December, Volume 11, 2020 A SAMENA Telecommunications Council Publication www.samenacouncil.org S AMENA TRENDS FOR SAMENA TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL'S MEMBERS BUILDING DIGITAL ECONOMIES Featured Eng. Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Badran CEO Mobily THIS MONTH THE AIM FOR DIGITAL SUSTAINABILITY DECEMBER, VOLUME 11, 2020 Contributing Editors Knowledge Contributions Subscriptions Izhar Ahmad China Mobile International [email protected] SAMENA Javaid Akhtar Malik Tech Mahindra Advertising TRENDS Publisher [email protected] SAMENA Telecommunications Editor-in-Chief Council SAMENA TRENDS Bocar A. BA [email protected] Tel: +971.4.364.2700 CONTENTS 04 EDITORIAL FEATURED 06 10 REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES Members News Regional News 48 SATELLITE UPDATES Satellite News 58 WHOLESALE UPDATES Wholesale News Mobily Speaks to SAMENA Council 61 TECHNOLOGY UPDATES SAMENA COUNCIL ACTIVITY The SAMENA TRENDS eMagazine is wholly Technology News owned and operated by The SAMENA 09 Telecommunications Council (SAMENA 68 REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES Council). Information in the eMagazine is Regulatory News not intended as professional services advice, and SAMENA Council disclaims any liability A Snapshot of Regulatory for use of specific information or results Activities in the SAMENA Region thereof. 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EDITORIAL SAMENA TRENDS The Aim for Digital Sustainability Increased network capacity and greater changed connectivity needs and the speed resilience are a pre-requisite for building a of digitization, other industries (verticals) sustainable Digital Economy. Key enabling have also been compelled to increasingly factors, such as public-private collaboration, bank on the power and potential of digital improved policy and regulatory technologies to manage their pressures to enablement steps, aligned well with digital deliver and thrive. transformation goals and digitization trends across markets and industries, and These are the times when future innovation sustainable influx in investment in both depends on the sustainability of an open infrastructure and incubation of innovation, and symbiotic ICT ecosystem, which play a crucial role as well. should foster improved relationships, such as between Tech Providers - Operators, As we have observed, of late, the SA-ME- Operators - Content/App Providers, NA region, especially the Middle East, is Content/App Providers - Consumers, Tech demonstrating noticeable progress (and Providers - Consumers, Tech Providers Bocar A. BA progressiveness) in ICT development. The - Content/App Providers, Operators - Chief Executive Officer & Board challenges of the year 2020 have indeed Consumers, Tech Providers - Governments, Member been good catalysts for the new wave of Operators - Governments, and Governments SAMENA Telecommunications digitization being observed worldwide. A - Citizens, among others. The relationships Council major contributing factor, which has been are indeed as complex as they sound. Thus catalyzed very well over the past year, is new synergies and possibilities among ICT the heightened focus of ICT Players to players, beneficiaries, as well as technologies which have been repeatedly highlighted work collaboratively work with Regulators must be created. That is, broadband access, by SAMENA Council across its own and Policymakers in the fulfillment of the cloud computing, advanced computational as well as both regional and global over-arching goal of "Universal Digital capabilities, artificial intelligence, intra platforms) that foster innovation Access". As a result of sound policies, and inter-industry applications and digital and will help attract more end-user which preceded the 2020 crisis in many services must be harnessed together in a confidence in advanced technologies, ME countries, complemented by clear ICT meaningful way to create new opportunities including 5G. At the infrastructure level, goals, investment in ICT infrastructure for business growth as well as for achieving we need to achieve ubiquitous coverage and subsequent acceleration of digital new milestones in socio-economic well- and ensure optimal user experience development, the region has done well in being in an inclusive manner. while maximizing network value for achieving digital progress at a much faster the investors. At the policy-level, this rate than predicted, earlier. SAMENA Council believes that public- merits further harmonizing policy and private-people cooperation is essential for regulatory efforts by keeping in view the Resultantly, new paradigms in digital addressing the digital inclusion and digital multiple aforementioned relationships value-creation have emerged, whereby sustainability imperatives. Not only are the within the ICT ecosystem. the power of connectivity, computing, ICT players themselves but other industries and comprehension will drive further as well are central to the digital world in which May the Year 2021 bring success and development and digital adoption in we now live and operate. The world now sustainability to all those who have the post-pandemic era. In this regard, demands better communication services, invested their time, energies, leadership, partnership, collaboration, digital capacity- enhanced digital experiences, increased and goodwill to support value-creation building and incubation of innovation business productivity, and improved quality within the evolving ICT ecosystem, and would prove to be crucial for sustaining the of life, and not to mention, faster recovery. to involve other industries. digital development momentum. Under the It is thus important that we act upon some new paradigm shifts, which have abruptly implementable recommendations (some of Happy New Year! 4 DECEMBER 2020 FEATURED SAMENA TRENDS Mobily Speaks to SAMENA Council Q. Under your leadership, what is the main "theme strategy" that is driving Mobily's contributions in building a sustainable digital economy in Saudi Arabia? A. Mobily’s new corporate strategy has been developed with the aim of playing a pivotal role in the achievement of the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, especially by expediting digitalization and enabling various programs of the vision. The initiatives and programs of this new strategy, which we call the “GAIN” strategy, have been developed to support the success of the ICT strategy and to create new opportunities for the digital economy's growth, while meeting multiple socio-economic goals within the Kingdom. Mobily’s 5G services now cover 70% of all major cities. Customers can now enjoy much more reliable connectivity, the lowest response time, and higher performance in crowded areas. In terms of network capabilities, significant improvements have been made in the network with an emphasis on enhancing the quality of customer experience. The latest Meqyas report has ascertained the effect of these improvements by ranking Mobily number one in latency for most of the widely used social media, video conferencing, and video gaming platforms. Moreover, our financial performance has been phenomenal in 2020, evidenced by the dividends announcement ($102.7 million) for the first time after a lapse of almost six years. The profit for the first nine months of 2020 was $143.2 million, which is 244% higher than the $41.6 million achieved in 2019. We owe such results to the optimization of operational Eng. Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Badran costs while enhancing core and digital revenues, a clear sign of the success of our new strategy, “GAIN.” CEO However, the main reason behind this success is the Mobily untiring efforts of all of my colleagues I like to call “Mobilyans” out of love and respect. 6 DECEMBER 2020 FEATURED SAMENA TRENDS projects that uses capabilities of NB-IoT technologies in smart energy management and consumption.