Date

18th April, 2019

Venue

Dubai, UAE

Visualizaing 5G's Impact

Early Proliferation of 5G Vital to Building the Digital Economy

Visualizing Impact of 5G in Boosting ICT Business & Innovation

The SAMENA Telecommunications Council’s Leaders’ Summit is the epitome of SAMENA Council’s sectordevelopment partnership value-proposition to the Public and Private sectors of the ICT Industry. Chairmen and Chief Executives of leading communications services companies, Regulators, Ministers, Investors, Influencers, and renowned Industry and Media Professionals attend Leaders’ Summit, which is designed to verbalize critical business, policy and regulatory challenges as well as to open doors to new opportunities and bridging gaps in an ambience conducive to open communication among a diverse group of key stakeholders. Leaders Summit 2019 Discussion Focus:

  • Enabling Transition to “Inclusive 5G”
  • Barriers to Achieving Economies of Scale in 5G Device Capabilities
  • Identification of Technology, Business & Regulatory Challenges in Fifth-Generation Digital Communications
  • “Industry 4.0” Use Cases in a 5G-enabled Digital Economy

About Huawei

Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With integrated solutions across four key domains – telecom networks, IT, smart devices, and cloud services – we are committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world.

Huawei's end-to-end portfolio of products, solutions and services are both competitive and secure. Through open collaboration with ecosystem partners, we create lasting value for our customers, working to empower people, enrich home life, and inspire innovation in organizations of all shapes and sizes.

At Huawei, innovation focuses on customer needs. We invest heavily in basic research, concentrating on technological breakthroughs that drive the world forward. We have more than 180,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees.

For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com or follow us on:

http://www.linkedin.com/company/Huawei
http://www.twitter.com/Huawei
http://www.facebook.com/Huawei
http://www.google.com/+Huawei
http://www.youtube.com/Huawei


About Ericsson

Ericsson is a world leader in communications technology and services with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Our organization consists of more than 111,000 experts who provide customers in 180 countries with innovative solutions and services. Together we are building a more connected future where anyone and any industry is empowered to reach their full potential. Net sales in 2016 were SEK 222.6 billion (USD 24.5 billion). The Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on NASDAQ in New York.


About Sudatel

Sudatel Telecom Group (STG) is one of the leading telecom companies in the region, serving the needs of customers in Sudan and Africa. Since its foundation on 13th September 1993, STG has grown steadily from local to regional markets. STG is the bridge for telecommunication movement between the Arab world, Africa and the rest of the world.

STG links Sudan to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia via a submarine cable and links Sudan to Egypt and Ethiopia via a network of fiber cables. Sudan takes part in a cable in middle and West Africa extended from Sudan through Africa until South Africa. STG offers various telecom services and keeps its competitive edge with other companies. STG main services include provision of mobile services, fixed-line services, as well as carrier and wholesales services.


About Zain

Zain is a leading mobile telecommunications provider in the Middle East and North Africa. We began life in 1983 in Kuwait, as Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC), the region’s first mobile operator, and commencing with the initiation of our expansion strategy in 2003, we grew rapidly in both the Middle East and Africa through the acquisition of several mobile operators across the region.

In September 2007, MTC rebranded to Zain in order to better reflect our growing status as a leading multi-national mobile service provider with global aspirations. Zain was thus adopted as the Group’s corporate master brand.

The Zain brand is at the heart of everything we do. It is a promise to our customers, it defines our vision and drives our focus within the company. Our brand was valued at over $2.3 billion by the Brand Finance Middle East Top 50 Brands annual report for 2017 that also ranked Zain as the second most powerful home-grown brand in the region with a brand rating of AA+.

We operate as Zain in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, South Sudan; and in Lebanon as ‘touch’ (under a management contract). In Morocco, Zain has a 15.5% stake in ‘INWI’, through a joint venture. Today over 6,000 employees provide a comprehensive range of market-leading mobile voice and data services to a base of over 45.3 million active customers as of Sept 30, 2017.

Our strategy and vision is building a sustainable and innovative digital communications company serving consumers and enterprises with a rich and simple mobile experience. We are passionate about customer experience, operational effectiveness, business growth and the development of our people as well as human development everywhere.

Zain’s strategy is based on six transformational initiatives: Customer Experience; Operational Effectiveness; Value Management; B2B; Digital Frontier and Innovation, and Talent Development.

Listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, there are no restrictions on Zain shares as the company’s capital is 100% free float and publicly traded. The largest shareholder is the Kuwait Investment Authority with a 24.6% stake as of June 30, 2017.

For more, please visit:
www.zain.com
www.facebook.com/zain
www.twitter.com/zain
www.youtube.com/zain
www.instagram.com/zaingroup
www.linkedin.com/company/zain

  • Opening Ceremony

  • 09:30 AM - 10:15 AM

    Organizers’ Speeches
    Chief Patron’s Message
    Ministerial Keynotes

  • Visionary Conversations

  • 10:15 AM - 12:00 PM

    Visionary Talk on 4th Industrial Revolution (4th IR)
    Mark Spelman - World Economic Forum

    The Fourth Industrial Revolution (“4IR”) - a concept developed and defined by the World Economic Forum - is a new chapter in economic and societal transformation that brings great advances to humanity which can contribute towards the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the deployment of extraordinary technologies including nano-and biotechnology, materials science, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, robotics, quantum computing, the Internet of Things, VR and AR technologies, distributed ledger- and distributed manufacturing technologies, 3D printing and many more. All these technologies are built and scale on digital infrastructures, which form the fundament of this transformation. For example, 5G networks can enable smart city IoT applications in transport and energy management through connected cars and smart thermostats or smart metering, address agricultural challenges through smart farming, manage limited natural resources through smart metering and smart mining applications, advance healthcare through remote health monitoring and remote real-time surgery, to name but a few. Yet, these advances will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another, and have significant implications for our existing values, ethics, and morals, as well as our social and political cohesion. It is therefore essential to understand how these new technologies impact and change our societies and how they can be meaningfully and constructively introduced to benefit all stakeholders in an inclusive and human manner.

    • What does the industry see as the needed dialogue and structural developments needed to guide the desirable deployment of new technologies that minimizes negative externalities? Such guidance could also include the moral role of technologies that concerns ethics and values of technological development?
    • Can technological development be ordained in a vision of a long-term future toward achieving that desired vision (technologies for a common goal rather than technologies for the sake of technologies)? What is the industry answer?

    High-Level Leaders’ Roundtable:
    Impact of 5G, Industry 4.0, Cross-Industry Engagement & Digital Enablement

    The roll-out of 5G networks hinges on the vision of an all-connected digital society with great promises of advances for humankind and a more equal and inclusive way of life. While the near-term business case for ubiquitous 5G coverage remains far from clear, the 5G investment decision should take a long-term perspective, as 5G is a technological paradigm shift, akin to the shift from typewriter to computer. 5G will become the underlying fabric of an entire ecosystem of fully connected intelligent sensors and devices, capable of overhauling economic and business policies, and further blurring geographical and cultural borders that will bring about dramatic transformations and new use cases. While some argue that network operators do not need blockbuster use cases to develop a good business case for investing in 5G, some say that in the absence of such killer applications, there is little incentive to invest.

    • What is needed to encourage early 5G deployment?
    • What are the key enabling blocks that are required to provide investment incentives?
    • What are the key collaborative models for different industry sector partners to engage with each other?

    This session will take stock of what different industry sector leaders see as key to making early 5G deployment and the offering of relevant 5G services a priority and success with a view to advancing the creation of an inclusive digital society.

    12:00 PM - 12:15 PM

    Short Coffee Break

  • One-to-One

  • 12:15 PM - 12:55 PM

    Interview Conversations with Industry Leaders
    Leaders’ Input on 5G Digital Enablement

  • Luncheon

  • 12:55 PM - 1:50 PM

    Multi-Room Lunch for Leaders

  • 5G is ON Forum & Exhibition

  • 1:50 PM - 4:00 PM

    Technology Solutions & Display by Global Technology Providers

  • Leaders’ Panel Discussion

  • 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

    Bringing 5G to the Fast Lane and Enabling Transition to “Inclusive 5G”

    5G is a buzzword that was heard throughout the MWC earlier this year. 5G is presented as the next big disruption which will bring a wealth of new experiences and services that will enhance our lives as we know it today. However, before operators and other industry stakeholders will be able to offer those new digital experiences and services, an enabling environment needs to be created that significantly differs from what we know today. Such a framework needs to be built on flexible, forward-looking and technology neutral principles. For example, data has to be able to be collected by devices and sensors in a manner that is least intrusive guaranteeing privacy of consumers. At the same time, data should be able to freely move across borders and economic sectors and be processed and stored abroad in a secure and safe manner to ensure that service providers can scale their operations. Moreover, in the light of technologies such as network slicing, traffic management rules need to be flexible to allow prioritization of certain traffic for, e.g., critical communications services. To maximize the value of digitization for society and across industries through the provision of new 5G based digital experiences and services, the need for a new governance and reference framework is pressing and coordinated regulatory efforts across borders will be required.

    • What are the key regulatory and technological impediments to 5G deployment?
    • What are the key regulatory and technical measures needed to overcome the current impediments?

    This session will examine the key regulatory and technological impediments to 5G deployment and identify what is needed to overcome them.

  • Guest-of-Honor's Arrival

  • 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM

    Guest of Honor - Special Introduction

    Special Address of Guest-of-Honor
    HH. Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan(Abu Dhabi)
    Leaders’ Summit Group Photo

  • CEO Live Session

  • 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM

    CEO Panel - Business Challenges & Development of Use Cases in 5G Communications

    5G network roll-out hinges on the identification of profitable use cases. While at the outset 5G networks will primarily support an enhanced mobile broadband experience in early deployments, other use cases linked to massive IoT and critical communications will follow, as operators seek to unlock the incremental opportunity, particularly in key enterprise verticals. The GSMA expects 5G connections to reach 1.1 billion, some 12% of total mobile connections, by 2025, with an overall operator revenue forecast to grow at a CAGR of 2.5% to reach $1.3 trillion. When it comes to IoT, 5G will upgrade the human experience as everything will be connected. By 2020, analysts estimate that there will be more than 20 billion installed IoT devices around the world, generating massive amounts of data. With access to this kind of information, industries of all kinds will be able to reach new levels of efficiency as they add products, services, and capabilities. But how will we get there? What will be the business models that will take us from a position of hesitance to full engagement?

    Telecommunications operators are currently pursuing different models of collaboration, ranging from relatively closed direct partnerships, investor partnerships, community approach to open platform-based models. The appropriate choice for each use case will be driven by capabilities, revenue potential and the ability to address challenges. Platform-based innovation and business models will also become more common in IoT applications and other digital services that require multi-stakeholder collaboration.

    • What are the key business models needed to offer 5G services?
    • What are the key business challenges in developing 5G use cases?

    With the inventory of and key impediments to the industry’s 5G needs in mind, this session will examine the business models that are needed to offer 5G services.

  • Summit Global Outcome

  • 6:30 PM - 6:35 PM

    Moderator-Led Summary of Messages & Discussion
    Audience Participation

  • Cocktail Reception & Gala Dinner

  • 6:45 PM - 10:00 PM

    Networking, Sponsors’ Messages, Entertainment, Closing Speech

  • 5G is On Forum

  • 1:50 PM - 2:00 PM

    VIP Guest Exhibition Tour

  • 2:00 PM - 2:10 PM

    Opening Speech

  • 2:10 PM - 2:40 PM

    Launch Ceremony

  • 2:40 PM - 3:30 PM

    5G Business Case & Ecosystem Session

About Huawei

Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With integrated solutions across four key domains – telecom networks, IT, smart devices, and cloud services – we are committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world.

Huawei's end-to-end portfolio of products, solutions and services are both competitive and secure. Through open collaboration with ecosystem partners, we create lasting value for our customers, working to empower people, enrich home life, and inspire innovation in organizations of all shapes and sizes.

At Huawei, innovation focuses on customer needs. We invest heavily in basic research, concentrating on technological breakthroughs that drive the world forward. We have more than 180,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees.

For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com or follow us on:

http://www.linkedin.com/company/Huawei
http://www.twitter.com/Huawei
http://www.facebook.com/Huawei
http://www.google.com/+Huawei
http://www.youtube.com/Huawei

  • Opening Ceremony

  • Welcome Notes and Leaders’ Vision Statements

  • Mr. Bocar BA

    CEO
    SAMENA Telecommunications Council - UAE

    Eng. Nasser Bin Sulaiman Al Nasser

    Group CEO
    STC - KSA

  • H.E. Hamad Al Mansoori

    Director General
    TRA - UAE

    Mr. Charles Yang

    President
    Huawei ME - UAE

  • H.E. Houlin Zhao

    Secretary-General
    ITU - Switzerland

    H.E. Dr. Abdulaziz Bin Salem Al Ruwais

    Governor
    CITC - KSA

  • H.E. Dr. R S Sharma

    Chairman
    Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

    Mr. Mats Granryd

    Director General
    GSMA - UK

  • Mr. Khalifa Al Shamsi

    Group Chief Corporate Strategy & Governance Officer
    Etisalat - UAE

  • Visionary Conversations

  • Visionary Talk on 4th Industrial Revolution (4th IR)

  • Mr. Mark Spelman

    Head of Thought Leadership
    World Economic Forum - Switzerland

  • High-Level Leaders’ Roundtable

    Impact of 5G, Industry 4.0, Cross-Industry Engagement & Digital Enablement
  • Mr. Yousuf Al-Balushi

    Vice President for Spectrum Management Affairs
    TRA - Oman

    Eng. Tarig Hamza Zain El Abdein

    President & Group CEO
    Sudatel - Sudan

  • Mr. Scott Gegenheimer

    Group CEO - Operations
    Zain - Kuwait

    Mr. Mats Granryd

    Director General
    GSMA - UK

  • Mr. Chaobin Yang

    President of 5G Product Line
    Huawei - China

    Dr. Fahem Al Nuaimi

    CEO
    Ankabut - UAE

  • Mr. Je Myung Ryu

    Senior ICT Policy Specialist
    World Bank - USA

  • One-to-One

    Interview Conversations with Industry Leaders
  • Moderator

  • Mr. Tony Poulos

    Managing Editor
    Disruptive Asia - France

  • Leaders’ Input on Digital Enablement

  • Mr. Michel Azibert

    Deputy CEO
    Eutelsat - France

    Mr. Manish Vyas

    President, Communications, Media & Entertainment Business, and CEO, Network Services
    Tech Mahindra - USA

  • Mr. Zarrar Khan

    Chief Technology Officer
    Viva - Kuwait

    Mr. Karim Lesina

    Senior Vice President, International External and Regulatory Affairs
    AT&T - USA

  • Leaders’ Panel Discussion

    Bringing 5G to the Fast Lane and Enabling Transition to “Inclusive 5G”
  • Moderator

  • Mr. Philippe Defraigne

    Director
    Cullen International - Belgium

  • Speakers

  • H.E. Eng. Ghazi Salem Al-Jobor

    Chairman of the Board of Commissioners / CEO
    TRC - Jordan

    H.E. Dr. R S Sharma

    Chairman
    Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

  • Mr. Tariq Al Awadhi

    Chairman of ASMG, Executive Director Spectrum Affairs - Spectrum Management Affairs Department
    TRA - UAE

    Mr. Aziz Maeened Alanzi

    GM of Technology and Standardization
    CITC - KSA

  • Mr. Eyad Shihabi

    Managing Director, Global Natural Resources & Utilities
    BT Global Services - UAE

    Dr. Mohammed Madkour

    VP Global Wireless Marketing & Solutions
    Huawei - China

  • Mr. Robert Middlehurst

    Vice President Regulatory Affairs
    Etisalat International

  • Guest of Honor - Special Introduction

  • Mr. Osman Sultan

    CEO
    du - UAE

  • Special Address of Guest-of-Honor

  • H.H. Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan

    Minister of Tolerance
    United Arab Emirates

  • CEO Live Session

    CEO Panel - Business Challenges & Development of Use-Cases in 5G Communications
  • Moderator

  • Mr. Rolando Balsinde

    Director Emeritus
    McKinsey & Company - Hong Kong

  • Speakers

  • Eng. Nasser Al Nasser

    Group CEO
    STC - KSA

    Mr. Ihab Hinnawi

    Group CEO
    Batelco - Bahrain

  • Sheikh Talal Al Mamari

    CEO
    Omantel - Oman

    Eng. Atef Helmy

    Advisor to the BoD
    Orange MEA - Egypt

  • Dr. Sangchul Lee

    Chief Advisor
    LG Uplus & LG Group - Korea

    Mr. Chafic Traboulsi

    Vice President & Head of Networks
    Ericsson MEA - Egypt

  • Summit Global Outcome

    Moderator-Led Summary of Messages & Discussion
  • Mr. Chady Smayra

    Partner - Strategy&
    Lebanon

    Mr. Steven Pattheeuws

    Partner - Strategy&
    Netherland

 

On the Way to Becoming First in 5G Proliferation Worldwide and Building an Inclusive Regional Digital Economy

SAMENA Council's Leaders' Summit 2019 Showcases Regional 5G Readiness



SAMENA Telecommunications Council's annual Leaders' Summit was successfully held at Atlantis, The Palm, with patronage of the Telecom Regulatory Authority  (TRA) of the United Arab Emirates, provided under the leadership of Director General H.E. Mr. Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori; with special guest-of-honor address by UAE Cabinet Minister & Minister of Tolerance H.H. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al Nahyan; and a leadership message by International Telecom Union (ITU) Secretary-General H.E. Mr. Houlin Zhao, acknowledging telecom operators' challenges and the need to close digital divides.

Hosted for the sixth consecutive year by Huawei Technologies Middle East, co-sponsored by Sudatel Group and Ericsson Middle East, with Zain Group promoting the need for child protection online as an important imperative for the Industry, Etisalat showcasing its superior 5G readiness in the UAE, and with promotion of the upcoming WRC-19 by NTRA of Egypt, the one-day leaders-only congregation, the Leaders' Summit 2019, delved into discussions pertaining to the future of 5G and foreseeable impact that 5G will have on ICT business growth, and on the development of the digital ecosystem and innovation, as the region prepares for the digital revolution and anticipates fulfillment of national ICT visions.

The TRA-UAE's DG H.E. Hamad Al Mansoori reiterated to the leaders' congregation the UAE Government's resolve in ensuring that government-provided digital services must be at par with those provided by the private sector in terms of agility, quickness, interactivity and customer happiness. This added to SAMENA Council's expectations in working more closely with the TRA, especially with regard to so many questions that still require answers on digital transformation and 5G development. The UAE regulator also publicly acknowledged that SAMENA Council's Leaders' Summit is an important platform for demonstrating collaborative thought-leadership through identifying, discussing and showcasing strategies that can contribute to the achievement of our common digital agendas.

SAMENA Council's Chairman of the Board, Eng. Nasser Al Nasser, GCEO of Saudi Telecom, presented an objective viewpoint on the current state of network advancements and investments. The Chairman also emphasized that it is essential to understand how the new technologies, which will be truly enabled by 5G, will impact and change our societies and how they can be meaningfully and constructively introduced to benefit all stakeholders in an inclusive manner.

The GSMA's DG Mr. Mats Granryd provided his expert insights into the imminent onslaught of "intelligent connectivity", and the need for fostering it through the creation of an enabling environment and regulatory frameworks.

The United Arab Emirates' Minister of Tolerance, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al Nahyan, as Guest-of-Honor, provided his unique observations on the Industry's progress and how the Industry's future-building endeavors now require, more than ever before, active collaboration. The Guest-of-Honor publicly acknowledged that SAMENA Council's Leaders' Summit is not just about technology but about leadership; leadership which can help assure that, wisdom, efficacy, and humane utilization of technology an digital applications prevail throughout our technological progress. Only sound leadership, supported by collaboration, can assure the fulfillment of this objective. The Leaders' Summit indeed exists to celebrate regional and international dialog and co-operation to promote growth and create a better future for our regional economies, and to better understand the interdependence of economies on one another.

Representation of the region’s largest economy, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and its readiness for 5G deployment was made possible during the Leaders' Summit 2019 by CITC Governor H.E. Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Ruwais.

Among the Leaders' Summit's highlights, leaders from across the private and public sectors took part in Huawei’s “5G is ON” forum, discussing plans for 5G readiness in the region, while examining best practices ahead of large-scale 5G network deployments in the Middle East and internationally. Huawei provided insights on how 5G can benefit the acceleration of digital transformation; and help achieve the targets of the national visions and agendas, in addition to creating new revenue streams for telecom operators in line with the development of different industries and sectors in the region. Driven by the goal of creating an intelligent 5G ecosystem, Huawei, as host sponsor of the Leaders' Summit 2019, assured the industry leaders that it has invested considerable resources into 5G development, deployment, and infrastructure, and has been a partner of choice for global operators to deploy next-generation networks.

“Today the era of 5G is upon us, with new networks across the region either rolling out or on the verge of being launched,” said Charles Yang, President of Huawei Middle East. “As evident in our 5G is ON forum during SAMENA Council's  Leaders’ Summit 2019, the entire ICT ecosystem is now coming together faster than expected to ensure this great opportunity will be an enabler for realizing national development on a regional and even global scale. 5G large scale rollout in the Middle East has started since 2018, GCC countries are in the first wave of 5G rollout globally. Huawei is well prepared to provide organizations across the Middle East with the best possible solutions to take full advantage of this next generation of communications. Huawei has the great willingness, capability and confidence of building the most secure 5G networks.”

SAMENA Council's 4th SALT Meeting (SAMENA Leaders' Roundtable) among operators, technology providers, and regulators was also held. A by-invitation-only closed-door meeting, following the Chatham House rules of communication, the SALT Meeting was organized to discuss critical issues, including those relating to 5G spectrum availability in the region, preparations for the global WRC-19 conference later this year, cross-border spectrum interference, and digital services matters, with special mention of the need to protect children online.

The SALT meeting discussion brought into focus WRC-23 (four years after the upcoming WRC-19) where some prevalent spectrum issues may meet effective rectification. Operators' general perspective was that prevailing spectrum issues, including spectrum harmonization and cross-border interference, will not be a show-stopper for 5G investment, even though hindrance may actually come from regulation or from not being well-prepared ahead of time. Discussion of the SALT meeting was held with an underlying perspective that the future path of 5G development, in some significant ways, would be determined by WRC-19, and thus SAMENA Council feels due collaborative efforts should be exerted toward preparing for WRC-19, while defining more precise advocacy strategies and Operators' goals for WRC-23.

During the SALT Meeting, SAMENA Council emphasized that Operators are key to the success of a healthy digital services ecosystem – not just as infrastructure providers, but also as key service providers operating individually as well as collaborators with governments. To this effect, SAMENA Council's Working Group on Digital Services is in the process of finalizing a high-level policy, legal and regulatory (PLR) reference framework, which may provide high-level guidance to governments and regulatory authorities across the SAMENA region (and beyond) in creating a thriving and supportive digital services ecosystem.


Key insights from the Leaders' Summit's discussions and leaders' viewpoints included as follows:

  • As much as 5G is expected to unleash tremendous digital potential and opportunities, it poses uncertainty and risks of paving roads in the new frontier. While the private sector will end up leading the innovation that makes 5G’s potential into a reality, governments will have to play a crucial role in lessening the uncertainty for markets and market participants. Governments should therefore take a proactive approach to maximize the potential of 5G, from mitigating risks of investing in 5G infrastructure to helping to explore new business models through the public private partnership.
  • The regulators need to start to offer the 5G spectrum as the main building block for kicking off the 5G deployment. It is important to provide the spectrum that satisfies the need to deliver whatever expected from 5G from the operators or other key verticals such as transport and health. For example, mobile operators will require around 100 MHz of contiguous spectrum each from the C-band, to deliver 5G Connectivity, Services and Data Speeds better than current 4G networks.
  • Governments can help in giving more spectrum at reasonable prices, by taking into account the 5G deployment costs and by realizing that the society will benefit more from the 5G digital services offered at low tariffs. Regulators may also support exempted service trials for a mutually defined period of time.
  • The design of 5G networks requires hundreds of telecom towers and using the infrastructure of lighting poles, advertisement boards and any suitable existing and future structures to provide full coverage and high capacities to connect various devices, services and applications with the main telecommunications networks. So it is very important to allow the use of the available infrastructure owned by the government entities.
  • As 5G network requires thousands of base stations, the Industry needs to send a re-assurance message to the public regarding human health and environment by carrying out studies and researches.
  • Fixed-Wireless is one option for 5G to make money, but only where there is no fiber in place or other fixed infrastructure.
  • The potential of 5G can only be realized with investments in the agile network architecture. There will be challenges in this journey, but the possibilities are endless. All this will boil down to one question: Can we deliver delight to the customers without them asking for it? And that will add truly to the profitability and growth in revenue.
  • As the industry transforms, so will the ways in which we view content. How can the industry effectively combat piracy while also satisfying the consumers’ growing appetite for content?
  • It is up to the Industry (and SAMENA Council can play its role) to harmonize spectrum requirements, enhance spectrum sharing to reduce coverage costs, develop innovative products customized for smart city, utilities, municipalities, e-Government services, and automation and so on. Have more channels to understand needs, offer platforms for co-development, enhance product offerings as one stop shop for all customer needs, and use data analytics to predict consumer needs and happiness.
  • Even in the 5G context, satellite remains the only viable technology to bridge the digital divide. It complements terrestrial networks to ensure seamless deployment of digital connectivity.

Leading regional regulatory authorities, global and regional telecom technology providers and operators, as well as global bodies and institutions contributed to the discussions during Leaders' Summit 2019, including among others CITC - Saudi Arabia, TRC - Jordan, TRA - Bahrain, TRAI - India, Saudi Telecom Company, Batelco Group, Etisalat International, du, Omantel, Orange MEA, Sudatel Group, Zain Group, Eutelsat, AT&T, BT Global Services, Huawei Technologies, Ericsson MEA, TechMahindra, Ankabut, GSMA, the World Economic Forum, and the World Bank Group.

“I am very pleased to have witnessed a prolific presence of leaders from all across the Industry, who took an active part in SAMENA Council's Leaders' Summit 2019. It was an honor to welcome each one of them. We have always had a highly distinguished congregation in the Summit, but this year's congregation of leaders was both globally and regionally most relevant, as the region is about to adopt 5G, and the exchange of insights and perspectives would assist in 5G technology deployment planning as well as revamping ICT policies and action plans. We, as Industry, have made tremendous progress, and this is especially seen in the UAE. I wish to immensely thank the UAE Government, SAMENA Council's leadership, the SAMENA Council membership, Leaders' Summit sponsors, speakers and moderators, and our team, for making Leaders' Summit a much-anticipated and a bespoke industry event", stated Bocar BA, CEO and Board Member of SAMENA Council.

The SAMENA Council's Leaders’ Summit is an annual leadership event, encompassing private and government sector leaders' gathering, bi-lateral stakeholder meetings, and panel discussions, held among stakeholders in a world-class setting. Leaders' Summit 2019 has built on past discussions, centered around enabling a true digital economy, which can only materialize itself via the timely availability of 5G; thus requiring prompt attention to address the region's spectrum needs, making 5G devices available, and attending to cross-border spectrum interference as well as cybersecurity challenges.

- ENDS -