BH Telecom - July2020

Staying the country’s first IN ASSOCIATION WITH

BH TELECOM

DIGITAL REPORT 2020

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Staying the country’s first choice WRITTEN BY

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WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY

LEWIS VAUGHAN

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BH TELECOM

Adnan Huremovic, CTO, discusses how BH Telecom’s technological expertise, innovative culture and customer-centric focus has made it a leading provider

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ocated in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), BH Telecom was founded in 1992 with the vision of pro-

viding high-quality telecoms services using the most up-to-date technology available. Now, 28 04

years later, the company has risen to become the country’s leading operator and its dedication to providing the best for its customers has not wavered.

A shareholding company but 90% publicly-owned, an integral component of BH Telecom’s motivation for success is the betterment of national network infrastructure, which it facilitates through competitive fixed phone, mobile, internet and IPTV services.

With over 3,200 employees and a managerial strategy which prioritises innovation, fast R&D and comprehensive solutions, BH Telecom has indelibly left its mark on B&H’s telecommunications sector.

Part of the BH Telecom journey for over 16 years, Adnan Huremovic joined the company as an Associate for Access Networks and steadily worked his way up to his current role as Chief Technology Officer in 2018. “The

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BH TELECOM

“ From my first role when I was working in infrastructure, then later to project planning and finally as a board member, my life and career are connected to communications” — Adnan Huremovic, CTO, BH Telecom 06

telecommunications field was my primary professional interest when I started,” he explains. “From my first role when I was working in infrastructure, then later to project planning and finally as a board member, my life and career are connected to communications.” A true expert in his field, Huremovic has maintained a relationship with his alma mater – the University of Sarajevo – as an academic and teacher, which, he states, continues to shape his approach to the CTO role at BH Telecom. “On one side, I have the opportunity to share ideas and my practical and business-related knowledge with future engineers. On the other, the students of the telecoms department are potential future employees.”

It is, perhaps, this openness to change and fresh perspectives that has led to BH Telecom’s superlative workplace culture – the driving force behind its success, Huremovic claims.

Striving to create an atmosphere which encourages and rewards the collective progress made by teams, whilst still taking the time to recognise the contributions of individuals, the

365 of the most beautiful stories BH Telecom CLICK TO WATCH

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07 company has succeeded in fostering

BH Telecom’s status as a government-

an environment where innovation can

owned organisation. “We are a public

develop naturally. “As a result, we have

company; our values are not solely

a lot of technical service solutions that

oriented to profit. Rather, our vision is

are made solely within the company.

the prosperity of all society.”

For example, our web-based TV ser-

Despite BH Telecom’s impres-

vice, our web portal and payments,

sive status and standing as the

also – f-commerce (mobile prepaid

leading company in its market, it

recharge through fixed line, IPTV

has steadfastly refused to rest on

etc.), billing systems and mobile apps

its laurels or become complacent.

are completely developed in-house

Formulating a clear and successful

by our engineers.” Another factor

digital transformation strategy has

of its success stems from a highly

been instrumental in cementing the

customer-centric ethos, a natural

company’s position. “The most impor-

consequence, states Huremovic, of

tant thing we needed to adapt was w w w.bhte l e c om . b a /

BH TELECOM

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mindset,” says Huremovic, “across all levels, from workers up to managerial staff.” Providing intensive training and workshops across BH Telecom, the company was able to illustrate why tech progression was integral for business continuity and what benefits it would bring. This included enhanced efficiency through the digitalisation of paper-based processes, which streamlined myriad operations within the company, including procurement, payments and billings, sales, customer service and more.

The goal of becoming faster and better also emphasised the importance of BH Telecom’s partner ecosystem, which has been invaluable as a source of innovative new technology. BS Telecom, a manufacturer and supplier of integrated telecom systems for data processing, and one of BH Telecom’s key collaborators, has been instrumental in supporting its projects, both past and present. “BS Telecom has been one of our most valuable partners for a very long time,” says Huremovic.

“It’s already helped us achieve some

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Adnan Huremovic Title: CTO Company: BH Telecom Industry: Telecommunications Adnan Huremovic is an acting CTO at BH Telecom Sarajevo. Born in 1980, graduated and achieved MsC, and PhD in electrical engineering at University of Sarajevo until 2016. Huremovic started as interim in BH Telecom Sarajevo in 2003, and worked on a number of various positions within the company. He became a member of the board in 2015 as a Chief investment Officer, Director of core network, and currently as a CTO. In this period, Huremovic managed implementation of new IMS and packet core network, complete 4G network swap, and 5G testing. He also teaches at the University of Sarajevo, and leads Bosnian Society for Telecommunication.

great projects, such as our previous SMS platform, and our existing ADMS w w w.bhte l e c om . b a /

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platform. Currently, we are working on

explore artificial intelligence (AI) appli-

a very difficult project for a new billing

cations as its 5G capabilities develop

system. It’s one of the most complex

further. As part of its commitment to

IT projects we’ve had for a couple of

liability and providing its customers

years, but, because of our strong past

with the best experience possible, BH

relationship, we are very confident

Telecom has also rigorously developed

that this will be another joint success –

in-house end-to-end cybersecurity,

that’s the high level of confidence that

including DDoS protection, state-of-

we have in BS Telecom as an integrator

the-art application firewalls and fraud

for this endeavour.”

detection. However, one of the primary

Already utilising hybrid cloud

challenges of the modern telecom

computing and IoT within its digital

industry is the fast-paced nature of

transformation journey for the past

tech development and its ability to

five years, the company is planning to

completely transform old paradigms

“ We are a public company; our values are not solely oriented to profit. Rather, our vision is the prosperity of all society” — Adnan Huremovic, CTO, BH Telecom

of working. Emerging global trends, such as 5G, have the ability to reshape the customer experience and the task, states Huremovic, will be for BH Telecom to prepare the necessary infrastructure to utilise it. “The big challenges are likely to be the regulatory and legal issues,” he says. Therefore, BH Telecom has a didactic role to play, along with its partners, in introducing this revolutionary new infrastructure to the public and authorities. “At the end of the road, we expect to see a 11

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BH TELECOM

BS TELECOM

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BS Telecom is an IT and manufacturing services company for the telecommunications sector.

Founded in 2002, its corporate vision has been to research and develop custom solutions for the latest problems experienced in the industry. A valued partner of BH Telecom for several years, Adnan Huremovic emphasises the value and importance of BS Telecom in its past and future endeavours. “BS Telecom has been one of our most valuable partners for a very long time,� he says.

fully-covered high speed, low latency network. From that, we’ll then have the basis to build newer services.”

Trust and its standing within the community is paramount to BH Telecom. Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has been a difficult experience for everyone, Huremovic says that the company also recognised it as an opportunity to prove its mettle.

“Interestingly, we didn’t experience many problems or delays as far as technology development was concerned. I believe that this crisis actually motivated our employees to demonstrate that BH Telecom is something people can rely on.” Throughout the pandemic so far, the company has managed to avoid data congestions and network dropouts on services which have become vital as customers live and work primarily from home.

Additionally, BH Telecom has granted access to critical services free-ofcharge to schools and students.

Through its actions, BH Telecom continues to manifest its values and mission; one of the few governmentowned telecoms in B&H, its position and prestige as the best is a reputation w w w.bhte l e c om . b a /

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BH TELECOM

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“ I believe that this crisis actually motivated our employees to demonstrate that BH Telecom is something people can rely on” — Adnan Huremovic, CTO, BH Telecom

that it intends to keep. Foreseeing a shift in the sector, the company is diversifying to include investment in domestic fintechs and focusing on expanding its capacity to include content production. Regarding the latter, Huremovic adds, “We already have some investments in local and regional content companies that we plan to build or even acquire. I see a global orientation toward content as something that will benefit every telecom’s portfolio.” Concurrently, fintechs and

2002

Year founded

3,242 Number of employees

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domestic startups will be assisted by

he concludes, “it’s that the integra-

BH Telecom’s ‘Start IT Up’ initiative, a

tion of digital processes and digital

programme which the company hopes

transformation has been accelerated

will position it as a central platform in

dramatically. During this time, it’ll play

B&H’s startup market.

an important role in keeping the econ-

Reflecting on the challenges of

omy healthy and allow the company to

2020 so far and how it will shape the

flourish. I think, after this situation has

market moving forwards, Huremovic is

passed, BH Telecom and its partners

proud of what BH Telecom has man-

will be on a whole new level.”

aged to achieve and feels confident in the new direction it has selected. “If there’s any silver lining in this pandemic situation for the telecoms industry,” w w w.bhte l e c om . b a /

BH TELECOM STREET FR ANCA LEHAR A 7, SAR A JEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 7 1000 T +387 33 255 140

www.bhtelecom.ba/

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