutions, ITSecurity, Applications and Telecommunicationinfrastructure.ARC’s core competency lies inits vendor certified engineeringresources that seamlessly conceptualises,builds, integrates,supports and manages thesolutions across the lifecycle,through its professional serviceswhich often not only matchesbut exceeds the customer experience& expectations.TT - During the last ten yearsof its operations, what majormilestones have been achievedby ARC?MZ - In the last 10 years, ARC’sbusiness has grown from an initialfew telecom orders with onecustomer to a complete systemsintegrator across both the Enterpriseand Telecom segments,addressing the telecom serviceproviders, TRA, and more than100 top Enterprise customersin the UAE. With four distinctvertical profitable businessunits addressing Infrastructure,ICT, Telecom and Professionalservices it has increased itsstaff strength from 10 to morethan 250 delivering consistentprofitability and growth since itsinception.TT - What are the present keyareas of growth in UAE’s ICTsector?MZ - Data storage, Virtualisation,IT security, Data Recover& protection, Unified communication,Cloud computing andData centres are the key areasof growth in the UAE and acrossthe Middle East.TT - You have establishedpartnership with eminent ICT46 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

solution providers around theglobe. Please share some detailsof these partnerships.MZ - ARC has partnered withFujitsu for servers, NetApp forstorage systems, VMware for virtualisation,McAfee for security,Symantec for backup solutions,Schneider for infrastructure,Alcatel Lucent & NEC for voice &Unified communication to namea few.TT - Please tell us about yourregional business focus withreference to GCC states?MZ - Presently ARC is wellestablished in the UAE and ratedas one of the top five systemintegrators in the UAE and top20 in the GCC. It also has plans toexpand to other GCC countriesnamely, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.TT - Machine 2 Machine communicationis gearing up itspopularity in householdsmarket. Does ARC haveplans to address segment ofcommunication?MZ - ARC, in partnershipwith Digi International, isone of the pioneers to adoptM2M technology in the UAEto create end-to-end solutionsthat drives business efficiencies.It is also one of the first SIcompanies to release the GSM/GPRS routers in the market forATM machines, POS systemsand SCADA applications forData acquisition. and thefirst to promote Zigbeetransmission for M2Msolutions. ARC providesConsultancy,Solution Design,Implementationand Managedservices forM2M solutionswith the iDigiconcept. It’stargeting itsefforts on Home automation,Control systems, Utilities andEnergy segments where M2Mpenetration is at its maximum.TT - Is the ICT industry becomingmore competitive and challengingin the GCC region?MZ - Yes it is becoming morecompetitive and challenging.This is mainly due to the factthat the differential betweenvarious products & technologiesis narrowing and as a result, thefinal decision is on pricing. Alsodue to the policy of major productvendors to have multiplechannel partners, establishedsystem integrators who workclosely with the customer fromthe point of inception, haveto compete in pricing with lastmoment vendors whose onlystrength is to go on low margins“ARC, inpartnership withDigi International,is one of thepioneers to adoptM2M technologyin the UAE tocreate end-to-endsolutions thatdrives businessefficiencies.”as they don’t have the cost ofdeveloping customer & pre-saleefforts.TT - What changes do youobserve in the communicationneeds of the society whilekeeping in mind the growth ofBroadband services?MZ - Social Media has becomean integral part of the newgeneration and communicationtechnology and marketingideas have to be devisedaround this core behaviourwhich will give a boostfor the Broadband services.TT - Please share your views onthe benefits brought in by cloudcomputing to enterprises andbusinesses.MZ - Cloud computing is not anew concept. At the start of thecomputer revolution, there usedto be a client server architecturewhich was an earlier form ofCloud. However due to the limitationof bandwidth betweenthe server and client, it couldnot flourish. Now with the availabilityof Broadband it makessense to have cloud architecture.However before it is fullyaccepted by the Business communitythere are issues whichneed to be addressed and mostimportant of them all is Securityand Migration of applications tocloud.TT - Please share your briefprofessional career path. Whatare you future growth vision toexpand company’s presence?MZ - I am an Engineer in Electronicsand Communication withan MBA and a post graduatein Business Research. I have agood blend of Knowledge oftechnology and establishingNew Business ventures due tomy various responsibilities duringthe past 30 years.The future growth is expectedfrom Data centre solutions,Storage, Security, Virtualisation,Consultancy on Data centrecommercialisation, and managedservices.TT - Your thoughts onTELETIMES International.MZ - One of the most establishedTelecom Magazines ofthe Middle East, Asia and Africaregions and a very interestingread as it provides upto date market information.I read it regularly to understandthe latest developmentin the products and Markets. Iwish them all the best.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com47

Qtel Group Chairman challengesTelecom Industry at ITU Telecom WorldCalls for cooperation in delivering broadband and fair International data roaming chargesIn a bold speech at ITU TelecomWorld 2012, H.E. SheikhAbdullah bin Mohammed binSaud Al-Thani, Qtel GroupChairman, challenged thetelecommunications sector’soperators, regulators andpartners to come togetherto solve some of the majorchallenges facing bothcustomers and the industrytoday. In his keynote talk atthe opening ceremony of theevent, which is the leadingplatform for the global ICTcommunity, H.E. SheikhAbdullah identified the needto support new broadbandinfrastructure projects and thenecessity of more transparencyregarding international dataroaming charges as two of themost significant challengesfacing the industry.The price of internationaldata roaming has become ahot-button issue around theworld, with the increasinglyglobal population oftenfacing excessive chargeswhen they use their mobileabroad, inflated by theoperator in the countrythey visit. The InternationalTelecommunication Union(ITU) is pushing for legislationand industry agreement thatwould secure roaming pricetransparency, immediateaccess to price information,greater competition and pricesthat are based on the actualcosts.In his speech to the assembleddignitaries, H.E. Sheikh Abdullahpledged his support forthis international effort: “Thepeople who travel abroad areamong our best customers, andwe need to make sure they canuse their mobiles safely andsecurely. I fully support the ITUH.E. Sheikh Abdullah binMohammed bin Saud Al-ThaniQtel Group ChairmanSecretary General, Dr. HamadounTouré, and his call for fulltransparency and choice. Mymessage is that we are committedto solving this problem.We are ready to work with theITU and national regulators topromote the transparency andchoice that we all deserve.”The global roaming market in isexpected to grow from USD 45billion in 2012 to more than USD60 billion by 2016, thanks to aboom in the number of globalroamers, according to researchby Informa. Regulation andlegislation has helped toprotect customers againstescalating charges and helpedto preserve competition.Qtel Group companies havetaken the lead in providingfair and transparent roamingservices for customers, withthe launch of SmartRoamerservices in 2009 and the morerecent launch of data roamingpackages, which provide dataroaming bundles for customerstravelling abroad.In addition, H.E. Sheikh Abdullahtackled the key issue ofhow regulators and operatorscan create the right regulatoryframework to enable the nextphase of Broadband development.Nawras hosts first Qtel Group Device Forum in OmanNawras, Oman’s customerfriendly communicationsprovider, recently hostedthe first Qtel Group DeviceManagement Forum.Empowering people viaconnected mobile devicesis a goal shared by networkoperators and devicemanufacturers. Among themanufacturers and supplierswho attended the gatheringwere Samsung, Nokia, ResearchIn Motion, Alcatel and Huawei.Delegates from Nawras werejoined in the Sultanate by theirQtel Group counterparts fromQatar, Kuwait, Tunisia, Algeria,Palestine and Indonesia.Welcoming the delegates,Martin Lyne, Nawras ChiefMarketing Officer, said, “It ismy great pleasure to welcomeQtel Group delegates andleading mobile device suppliersand manufacturers fromacross the globe to Omanfor this Forum. Hosting thisconference provides us witha great opportunity to shareknowledge and discuss industryJulie Amanntrends to find the best ways tomeet the changing needs of ourcustomers.”He added, “As we makeprogress with Turbocharging ournetwork, customers will soonbe enjoying a faster and richerexperience, and many will beable to choose from the latest4G LTE enabled devices to takefull advantage of the superfastspeeds and greatly improvedquality of service. By maintainingour competitive edge ascommunications continue toevolve, we can give customersmore options by offering thelatest handsets and deviceswith competitive bundles tosuit different usage styles andbudgets.”48 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

du partners with World Energy Forum to supportUAE’s progression to sustainabilitydu encourages forum’s purpose of achieving tangible progress towardscleaner, safer and more sustainable energyTeletimes ReportAhmad bin ByatChairman duIn its support of the WorldEnergy Forum – hosted byDubai’s Supreme Councilof Energy (SCE) on 22 – 24October, 2012 – du reaffirmedits commitment to promotingsustainability practices in theUAE, said Ahmad Bin Byat, thetelecom’s Chairman.This support came in line withthe praise the UAE governmentrecently received from UNSecretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon,who expressed his appreciationof the nation’s efforts towardssustainable development,renewable energy andcombating climate change.The event marked the firsttime that the World EnergyForum (WEF) has been heldoutside of the United NationsHeadquarters in New York.“Under the guidance ofNovember 2012H.H. Sheikh Mohammed binRashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Ministerof the UAE and Ruler of Dubai,our leadership is activelyencouraging the progressiontowards sustainability. The UAEwas a pioneer in the region forbeing the first country to adopta long-term national initiativetowards becoming moreenvironmentally-conscious, andthis level of ground-breakinginitiative makes our country theideal location for the first WorldEnergy Forum to be held outsideof the US,” said Ahmad Bin Byat,Chairman, du.Since its inception, du hasadopted leading corporategovernance applications intoits operations, developingan ethical way of conductingbusiness. Its exemplary practicesled the telecom to take the topspot in the Standard & Poor/Hawkamah Environmental,Social and CorporateGovernance (ESG) Index 2011,as the MENA region’s mostcompliant company.du’s desire to become asustainable business led toits partnership with WEF, insupport of the UAE leadership’svision of building a greeneconomy.“It is an honour to sustain ourleadership’s vision by partneringwith the World Energy Forum.By supporting the Forum weare affirming our commitmentto promoting sustainabilitypractices in the UAE, andupholding our country’s positionas a regional leader,” addedByat. “We are proud to supportthe World Energy Forum, as wethoroughly believe in its purposeto achieve tangible progresstowards cleaner, safer and moresustainable energy, and provideuniversal access to modernenergy services.”In its role as atelecommunications provider,du recognises the need todevelop innovative andviable sustainable practicesto conserve energy, andencourages efforts to furtherexplore the possibilities that willcarry the nation, and the world,forward into a greener future.Its efforts to achievesustainability cover severalaspects of its operations. Theyinclude, amongst others:●●Hybrid power solutionsUnder the umbrella of its Greendu initiative, the telecom beganinstalling renewable energyand smart energy managementsolutions in 105 of its basetransceiver station (BTS) sites.These hybrid solutions, suppliedby P21 GmBH, a subsidiary ofHeliocentris, have led so far to60% less fuel being consumed,and therefore 60% fewer CO2emissions. A total of 420,000litres of diesel fuel has beensaved, which equates to areduction of 1000 tonnes ofContd. on page 50www.teletimesinternational.com49

du recertified to ISO 14001and OHSAS 18001 accreditationsReka SepsyUnderscoring its commitmentto upholding the highest levelsof health, safety and environment(HSE) practices, du’sCorporate Services departmenthas been granted recertificationof International Organizationfor Standardisation (ISO) 14001and British Standards Institution(BSI) OHSAS 18001. This followsa successful audit done by DQSa standard industry practicerepeated every three years.The announcement coincideswith du’s support to the WorldEnergy Forum as a lead sponsor,which was held recently inDubai.The British Standards Institution(BSI) OHSAS 18001 certificateis the world’s foremost assessmentspecification foroccupational health and safetymanagement systems, whilethe International Organizationfor Standardisation (ISO) 14001certificate acknowledges a rigorouscorporate commitment toenvironmental management.“Being able to renew internationally-recognisedcertificationsin our health, safety andenvironment practices is a testamentto our intense efforts inthese areas. We have dedicatedour efforts to ensuring a superiorworking environment for ourcolleagues, so that they spendtheir time in a safe, healthyatmosphere. This inspires themand empowers them to be moreproductive, by knowing thatwe consider their well-beingto be an utmost priority,” saidRashid ElSheikh, Executive VicePresident - Corporate Services,du. “We consider occupationalsafety and environmental stewardshipto be the basis of notonly our exceptional customerservice success, but of ourresponsibility to the UAE community.By setting a benchmarkwithin our own company we canencourage our colleagues andcommunity to aspire to similarstandards.”Both certifications are reviewedby the awarding institutesevery year, to ensure continuedcompliance.A company that attains ISO14001 certification providesassurance to its employees, customersand corporate partners,as well as to the general publicand regulatory agencies, that itpursues a systematic approachto environmental responsibility.Contd. from page 49CO2 emissions. Additionally,they have decreased generatorruntime by 70%, meaning less airand noise pollution.By the end of 2014, du intendsto have increased the numberof sites using these solutionsto 250 across the UAE, with ananticipated saving of 6.8 millionlitres of diesel, and consequentreduction of carbon emissionsby 17,000 tonnes.●●LEED Platinum-rated Greenshopdu’s Shop in Fujairah hasreceived the highest LEEDrating, Platinum, for its greensolutions. These include:o All lights and air conditioningcontrolled by sensors to reducedu partners with World Energy Forum to support UAE...energy consumption;o Energy star rating on allequipment;o All wood used in the Shopis Forest Stewardship Council(FSC)-approved;o 92% of construction wastewas diverted from landfill;o 42% of furniture andfurnishings used in the store areup-cycled;o Lightning power is reducedby 41%, in comparison to averagepower;o 24.5% of materials used in theproject were recycled;o 28.5% of materials used inthe project were sourced fromwithin 500 miles of the location;o 30% more ventilation ensuresconstant fresh air.The telecom plans to roll outmore green Shops in the future.●●RecyclingIn 2011 and 2012, du has recycled272 tonnes of waste paper andplastic. All bags distributed inits Shops are made from FSCcertifiedrecycled paper, andpaper used in du’s offices isrecycled.●●Saving powerThe implementation of LEDlights in du’s Fujairah CustomerCare Centre has reduced lightingpower consumption by 53%, incomparison to conventionallights.●●mHealthLaunched in 2011, du’s mHealthinitiative is a first-of-its-kind inthe UAE, which gives customersaccess to certified doctorsaround the clock. In associationwith Mobile Doctors 24-7, theall-hours call centre makeshealth care more efficient andaccessible than ever before.Byat concluded with, “It is mypleasure to wish the WorldEnergy Forum every successon behalf of my colleagues andthe people of the UAE. This isa vital step in establishing theUAE as a sustainability leader,and the impact of the event willbe significant in terms of theeconomy, the community, andthe introduction to new thinkingand green technologies.”50 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

Bocar A. BA appointed as SAMENA Council CEOto drive the next growth and expansion of the CouncilTeletimes ReportThe Board of Directors ofSAMENA TelecommunicationsCouncil, the tri-regionalconsortium of telecomoperators, chaired by Sh.Mohamed Bin Isa Al Khalifa, hasannounced the appointmentof Bocar A. BA, as its new ChiefExecutive Officer.Bocar has been with theSAMENA Council since its earlyfoundation stages and bringswith him 22 years of experiencein telecom consensus, advocacyand business development.He has held various seniormanagement positions in majorcorporations in France. He hasalso worked closely with severalinstitutions to promote growth,investment and cooperationbetween developed anddeveloping countries in Europeand the Middle East.Sheikh Mohamed Bin Isa AlKhalifa, CEO of Batelco Groupand Chairman of the Board ofSAMENA TelecommunicationsCouncil said, “I am delightedto announce that the Boardhas appointed Bocar A. BA, asChief Executive Officer to leadthe Council forward and furtherenhance its efforts in transformingthe regional ICT environment.Bocar has played a crucialrole in promoting the Council’sSh. Mohamed Bin Isa Al Khalifaagenda and driving membershipdevelopment. He has alsoachieved several successes inpolicy advocacy reflecting theTelecom Operators viewpointsin coordination with Policy Makersand Regulators. The Boardis confident that he will build onthe Council achievements andtake it to new heights.”Having resigned as the CEO ofthe SAMENA Council in orderto pursue and focus on newopportunities in the region,Thomas W. Wilson said, “I wishto thank all of the stakeholdersin the industry for supportingthe SAMENA Council and helpingit achieve the level of growththat it has today. It’s an absolutepleasure to have served underMohamed Issa AlKhalifa and thepast Chairmen of the Council,Bocar A. BAand have worked so closelywith the member operatorsand policy regulators in theSAMENA region. I am convincedthat SAMENA will continue togrow and support the industrywith continued success. I haveworked closely with Bocar overthe past years and wish him thevery best in his new role.”The Board of Directors of theSAMENA Council expressedgratitude and thanked ThomasWilson for his energy, dedicationand vision which has played asignificant role in the success ofthe organization and the globalrecognition it has earned as animportant regional telecommunicationsplatform under hisleadership.Bocar A. BA, on being appointedas the new Chief ExecutiveOfficer said, “I am honored bythe Board’s confidence and theopportunity to continue leadingthe agenda of such an importantorganization like the SAMENACouncil. We are on the verge ofembarking on a very challengingjourney with regard to theglobal and regional telecommunicationsindustry.”“With over 90 leading regionaland international organizationsincluding over 38 Telecom Operatorscurrently as members ofthe SAMENA Council, I am lookingforward to further developingour collaboration with thePolicy Makers, Regulators andGovernments”, added Bocar.Bocar also serves as a boardmember of several companiesin Technology and Management& Consultancy Servicesand is driving the awarenessof the value of technologyin everyday life across theregion. His expertise includesenabling companies in buildingsolid relationships with globalcustomers, identifying untappedrevenue growth opportunities,consolidating multiple contractsfor government cooperationand developing strategies formarket penetration in emergingcountries throughout the MiddleEast, Africa and Asia.Teletimes Online Survey ReportDo you Believe that ‘Freedom of Expression’ istaken as privilege rather a right over the Internet?This month’s online survey inquired the respondents to tell us Ifthey believe that ‘Freedom of Expression’ is taken as privilegerather a right over the Internet?, results show that 79% of therespondent were of the view that it is been taken more as aprivilege than a right.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com51

Smarter infrastructure neededto handle exploding data trafficMobile operators across theglobe are being squeezedby decreasing revenuesper user, and a seeminglyinsatiable demand by usersfor more data. To efficientlymanage the rapidly growingincrease in data traffic in theirnetworks, mobile operatorsneed to build and improvetheir infrastructure in a muchsmarter way than they havehitherto done. Telecoms expertPeter Karaszi take a look atsome new infrastructuralsolutions that can help mobileoperators do just that.According to Cisco, the mobiledata traffic in the world’smobile networks grows by150 per cent per year, drivenby the emergence and useof smartphones, apps andvideos. Traffic is expected toincrease 26-fold between 2010and 2015. Other sources haveeven scarier estimates butthe conclusion is the same:Mobile operators need tospeedily improve their networkinfrastructure to handle thisrapid and significant increasein traffic. There is enormouspressure on operators’ networkequipment and networks –that the end customers arealready experiencing by poorercoverage, slower up- anddownloads, dropped calls etc.And no, charging, restrictingor capping your way out if thispredicament is no option formobile operators. It is clearthat they have sold data traffictoo cheaply, but for most ofthem competition is now toostrong to afford any major priceincreases. The end customers,cellphone users, like theirsmartphones and their appsand the ability to be connectedall the time and everywhere,and will expect more of thesame rather than less (ormore expensive) of the same.Cellphone manufacturers andapplication providers simply donot care – they keep churningout more bandwidth consumingproducts and services. Asthe saying goes, “give mebandwidth and I will fill it”. Itwill really never be enough.On the flip side, there is anemergence of smart technicalinfrastructure solutions thatcan help mobile operatorsmanage the increasing datatraffic. The solution is not tobuild more base stations, butrather to preserve existingcapacity. An area where therehas been radid technologicaldevelopments is in antennas.Antennas?? Yes, I know,antennas are regarded as alow-tech and inexpensivecommodity in a network. ButSwedish antenna specialistCellMax has developed ultrahighefficiency antennas thatare based on quasi waveguidetechnology with air as dielectricinstead of cables. Traditionalantennas lose 20-60 percentpower through the cables.Air loses close to zero. Withultra-high efficiency antennas,mobile operators can reducethe power consumption intheir radio networks by up to30 percent – or use the sameamount of power to improvenetwork performance. CellMax’antennas also provide a betterdelimitation of the cells with abetter focus inside the cells anda sharper cut-off outside thecell; to minimize unnecessaryspillover and interference.With a higher signal strength,mobile operators can achievean increase in geographicalarea coverage, improved indoorpenetration, increased traffic,improved data throughput andreduced production costs percall – all without any increase inPeter Karaszipower consumption. So fewerbase stations will be needed.Another solution that dealswith suboptimal transmission, isthe distributed antenna systems(DAS) for active distributedcoverage offered by companiessuch as Delta Node. From basestations, signals are transmittedvia fiber to small one-sectorantennas with radio heads thatare close to the users, indoor orin clearly defined outdoor areas.The DAS solutions are inshort based on the mantra“dominance and containment”:focus the transmission on theuser, do not “waste” the signalon areas outside your focusarea, and block all interference.Another benefit of DAS isthe ability to build multioperator networks and multiband networks in the samearchitecture, which is valuablewhen site sharing and whencovering different venues.In conclusion, mobile operatorsneed to take a hard look attheir business models and theirinfrastructure to efficientlymanage the explosion in datatraffic. Maybe some operatorscan get away with restrictingdata or charging more forit. But for most, investing innew, smart and more efficientinfrastructure is the way to go– and one that could also givethem a competitive edge.Peter Karaszi is acommunications expert inintelligent telecom solutionsbased in Cape Town, SouthAfrica.52 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

Basim AsherMobile networks have rapidlyevaluated during the last onedecade. Mobile technologieshave become more of acommodity than a facility.The introduction of dataapplications and services haschanged the whole landscapeof mobile networks bandwidthrequirements. Mobile phonesare now equally been used forInternet, Social networking andemails as compared with justplacing a voice call.In the year 2000 the firstdigital standard for mobilecommunication was introducedknown as GSM (Global Systemfor Mobile Communication).GSM defines the standard forthe 2G technology, and was thefirst standard which involveddigital packet switching over thenetwork. Later 2.5G technologyknown as GPRS (General PacketRadio Service) was introduced4th Generation Mobile Networkswhich had a packet switcheddomain in addition to the circuitswitched domain. Even thoughthe GPRS didn’t provide a fastservice it was still considered tobe a major breakthrough.In 2003, the 3G network waslaunched commercially and wasto be a successor to the 2.5Gnetwork. The 3G network hadmany advantages over the 2.5Gas the data rate was improvedas well as data security was alsoimproved.Just recently the 4G network,also known as the fourthgeneration network, has beenintroduced. The 4G providesmobile ultra-broadband accessto all devices such as laptops,mobiles etc.A general overview anddifference between 3G and 4Gmobile networks is presented asfollows:3G Technology●●3G offers fast data transferspeed as high as 2Mbps.●●3G offers powerfulmultimedia services, usingwhich you can developa whole bunch of dataapplications such as videosharing, video conferencing.●●3G is a preferred platform formany popular mobile phonegames, especially thosewhich contain graphics andanimation.●●Subscription to 3G networksis expensive. Users prefer notto use 3G, as its cost detersthem.4G network●●4G offers more faster datatransfer speed as high as10Mbps.●●4G has far expandedcoverage and hence, offersmore or less constantconnectivity.●●Users, especially businessusers, are more likely to use4G, as it offers them moresecurity than 3G.●●Though 4G coverage isexpanding rapidly, it stillis not available in manylocations of world.As the new models ofsmartphones rolling out all have4G capabilities the telecomindustry has to update theirtowers so they can provide4G access to their users.Worldwide USA has been thefastest to develop 4G while thein UK mobile operator EE hasjust recently launched its 4Gnetwork in 11 UK cities.In conclusion, both 3G and 4Gnetworking have a great dealto offers in terms of speed andquality. Though in its infancyyet, 4G is expected to catchon and become the premierconnectivity technology incoming years.Contd. from page 09Machine to Machine Communication54 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

Teletimes ReportO3b Networks announces strategic marketing alliancewith Harris CapRock to deliver high-speed, low Latencycommunications solutions to oil and gas marketO3b Networks and HarrisCapRock Communications hasannounced plans to developa strategic marketing alliancefocused on ultra high-speed, lowlatency exploration and productioncommunications capabilities.As part of the initiative,Harris CapRock plans to add O3bNetwork’s O3bEnergy solutionto its portfolio for customers inthe energy market. O3bEnergy isa satellite-delivered solution thatwill empower oil and gas companieswith latencies under 150milliseconds, unlimited, affordablebandwidth, and unrivaledoperational savings.O3bEnergy will deliver speedydata transfers, up to 2 Terabytesper day, fully capable ofsignificantly reducing time toproduction by enabling real-timeseismic surveys of oil reservesbeneath the ocean floor. O3bEn-John Finneyergy will provide fiber-like connectivityto oil and gas platformsand search vessels without themajor upfront CAPEX investments,outage concerns, lack ofmobility and lengthy ramp uptimes of fiber. Oil and gas companiesand systems integratorswill be able to easily integratethe high capacity, low latencysatellite offering to get far morefrom their existing enterprisesystems and operational budgets.The alliance extends an innovativepartnership between HarrisCapRock and O3b Networksto dramatically improve theInternet experience aboard thelargest cruise ship in the world,Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd’sOasis of the Seas. The maritimeservice leverages O3b’s uniqueMedium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellitefleet and Harris CapRock’sextensive integration expertise.“Harris CapRock customersrequire unmatched voice, videoand data capabilities in someof the harshest, most isolatedand challenging conditions, andthe low latency advantages ofO3bEnergy represent an excitingnew capability for someapplications in the oil field,including seismic vessels,” saidDavid Myers, Global CommercialOfficer for Harris CapRock.“Adding the O3b Networkssolution to our portfolio willenhance customer operationsthrough better efficiencies andconnectivity.”“O3bEnergy will forever changethe way most energy companiesoperate by eliminating offshorecommunications limitations andenabling centralized IT operations,”said John Finney, ChiefCommercial Officer for O3bNetworks. “More bandwidth atlatencies under 150 millisecondswill unleash a faster and moreresponsive network capable ofrunning mission-critical businesscommunications systems andapplications across a globalenterprise,” he noted. “Theplanned alliance between HarrisCapRock and O3b representsan important, new era in oil andgas communications.”Cisco inaugurates new office in the Sultanate of OmanCisco confirmed its commitmentto support economic developmentin the Sultanate of Omanby opening its official office inthe capital, Muscat.While Cisco has had a presencein Oman for over eight years,this new development signifiesthat Cisco has firmly laid its foundationsin the region. The Gulf isa key focus for the company andits investment in Oman comes ata time when the country is experiencingexponential growth andis investing in its informationand communications technologies(ICT) sector.His Excellence Eng. Ali BinMasoud Al Sunaidy, Minister ofCommerce & Industry, Chairman,Board of Director InformationTechnology AuthorityOman, formally inauguratedCisco’s office in Oman in thepresence of Senior Vice President,Office of the President atCisco, Howard Charney and IyadAl Chammat, General ManagerCisco Oman.Utilizing the power of thenetwork, Senior Vice PresidentEmerging Theater at Cisco, DuncanMitchell was also presentthrough Cisco’s Tele-Presencetechnology services.Speaking on the occasion, H.E.Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, Ministerof Commerce & Industry,Chairman, Board of DirectorsInformation Technology AuthorityOman said: “Establishing anoffice in the Sultanate clearlydemonstrates Cisco’s commitmentto its customer in theSultanate. Cisco’s presence inOman will undoubtedly lend supportto the country’s ICT sectorand economic growth overall.”“The ICT sector is set to play amajor role within the next 2-5years in Oman as it developsits infrastructure to become asustainable knowledge society.We are very committed to theOmani market and our officelaunch is a clear demonstration,”said General Manager CiscoOman, Iyad Al Chammat.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com55

Keep Huawei, ZTE outof national optic fibre grid, says C-DoTIndian Centre forDevelopment of Telematics(C-DoT), the State-runresearch & developmentorganisation, has told theDepartment of Telecom (DoT)to keep out Chinese vendorsHuawei and ZTE from the Rs20,000-crore National OpticFibre Network (NOFN) project.“Chinese companies likeHuawei and ZTE are notallowed to compete fortenders in the US basedon security risk. Theirequipment is not being usedin most telecom networks ofadvanced countries like US,Canada, Europe and Australia.It may be worthwhile to lookinto options of isolating suchcompanies in NOFN roll-outtenders,” a letter from theC-DoT to the DoT Secretarystated. Though the Chinesecompanies have repeatedlyrefuted allegations of securityconcerns, many agencies haveraised this issue in differentcountries. Recently JohnSuffolk, Huawei’s Globalsecurity chief, told BusinessLine that the Chinese companywas open to any scrutiny todispel these concerns.In-house GPONThe C-DoT has added that ithas developed cutting-edgetechnology called Gigabitcapable Passive OpticalNetwork (GPON) which can beused for the optic fibre cableproject. “In order to avoid anyimplementation roadblocks,usage of C-DoT GPON systemsfor the optical fibre project isthe best option as suggestedby the high level committee.In this option price discoverymay not be an issue as already7-8 manufacturers are fullygeared up to manufactureand offer these systems tocompetitive bidding,” C-DoTsaid.GPON technology is usedfor broadband connectivityover optical fibre. C-DOT hasindigenously designed anddeveloped GPON technology,which can be used to providetriple play (voice, video anddata) through fibre-basednetworks.The present GPON standardsspecify 2.5 gbps (gigabit persecond) downstream and 1.25gbps upstream data capabilityto customer premise.Seeks policy changeC-DoT has sought changes inthe notified manufacturingpolicy to give preferentialaccess to indigenous products.It said that though thereservation for locally madeproducts is good, Indiancompanies should not beasked to match the price beingoffered on imported goods.Bharti Airtel becomes the fourthlargest mobile operator in the worldBharti Airtel a leadingtelecommunications service providerwith operations in 20 countries acrossSouth Asia and Africa moved up onenotch in the world wide ranking to bethe fourth largest mobile operator inthe world in terms of subscribers.Connections are aggregated as thesum of each group’s subsidiaries wherea minimum of 50 % plus one shareeconomic interest is held.At the end of the quarter ended June2012, the Company had over 250million mobile subscribers across itsoperations, representing 13% Y-o-Ygrowth. Bharti Airtel had becomethe fifth largestmobile operatorin the worldfollowing itsacquisition of ZainGroup’s mobileoperations across15 African nationsin June 2010.Distributed bythe African PressOrganization onbehalf of BhartiAirtel Limited.Zoe DaviesGetmappingopens Kenya officeAerial survey specialist Getmapping, in partnershipwith Survplans and Geomatica, hasopened a new office in Nairobi, Kenya, to increaseits presence in East Africa. The officewill support the activities of GAP (GeospatialAerial Partnership) - a joint venture betweenSouth African companies Geosense (part ofthe Getmapping Group) and Geomatica andwill operate in partnership with Survplans, aleading provider of ground survey servicesacross Kenya and East Africa. The Nairobi officewill support a full range of data capture,processing and analytical services. As wellas large scale LiDAR and aerial photography,the partnership specialises in corridormapping for power and civil engineeringprojects, together with asset survey servicesfor mining. It is planned to augment thesesurvey and post processing activities withdata hosting and web based GIS softwaresoon.56 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

Comguard and WatchGuard run a series of NextGeneration Security workshop for partnersComguard, a Dubai basedleading value added distributorfor IT products and part of theSpectrum group in associationwith WatchGuard is organising aseries of half day security workshopfor channel partners titled‘Next Generation Security-RedInstead’ at Dubai, Doha, Muscatand Riyadh.‘Next Generation Security-Red Instead’ focuses growingopportunities in the UnifiedThreat Management (UTM)appliances market which isone of the fastest growingsegments of IT market in region.According to a recent reportby Gartner, the Middle Eastand Africa market for UnifiedThreat Management appliancesin 2011 witnessed a growth of13.5 percent. The report furtherstated that the growth in thisregion was driven by a mixtureof transformational governmentprojects, high-speed Internetconnectivity adoption and aheavier reliance of regionalSMBs using Internet access toconduct business.WatchGuard is a global leader inthe unified threat management(UTM) market space andrecently they have introducednew version of their nextgenerationUTM WatchGuardXTM 5 Series network securityappliances that ports the fastestthroughput in its price classwithout sacrificing securityefficacy, manageability andease of use as well industry’smost effective defense-indepthsolution for emailsecurity, web security anddata loss prevention solution,WatchGuard XCS (ExtensibleContent Security) in the MiddleEast region.Mohammad MobasseriHaroon Iqbal, Sales Manager-Middle East Africa & Pakistan,WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.,said, “We are 100% channeldriven company and our growthrest on success of our partners.It has always been endeavour toempower our channel partnerswith the right skill sets andknowledge. These securityworkshops are just the first stepSanjeev Kantin the same direction to educateand train channel partners onour next generation securityplatforms that will allow themto gain more business andbetter margins.”Key executives and technicalexperts from both Comguardand WatchGuard will be presentat all the security workshops.They will make several technicalpresentations during the courseof the workshop and also willprovide hands on training topartners on WatchGuard XTMand WatchGuard XCS platforms.WatchGuard will highlight itsPartner Program and introduceits Partner Portal to thechannel partners present at theworkshops. It will also share itsincentive program ‘SecurityPaysGlobal’ and will explain in detailshow partners can benefit fromworking with WatchGuard.Comptel extends provisioningand activation contract with MobilinkJoanna DiTrapanoComptel Corporation hasannounced that Pakistanimobile operator Mobilink,owned by VimpelCom, hasextended its provisioning andactivation contract. Mobilink’scustomers are enjoyingthe services provisionedthrough Comptel’s fulfillmentoffering, which expedites theirdeployment and launch withminimal human interventionto ensure a high customerexperience, particularly at thefirst points of engagement.Mobilink is Pakistan’s leadingcellular and Blackberryservice provider with morethan 35million subscribers. Itmaintains market leadershipthrough cutting-edge,integrated technology, thestrongest brands and thelargest portfolio of valueaddedservices in the industry,a broadband carrier divisionproviding next-generationInternet technology as well asthe country’s largest voice anddata network with more than8,000 cell sites.Comptel Provisioningand Activation is part ofComptel Fulfillment, a fullyintegrated suite of productsthat also encompassesorder management, catalog,and service and resourceinventory capabilities. Itenables operators to fullyautomate the process ofhandling subscriber orders,to activating resources andservices in the network, all theway up to the start of billing.Comptel Fulfillment bridgesbetween customer order andservice use—reducing costs,supporting service innovationsand improving the quality ofcustomer interactions.“Our requirement was afully automated provisioningsolution that was capable ofhandling customer ordersto activating services inthe network,” said IrfanFarooq, chief informationofficer, Mobilink. “ComptelProvisioning and Activationhelps us control costs, reduceerrors and deliver services tocustomers without delay, thusincreasing satisfaction.”“We are committed to thislong-term relationship withMobilink in Pakistan andhelping them see through theirgoal of delivering optimumcustomer satisfaction,” saidSyed Veqar ul Islam, seniorvice president, Middle East &Africa, Comptel. “We have alsoidentified a strong demand forour solution portfolio withinthe market amongst serviceproviders looking to improvetheir own customer interactionsand service offerings, and, inturn, expand their businesses.Our solutions will not onlyhelp operators foster moremeaningful relationships withtheir subscribers, but alsobring customers closer to theirinterests and allow them tobetter connect to what mattersmost to them.”November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com57

Technological innovation ishappening at an extremelyrapid pace, fueling endlessopportunities for socialdevelopment and progress,said Ken Hu, Rotating CEO andDeputy Chairman of Huawei,speaking at the Forbes GlobalCEO Conference in Dubai. “Theconcepts of user-centricity,value creation, and opencollaboration are critical successfactors that have long beenpracticed by Huawei as theyhave formed our three-prongedinnovation strategy.”The annual Forbes Global CEOConference serves as a platformfor some 400 influential CEOs,tycoons, entrepreneurs andthought-leaders to exchangeinsights and build relationships.Under the theme of ‘The RaceAhead’, this year’s conferenceexamined how we can facecritical challenges in the globalcompetition for prosperity.As part of the ‘Fast Track withTechnology and Innovation’panel discussion, Mr. Hushared how new technologiesand innovation are drivingrevolutionary change across theworld and the challenges thisbrings to the ICT industry.“Successful innovation beginsby getting into the mindset ofthe customer. Only then canwe develop and provide trulyinspired, easy-to-use productsand services. Consumers willcontinue to demand faster,more powerful and moreintuitive mobile interfacesHuawei: User-centricity, valuecreation, and open collaborationare critical success factors for ICTinnovationand experiences. To meet thisdemand, the integration of ICT iscritical,” said Mr. Hu.“The goal of innovation is tocreate value. A new technologywill not make the desired impactunless it is able to add valueto the lives of its users; and,when successful, it will inspireeven more innovation,” he said.“Open collaboration is anotherfactor stimulating innovation.Sharing knowledge, information,experiences and capabilitiessaves duplicated efforts andinvestment, and makes room fornew ideas.”Ken Hu also shared his views onchanging consumption modelsand two major challenges theICT industry faces: the maturityof business models and crossindustryreadiness.“New technologies, such assmart devices, have changedlives around the world; changingthe way we communicate andempowering many with accessto information never beforeimaginable,” said Mr. Hu. “ICThas also changed traditionalconsumption models and habitsand has given birth to newindustries. In the transportationindustry, ICT is helping providea more seamless experienceas travelers can, for example,access applications that offerreal-time updates to avoid trafficand train delays.”“It is necessary to find a sustainableprofit model that can turninnovation into a successfulcommercial product.Wateen Telecom CEO participates in Forbes Global CEO Summit in DubaiSummit was attended by over 400 global CEOs, tycoons, entrepreneurs, capitalists and thought leadersWateen Telecom, Pakistan’sleading converged communicationsprovider, was recentlyinvited to participate in theprestigious Forbes Global CEOconference, held recently inDubai.The Forbes Global CEO Summittakes place annually and aimsat creating an opportunity forglobal leaders to meet, engagein business and discuss visionsfor a sustainable future. Thesummit, which concluded successfullyin Dubai, gatheredsome 400 global CEOs, tycoons,entrepreneurs, up-and-comers,capitalists and thought leadersto discuss the latest trends andinnovations that would drivethe global economy in 2013 andNaeem Zamindarbeyond.Wateen’s CEO Naeem Zamindarwas one of the selected panellistsat this event; as a panelistMr Zamindar participated inone of the event’s main plenarysessions, as well as one of theboardroom dialogue sessions.Under the theme of ‘TheRace Ahead’, the Conferenceexamined how policy andbusiness leaders are facingcritical challenges in the globalcompetition for prosperity.Panels analysed the state of theworld economy and focus onthe best strategies for successin global business. The Plenarysession discussed the latesttrends in sectors such as finance,energy and commodities,technology and innovation,entrepreneurship, urban living,as well as the best practices inphilanthropy and leadership.The event was attended by UAEVice President, Prime Ministerand Ruler of Dubai His HighnessSheikh Mohammed bin RashidAl Maktoum, Cabinet AffairsMinister Mohammed Abdullah AlGergawi, Minister of State ReemIbrahim Al Hashemi, Chairmanof the Dubai Ports, Customs andFree Zone Corporation SultanAhmed Bin Sulayem, in additionto a number of state officialsalong with other dignitariesacross the globe.Later, commenting on theForbes Global CEO conference,Mr Zamindar said, “It wasa great honour for me torepresent Wateen – andPakistan – at this incredibleevent. Not only was it a chanceto interact with global leaders,it presented an opportunity todemonstrate Pakistan’s crucialrole in the global technology andtelecommunications stage.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com59

PTCL holds 17th Annual General MeetingAqeel ShigriPakistan TelecommunicationCompany Limited (PTCL)held its 17th Annual Generalmeeting, Chaired by Chairman,PTCL Board of Directors, AmirTariq Zaman Khan and attendedby a large number of PTCLshareholders. The meetingapprised the shareholders ofthe company’s ongoing effortsand achievements attaintedduring the past financial year.“Despite the economicchallenges facing the country,PTCL has remained strongin emerging segments ofbroadband both in wire-lineas well as wireless and othercorporate services”, saidMr. Amir Tariq in his openingremarks. “For the year underreview, PTCL Group’s profitafter tax was Rs. 11.5 billion,36% higher compared to theprofit achieved last year, whereGroup’s revenue was Rs.110.8billion for the year 2011-12which is 8% higher as comparedto the previous year.”Chairman PTCL BoD AmirTariq Zaman Khan assured theshareholders that all strategiesplanned and implemented bythe board are aimed towardsutilizing PTCL’s full potentialand to achieve the corporateobjectives with competenceand determination.“Our shareholders’ sustainedconfidence and trust in PTCLis a result of our continuedcommitment to ensuringtransparent and seamless flowof information”, said Presidentand CEO, PTCL Walid Irshaid“Our strategies revolve aroundbuilding a unique customerexperience by bringingproducts which meet the needsof the future. ”PTCL was declared the leadingoperator in Pakistan byPakistan TelecommunicationAuthority’s 2011 Quality ofService survey for providingPTCL will bid for 3G license auction: EtisalatEtisalat, a UAE based telecomoperator, has reaffirmed itsconfidence in Pakistani telecommarket by announcing that itwill definitely bid for 3G licenseauction, planned by Pakistangovernment in next fewmonths.Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar,Etisalat’s chief executive,in an interview with UAEbased newspaper hinted thatPTCL will focus on wirelessbroadband services in Pakistanafter wining 3G license, amarket in which PTCL alreadyholds major market share butstill has plentiful of potentialfor growth.“Pakistan is a market withclose to 200 million people.The broadband penetration isvery low and there are no 3Gservices. So the potential ishuge,” Mr. Julfar was quotedas saying.Etisalat is still considering theamount of investment it willinject into PTCL for networkrollout and expansion of 3Gspectrum. It said that finaldecision for investment willlargely depend on 3G spectrumcost and terms set by thePakistani government.Earlier this year Mr. WalidIrshaid, President and CEO ofPTCL, had also hinted that PTCLwill bid for 3G license auction.It merits mentioning here thatPTCL has conducted LTE trialswith ZTE and Huawei.On other hands Pakistanigovernment is considering toban operators with outstandingliabilities from bidding for3G license auction. In suchsituation Etisalat might notbe able to participate in thebidding since it is holding USD800 million payment againsta sale of 26 percent shares ofPTCL in 2006.Etisalat said that it will paythe pending amount afterresolution of long pendingproperty dispute withthe highest quality BroadbandInternet service to consumers.PTCL also celebrated thehistoric milestone of becomingthe first Broadband serviceprovider to achieve ‘OneMillion Broadband Customers’mark this year.The year under review saw awide range of new services andproducts introduced under thebanner of 3G ‘EVO’.government of Pakistan.Pakistan has repeatedlyasked Etisalat for clearing thepayment but all such requestsare put on deaf ears by Etisalat.It should be noted here thatPakistan TelecommunicationAuthority has finalized theappointment of a consultancyfirm for 3G auction process.Committee for the formulationand finalization of 3G policyis currently in process ofwrapping up things. Havingsaid this, the realization of 3Gstill seems bumpy given thepolitical situation of the countryand bureaucratic conflicts atregulatory head office.60 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

Alibaba.com & PSGI form strategic partnershipto support Pakistani SMEsThe companies will bring new e-commerce opportunities for market growthPearl Shine Group International(PSGI) has recently enteredinto a strategic partnershipwith B2B portal, Alibaba.com. The platform providesan online space that bringstogether buyers and sellersto communicate, collaborateand carry out global trade.More than 650,000 PakistaniSMEs are currently membersof Alibaba.com, and the newlocal partnership will help growand solidify new potential forlocal suppliers to enjoy moreexposure in the global market.“Pakistani exporters needa stronger online presencebecause the world has turnedinto a global village,” said PSGICEO Irfan Haider Awan. “Localbusiness owners should exploreand avail the opportunitiesbeyond our national territoryby making intelligent use ofe-commerce mechanisms in thisnew technological era. Suchsteps will not only help PakistaniIrfan Haider AwanSMEs benefit from economies ofscale but will also contribute tobetter balance of trade.”“Alibaba.com is excited aboutthis new partnership with PSGIfor the chance to work closerwith the Pakistan market,” saidTimothy Leung, Head of GlobalSupplier Development andSales, Alibaba Group. “Onlinebusiness, and e-commerce, canpotentially take Pakistan’s tradeopportunities to the next level.We understand the potential ofPakistani SMEs and will continueto offer new programs andTimothy Leungservices, both online and off, sothese businesses can learn howto capitalize from online tradethrough Alibaba.com.”Alibaba.com will be offeringits new service, VerifiedMembership, to new andexisting members for a limitedtime. Launched at the beginningof 2012, the Verified Membershipprogram is aimed at helpingAlibaba.com’s non-payingsupplier members establish trustwith potential buyers. Suppliersparticipating in this programundergo basic backgroundchecks to confirm that theyare legitimate businesses.Government records suchas tax ID numbers and othersources are cross-checked toconfirm a company really existsand to verify its contact andother information is accurate.Those who successfully passthe verification process willgain a special logo on theirAlibaba.com profiles and enjoyhigher search rankings thanfree members. Verification forPakistani suppliers on Alibaba.com will be conducted by itslocal partner PSGI, with allcommunication with customersin URDU to offer a morelocalized experience. Withthe new Verified Membershipprogram, Alibaba.com and PSGIwill further “trade-enable”Pakistani SMEs by confirmingtheir legitimacy and makingthem more visible to buyersworldwide who source productsthrough Alibaba.com.Wi-tribe’s Alia Zafar gets “HR professional of the year” awardRecipient of HR Professional ofthe Year 2012 at the Asia PacificHRM Congress 2012 - 11th Editionhas held at Vivanta by Taj,Bangalore recently in whichAlia was conferred the “HRProfessional of the Year” awardby a jury and Council of Boardmembers. The Award consistedof a trophy and a citation.Alia Zafar, is versatile strategicHuman Resource Professional,Lead Trainer, Management Consultantand certified Hays’s JobEvaluation Professional. She has17 years of hands-on experiencein diverse industries operatingover multiple jurisdictions.She has been groomed atCivil Services Academy ofPakistan as part of IncomeTax occupational group witha background in StrategicPlanning and Management,Financial Management andSector assessment, PolicyPlanning, Capacity Assessment,Development and HRMProcesses, OrganizationalRestructuring and Redesign.She is co-author of the book“Directory of Terms –HRM”,a popular reference bookat educational institutes forHuman Resource Managementstudents.Alia holds a Masters in BusinessAdministration and Master inEnglish Literature. She is a certifiedHuman Resource professionalfrom NUST BusinessSchool and HRIT professionalfrom SICF, Hokkaido, Japan. Shehas served in large financial /hospitality organizations includingInternal Revenue ServicePakistan, Habib Bank Limitedand Hashoo Group at varioussenior strategic positions withinHuman Resource Function.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com61

Global Telecom events 2012-13November 2012Baku Tel 201206 - 09 Nov - Baku, AzerbaijanIraq Telecom 201212 - 14 Nov - Istanbul, Turkey3G World Congress15 - 19 Nov - Hong Kong, ChinaMobile Money Global19 - 22 Nov - DubaiConnected World Forum19 - 22 Nov - Dubai, UAEMobile Health Global 201219 - 22 Nov - Dubai, UAEMYCOM20 - 21 Nov - AmsterdamMiddle East Enterprise Security Summit 201221 Nov - Dubai, UAEBroadband Tech India 201223 Nov - New Delhi, IndiaTelecoms Fraud & Revenue Assurance Forum25 - 27 Nov - Dubai, UAEDecember 2012Telecoms Cost Allocation and Profitability03 - 06 Dec - London, UKWCIT 201203 - 14 Dec - Dubai, UAECloud Middle East04 - 05 Dec - Dubai, UAEMiddle East Com04 - 05 Dec - Marriot Magquis Hotel, DubaiDigital TV Summit 201204 - 05 Dec - London, UKMVNO Industry Summit Middle East04 - 05 Dec - Dubai, UAE6th Pakistan Microfinance Forum05 Dec - Karachi, PakistanChina Carriers Forum 201206 - 07 Dec - Shanghai, China4th edition of FTTH Council MENA annual conference12 - 13 Dec - Doha, QatarIndia Telecom 201213 – 15 Dec – New Delhi, IndiaJanuary 2013OPASTCO’s 50th Annual Winter Convention01 - 09 Jan - Kauai, HIConvergence India 201316 - 18 Jan - New Delhi, IndiaPTC conference20 - 23 Jan - Honolulu Hawaii, USACustomer Experience Management in Telecoms21 – 24 Jan - London, UKBig Data Monetisation in Telecoms22 – 24 Jan - Venue to be confirmed, UKWHIR Networking Event24 Jan - TX, USASmart Metering and Grids Cyber Security Summit 1324 - 25 Jan - London, UKAlaska Telephone Association Winter Conference27 - 30 Jan - Ka’anapali, HIWDM Asia 201328 - 30 Jan - Singapore, AsiaRoaming MENA 201329 - 30 Jan - Dubai, UAETelecomFinance 201330 - 31 - Jan - London, UK62 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com

February 2013World Summit Award 201303 - 05 Feb - Abu DhabiNTCA Annual Meeting & EXPO03 - 06 Feb - Lake Buena Vista, FLMobile Number Portability Forum 201311 - 12 Feb - Dubai, UAETELSA17 - 19 Feb - Riyadh, KSASTO Europe 201318 - 20 Feb - Aberdeen, UKAPRICOT19 Feb - 1 Mar - Shangri-la Hotel, SingaporeMarch 2013COMTEL10 - 13 Mar - Las Vegas, NVCards and Payments Africa11 - 13 Mar - Johannesburg, South AfricaIT & Software Excellence Awards 201313 Mar - London, UKIT Leaders Africa Summit13 - 14 Mar - Johannesburg, South AfricaCyber Security UAE Summit 201318 - 19 Mar - Dubai, UAECABSAT 201319 - 21 Mar - DWTC, DubaiApril 2013Western Telecom Alliance Spring Meeting07 - 10 Apr - Las Vegas, NVCONNECT 201309 - 11 Apr - Karachi, Pakistan4th Telco Cloud Summit15 - 17 Apr - London, UKBig Data in Telecoms 201315-17 Apr - LondonCaspian Telecoms 201318 - 19 Apr - Intanbul, TurkeyTelecom Cloud Services Summit 201322 - 24 Apr - London, UKFTTx Summit Europe 201323 – 26 Apr - London, UKTelecom CEM World Congress 201323 - 24 Apr - Grand Connaught Rooms, LondonTelecoms Regulation Forum 201323 - 24 Apr - Hyatt Regency The Churchill, LondonTransport Networks for Mobile Operators 201323 - 25 Apr - Hotel Russell, LondonMay - June 2013INTERNATIONAL TELECOMS WEEK13 - 15 May - Chicago, ILRoaming World Congress 201314 - 15 May - Brussels, BelgiumThe Mobile Show14 - 15 May - Dubai, UAEIIR Telecoms Critical Communications World21 - 24 May - Paris, FranceKITEL 201328 - 30 May - Almaty, Kazakhstan10th Convergence Summit03 - 04 June -Critical Communications Latin AmericaJune - Sao Paulo, BrazilNovember 2012www.teletimesinternational.com63

TeletoonsHelp!She’s fallen,and can’t getupSomeonecall 911!I will’I have myiPhone withme!Must ... send ... one ...more ... tweet ....... and then if youturn it sideways,the move goeswidescreen!oooooo!Ahhh!!!64 November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com