CEO Message
The year 2024 is being anticipated as a period of new challenges and digitalization catalysts. However, with innovation, openness, partnerships, candor, and advocacy for the greater good, many expected challenges can be converted into opportunities and benefits for all.
The need to ensure sustainability of the industry and the expanding 5G/5G-Advance digital ecosystem has brought together telecommunications service providers and various stakeholders along the digital value-chain to collectively investigate how the speed of change is affecting the pace of business transformation. The sustainability of local network operators is key as the providers of the infrastructure that supports all digital and related economic activity. While understanding the impact on their businesses from these developments and identifying the right digital transformation strategies, regulatory authorities and governments are striving toward recalibrating legacy regulatory and economic frameworks to the new technology evolution and changing market realities. A lot of questions are surfacing regarding the disruption caused, including what to do about cross-border data flows, taxation in the digital economy, spectrum availability, 5G and Digital Services use cases and much more.
To bridge the gaps in understanding of different stakeholder issues, and to align policy, regulatory, and private-sector priorities, SAMENA Council brings together different stakeholders and focuses on enabling and facilitating the proliferation of advanced Digital Services, addresses challenges in relation to Data Regulation, drives the harmonization of Operators' positions on Spectrum Management, and draws Regulators' attention to excessive Industry Fees and Taxation. In 2024, our focus will also be on monetization of 5G infrastructure investments, among other relevant and closely interlinked areas.
In the greater SA-ME-NA region, and in neighboring regions such as Central Asia, and by virtue of its leadership role in representing the Private Sector at the UN Member-State level, generally, SAMENA Telecommunications Council is at the center of information and experience exchange, which is necessary for materializing digital transformation for the Industry itself as well as the economy of the region. We continue to pursue industry enablement and stakeholder support through bridge-building, policies and regulations that are flexible, forward-looking and technology neutral to achieve not only digital transformation but also the SDGs directly linked to digital progress.
Representing a community of the largest multi-network operator groups in the SAMENA region, SAMENA Council is a fully regionally-focused but globally active telecommunications and ICT advocacy and regulatory reach organization. In this regard, I am thankful to the SAMENA Council’s Leadership of Operators, which now includes both Terrestrial and Satellite players, our Member Companies, our external partner organizations, and those government bodies that have indicated their trust to work with the SAMENA Council on new initiatives and have been receptive to the industry feedback shared with them by the SAMENA Council. We truly appreciate the ongoing work being done in collaboration with SAMENA Council. As it continues with its private-sector representation and advocacy support to help foster an environment of sustainability, predictability, and collaboratively executed reforms and norms that will shape the year 2024, SAMENA Council looks forward to being the voice of reason, resourcefulness, and action for collective gains for governments, technology providers, telecom operators, digital services platforms, and the general public.
I hope that the information provided to you here in our Web portal is of value to you, is adequately representative of your needs, and supports your advocacy, positioning, brand visibility, and thought-leadership goals.
Thank you for your interest in our work. We welcome your feedback and requests for information.
Yours truly,
Bocar A. BA
