Telecom Review MWC Barcelona 2019

T HE T E L E CO M S I ND U S T RY ME D I A P L ATFORM

Mobile World Congress 2019 - S90

Etisalat at the helm of telecom brands in the Middle East

Engineer Saleh Abdullah Al Abdooli, CEO, Etisalat Group

5G: A new battleground for smart cities

Data brokers facing intense scrutiny as European regulators clamp down

Are economies ready for digital taxes?

CONTENTS

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2019

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THE TELEC OMS IND U ST RY M E D I A P L AT F O R M

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8 Etisalat at the helm of telecom brands in the Middle East

5G: A new battleground for smart cities

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18 By 2023, touch will become a Digital Network Accelerator, says CEO Emre Gurkan

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Global news

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Data brokers facing intense scrutiny as European regulators clamp down

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Operators’ news

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Vendors’ news

Sofrecom co-constructing a ‘digital Middle East and Africa’

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InfiNet Wireless to stage global debut of ground-breaking spectral efficiency solution at MWC 2019

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Planning 5G networks

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Are economies ready for digital taxes?

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Editor in Chief & Senior ICT Analyst Toni Eid toni.eid@tracemedia.info Senior Journalists Mark Forker mark@tracemedia.info

EDITORIAL

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Toni Eid, founder editor in chief Telecom Review International

Christine Ziadeh christine@tracemedia.info Editorial Team Shelley Beyak (Canada), Toni Eid (UAE), Mark Forker (UAE), Martha Kassouf (Lebanon), Lacinan Ouattara (Ivory Coast), Jennifer Saade (Lebanon), Jeff Seal (USA), Zane Small (New Zealand), Christine Ziadeh (Lebanon) Copy Editor Shelley Beyak Advertising Enquiries Mohammed Ershad ershad@tracemedia.info Graphic Designer Tatiana Issa Responsible Manager Joseph Bou Daher News Provided in cooperation with AFP, the global news agency Published by

Trace Media Ltd. Zouk Mikael, Lebanon Kaslik Sea Side Road, Badawi Group Building, 4th Floor, P.O. Box 90-2113, Jdeidet el Metn Tel. +961 9 211741 M. +961 70 519 666 Trace Media FZ.LLC. Dubai Media City, UAE Building 7, 3rd Floor, Office 341 P.O. Box 502498, Dubai, UAE Tel. +971 4 4474890 M. +971 55 639 7080 Printing Arab Printing Press © All rights reserved Publication of any of the contents is prohibited - Year 14 - S90 -

Soon tackling 5G in March with the Telecom Review Global edition 5G is here - right now - and deployment has started. 5G chipsets are undergoing the last stages of manufacturing, and 5G devices are already available for testing. Everyone agrees that 5G will create a massive data transaction on telcos’ networks due to the ultra-high speed, extra capacity and low latency provided by these networks, and will increase connected devices in all categories from transport to any other service such as banking, health, etc.

However, the most important thing is that transactions and data are secured in a way so that systems don’t crash and personal information isn’t hacked. Data privacy must be preserved.

Telecom Review is publishing the 5G and cybersecurity issue in a global edition featuring exclusive interviews with over six of the most influencing CTOs of the industry in North America, Europe and Asia, along with independent opinion features from technology vendors, research labs and universities.

The edition will be distributed digitally in North America, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and anyone can download a copy through online registration on our websites.

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2019

Australian operator moves closer to commercial launch of 5G Australian telecommunications operator Optus has taken a significant leap towards the commercialization of its 5G services following the successful completion of a 5G data call on 60 MHz using 3.5GHz spectrum.

The second largest telco operator made the 5G data call as part of pre-launch testing from its 5G site in Dickson, Canberra. Optus utilized a commercial grade 5G Radio Network and customer premises equipment (CPE) developed in partnership with Nokia.

The indoor Nokia 5G CPE has a high gain antenna capability which can enable the delivery of a 5G connection in residential areas, and the call was made using the 3GPP Release 15 September specification using a standard commercial chipset.

Dennis Wong, Optus managing director of networks, expressed his delight at the operator reaching the milestone and said they were now much closer to deploying 5G services to its customers.

Using the 5G 3.5 GHz 60 MHz band means that Optus will be able to deliver greater capacity compared to 4G, enabling the use of multiple devices as well ultrahigh definition video streaming which will be key for their customers when 5G begins rolling out this year.

In addition to this, Optus disclosed that when it begins switching on its 5G network across a number of capital cities in the first half of this year, the CPE will facilitate a 5G fixed wireless access experience for Australian consumers.

GLOBAL NEWS

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China commits to enhancing ICT talent in Myanmar China and Myanmar have agreed to strengthen their cooperation in the educational field and ICT talent development, in particular, with a new MoU signed by Chinese colossus Huawei and Myanmar’s Rectors’ Committee under the supervision of the Ministry of Education.

The cooperation agreement will establish an ICT diploma course system, sponsor “Seeds for the Future” program, establish the Huawei Authorized Information and Network Academy, provide ICT Talent Scholarship to outstanding university students, organize the Youth Open Day at Huawei Customer Solution Innovation and Integration Center as well as assist in ICT related scientific research in Myanmar.

“We appreciate and thank Huawei for the efforts and contributions to Myanmar ICT development.

Establishing collaborative partnerships both national and internationally is one of the main approaches which support the development of regional universities,” Dr. Myo Kywe, chairman of National Education Policy Commission, said.

CEO of Huawei, Myanmar Zhang Liman, encouraged cooperation and called upon other organizations to promote Myanmar’s human resources, economic and social development.

The MoU is an elevated version of the previous one which was signed in 2014 and over 1,500 ICT talents have been trained under the program in the past four years.

A new 5G experience launches in Singapore Ericsson, Singtel and Singapore Polytechnic (SP) have partnered on Singapore’s first live 5G facility. Aimed at developing the 5G ecosystem in the country and driving 5G solutions for enterprises, the 5G Garage utilizes Singtel’s 3.5 GHz trial 5G network at Ayer Rajah. The 5G Garage is the first partnership of its kind between enterprise, industry and higher education in Singapore.

5G Garage is the latest project in Singtel and Ericsson’s 5G Centre of Excellence program which focuses on upgrading employees’ skills, technology demonstrations, live field trials and collaborations with educational institutions.

Singtel and Ericsson made Singapore’s first 5G data call in November 2018 over their 5G pilot network at onenorth.

Martin Wiktorin, country manager Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines, Ericsson, said, “5G has the potential to transform industries and bring

enhanced mobile broadband experience for consumers. At Ericsson, we are already collaborating globally with 42 operators, 45 institutes and 31 industry partners, to create a thriving 5G ecosystem. We are delighted to partner with Singtel and Singapore Polytechnic towards the setting up of the 5G Garage, which we hope will stimulate Singapore Polytechnic students to come up with new 5G use cases.”

Mark Chong, group chief technology officer, Singtel, declared that Singtel is pleased to partner Ericsson and SP on the 5G Garage initiative.

“As Singapore advances its digital economy and becomes a smart nation, the benefits of 5G will first be seen in enterprises, especially in their digital transformation when they integrate technology into their processes, services and products. With 5G standards largely established, now is an opportune time for SMEs and enterprises to join us in shaping our 5G future,” he said.

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Telcos team up on first 5G NR video call in Europe Telecom Italia (TIM), Qualcomm Technologies and Ericsson have successfully completed the first, live video call in Europe using 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum.

The partners used a smartphone equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G chipset on Ericsson equipment to make the call during the inauguration of the TIM’s new 5G Innovation Hub in Rome.

The new TIM 5G Innovation Hub aims to attract and support an ecosystem of startups, research centers and other stakeholders interested in the digital transformation.

In addition to the 5G video call, TIM also showcased a series of new services including a remotedriven car, a virtual museum tour, remote controlled industrial robots and multiplayer interactive video gaming using augmented reality.

Mario Di Mauro, chief strategy, innovation and customer experience officer at TIM, said: “When we started to define the strategy and the development plans for 5G, we immediately realized that such a massive challenge could not be faced without the support of a wide range of partners committed to the same goal.

We therefore proposed Qualcomm Technologies set up a place where work on the new 5G services and every business idea could find a quick realization thanks to the support of leading international technology players, innovative partners and startups from the local and national ecosystem.”

GLOBAL NEWS

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Nepal deploys new FTTH network with the support of Finnish telecom giant Nepal’s internet service provider, Vianet, has partnered with Nokia on a multi-year project aiming at deploying a fiber to the home network across the country, thus providing more than 200,000 customers with access to ultra-fast broadband by 2019, which will allow them to seamlessly benefit from internet applications such as ultra-high definition (4k) video content, internet TV, live streaming, online gaming, as well as support the growing number of devices that are becoming internet capable.

In the framework of the project, over 100,000 of Nokia’s GPON Optical

Network Terminals (ONTs) will be deployed and the GPON fiber solution will help Vianet build up to a 2.5 Gbps capable network per subscriber.

With the new FTTH network, Vianet subscribers will be able to upgrade their current bandwidth up to 100 Mbps and all of Nepal will see its broadband speeds significantly increasing.

“Expanding beyond the metropolitan area of Kathmandu, the new fiber network will also enable Vianet to more effectively address underserved areas across Nepal and further increase broadband penetration,” Nokia said.

Telstra adds capacity to subsea cable network – the largest in Asia Pacific Telstra announced the addition of substantial capacity to its subsea cable infrastructure with its first large capacity purchase on the new-generation New Cross Pacific (NCP) cable, and a further investment in the faster cable.

These investments strengthen Telstra’s Japan to the US route and confirm Telstra’s subsea cable network as the largest in the Asia Pacific.

Telstra Enterprise Group Executive Michael Ebeid said Telstra’s investments were part of a long-term strategy to capture data demand across Asia and the Pacific.

“Building on the capacity, resiliency and the footprint of our already vast subsea network is a key part of our international growth strategy,” Mr Ebeid said.

“Following Telstra’s purchase of Pacnet in 2015, we have strategically invested in additional capacity and infrastructure to meet the increasing demand for data right across the Asia Pacific region, carefully mapping our international paths and investment.”

In December, Telstra entered into agreed terms to purchase a 25 percent stake in

Southern Cross Cable Network (SCCN).

Subject to definitive agreements and regulatory approvals, the agreement includes capacity on the existing Southern Cross network and new Southern Cross NEXT subsea cable - set to become the lowest latency path from Australia to the US. Telstra has also boosted its Asia to US operations over the last 12 months, with a half fiber pair investment in the Hong Kong Americas (HKA) cable and a 6Tb capacity purchase in the Pacific Light Cable Networks (PLCN) cable, both due to be completed in 2020.

These new-builds complement Telstra’s major half fiber pair investment in the INDIGO cable system from South East Asia to Australia, which has reached a major milestone with the completion of the 4,600km Indigo West cable lay from Singapore to Perth just before Christmas.

Today, Telstra’s subsea cable network reaches more than 400,000km – enough to circle the world almost 10 times.

Once completed, Telstra’s investments in SCCN, HKA, PLCN and INDIGO, will grow Telstra’s subsea cable network ownership by more than 25Tb.

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GLOBAL NEWS

PCCW Global’s Console Connect extends its reach to the US PCCW Global, the international operating division of HKT, Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider, and datacenter and cloud specialist, TierPoint, announced a collaboration to offer US-based enterprises the world’s first global software-defined interconnection platform using TierPoint’s infrastructure, with access to PCCW Global’s Console Connect.

As enterprises migrate critical applications and content to the cloud, they are discovering that the public internet was not designed or built with business connectivity in mind, especially when it comes to reliable performance, predictability and security. PCCW Global’s Console Connect answers these business challenges by delivering an affordable platform that makes connections to cloud-based applications, partners and client IT infrastructure

simple, easily managed, predictable and secure, with seamless access to the world’s major cloud hosting services, including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, IBM, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud and Yunify.

Console Connect will initially be available at TierPoint facilities in Andover, MA, Bethlehem, PA, and Durham, NC, enabling enhanced performance, visibility, monitoring and security.

TierPoint’s datacenter tenants will also gain additional benefit from having access to the digital innovation capabilities delivered via fast and secure direct connectivity provided by PCCW Global’s Tier 1 IP network, which spans more than 150 countries worldwide.

TierPoint’s customers will have an opportunity to easily provision ondemand direct access to their businesscritical applications.

ZTE and China Mobile conduct 5G field trial in Guangzhou

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US operator achieves 5G milestone in San Diego US telecommunications operator Sprint has achieved a 5G milestone following a pilot trial in the sunkissed city of San Diego.

Sprint, which is owned by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank announced that it had completed a successful 5G OTA data transmission on its live network. Sprint CTO John Saw has expressed his delight at the success of the 5G project, and claims that it will provide a huge step forward in relation to the operators’ overall plans to launch next generation services in the forthcoming months.

Sprint disclosed the details of the field test and revealed that it was conducted using 2.5GHz spectrum on the operators’ commercial network with radio equipment from Finnish vendor Nokia and a mobile test device from Qualcomm.

It is the first time that 2.6GHz NR equipment is adopted in such a field trial and passed the test successfully and smoothly.

on the 3GPP R15 compliant field trial.

In accordance with China Mobile’s test specifications, the test has verified the fundamental performance items of the SA networking, including SA access performance and SA single user rate.

Due to the complexity of the test environment, ZTE and China Mobile need to consider the complex frequency solution and the guarantee of the existing network when they complete the 2.6G test, lest that they cause any impact to the users.

In addition to this, Sprint also disclosed that the trial demonstrated a successful handoff between 4G and 5G connectivity while streaming video, conducting Skype audio and video calls, and sending instant messages. Its test follows the completion of a 5G data transmission in a lab during December 2018. The operator earlier this week announced plans to release a Samsung 5G handset in 2019.

ZTE is the first vendor conducting the 2.6GHz NR test. This test adopts ZTE’s full series of end-to-end solutions, including 5G high performance basestations, core networks and the latest devices.

China Mobile plays an important role in promoting 5G standardization, industrialization and commercialization.

ZTE and China Mobile have long-term and comprehensive cooperation in the 5G field.

The test results show that at 100MHz bandwidth, the single user downlink peak rate is stable at 1.8Gbps, and the extreme distance is up to 3 kilometers.

The 2.6GHz NR test jointly conducted

by ZTE and China Mobile is fully based

In 2016, ZTE joined the China Mobile 5G Joint Innovation Center, and both sides jointly developed Pre5G Massive MIMO, which has been commercialized now.

In 2017, ZTE and China Mobile initiated the Guangdong 5G field trial.

“Sprint 5G is now out of the lab and in the field as we prepare for our commercial launch in the first half of this year,” Saw said in a statement.

Nokia North America CTO Mike Murphy noted Sprint’s use of 2.5GHz spectrum for 5G will allow it to reuse existing 4G sites to provide both indoor and outdoor coverage: “This first standards-based call is thus a critical step towards Sprint’s offering of a 5G service to its customers.”

ZTE Corporation, a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the mobile internet, announced that ZTE and the Guangdong branch of China Mobile have completed the first 2.6GHz NR test in Guangzhou 5G field trial.

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COVER STORY

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Etisalat at the helm of telecom brands in the Middle East We are stepping into an era which marks the beginning of ‘intelligent connectivity’ underpinned by ubiquitous and hyper connectivity. This term is used to describe the powerful combination of flexible, high speed 5G networks, the internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). This will have a significant and profound change on individuals, industries, society and the economy, transforming how we live and work.

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tisalat Group is at the heart of this evolution by taking great strides in the rollout of 5G networks. The focus at MWC this year will be engaging in discussions about the future of the network and at the same time healthy debate on the new challenges and opportunities presented by the next generation of technologies.

Journey and achievements in 5G 5G is becoming a reality in the UAE. Etisalat’s pioneering efforts in 5G will enable subscribers to enjoy technologies blending physical and digital realms from AR and VR to IoT, AI, autonomous vehicles, advanced robotics, 3D printing, wearable tech and more.

Innovation was always at the core of our strategy to ‘Drive the digital future to empower societies’

Our continuous investments and focus on enhancing and building one of the most advanced networks in the region have empowered digital transformation, opening up opportunities to engage with our customers in new ways. Innovation was always at the core of our strategy to ‘drive the digital future to empower societies’, putting our effort into providing innovative solutions enabling connectivity, mobility, connected devices and IoT, energyefficiency, lower latencies and more reliability.

Etisalat embarked on its 5G journey four years ago when it started construction of the network with a dedicated team of engineers and

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COVER STORY

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specialists to build one of the most advanced networks in the region.

In the same year, a number of strategic partnerships were signed with global technology companies to carry out trials and implement advanced technologies and solutions on the network. A series of tests were carried out in the infrastructure to gauge the extent of 5G readiness and get an insight into the upgrades required to launch the first 5G network in the region. The goal was to get the network ready for dataheavy applications and content to be broadcasted across media platforms during Expo 2020.

Another significant milestone in 2016 was the successful completion of the first live 5G experiment using millimeter waves (mmWave). This showcase was the first of its kind in the MENA region with Etisalat becoming the first telco globally to test speed at 36 Gbps on a 5G network. This was followed with another global milestone in 2017 with a speed showcase of 71Gbps, setting a new global record in data transfer speed using e-band and massive MIMO technology.

5G a reality for the next generation Early in 2018, Etisalat set global benchmarks in 5G technology and on the network. Etisalat successfully conducted a 5G trial with outdoor mobility. The trial demonstrated 5G capabilities in a real world environment over a live network, including tests on speed, latency and beam steering. The 5G trial system used 800MHz of spectrum in the 15GHz band, and demonstrated over 20 times greater performance than what was currently used in 4G networks. The trial also achieved an aggregate site throughput of more than 24Gbps, a significant improvement over current 4G networks.

Another major milestone for Etisalat and the telecom industry was the launch of the first commercial 5G wireless network in the UAE, becoming the first telecom operator in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to achieve this

Etisalat was the first operator to have a fully developed commercial 5G network

technological milestone and set an industry benchmark. Etisalat was the first operator to have a fully developed commercial 5G network available to provide gigabit internet services to its customers. The network will fuel enterprises’ digital transformation, IoT, smart cities and the fourth industrial revolution.

Etisalat’s network will provide the most advanced digital telecom services to Expo 2020 Dubai and its millions of visitors, supporting an expected 300,000 users on peak days. It will be a key component of the Expo 2020 ‘smart site’ that will deliver a unique and memorable experience to the millions of visitors.

5G-Ready-Set-Go Etisalat is now ready to launch 5G

services for all consumers, with its infrastructure and network equipped to support 5G devices set to launch by global mobile device manufacturers in 2019.

With continuous investments in technology and innovation on the network, Etisalat’s infrastructure can enable 5G connectivity today for all fixed devices expected to be launched in the first half of this year.

Etisalat’s technical teams are building 5G network sites to enable 5G coverage across the country.

Our network and infrastructure will be ready to provide the service as soon as the 5G mobile handsets are available in UAE. With 5G technology, consumers will witness unprecedented maximum speeds of 10Gbps.

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COVER STORY

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This enabled us to launch innovative services meeting the growing demand and changing requirements of our customers. At the same time, Etisalat’s 3G and 4G network coverage has set a benchmark by reaching 99.73 percent and 98.95 percent respectively.

Etisalat was recently recognized as the ‘The Most Valuable Portfolio Brand’ in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by Brand Finance for the third year in a row, as recognition for the company’s impressive portfolio of brands, becoming the first Middle East group to break the $10 billion barrier in terms of wider portfolio value.

Our robust network is a pillar in our long-term digital strategy

With a majority of 5G deployments to be implemented by 2020 on a global level, by the end of 2024, industry estimates indicate a projection of 1.5 billion 5G subscriptions, accounting for 17 percent of all mobile subscriptions at that time. Etisalat foresees the future of connectivity and is already exploring use cases with new technologies and services that will blend our physical and digital world.

Leading the way to the future Innovation and digital transformation are key to our success, and a result of our strategy and vision at the next level of development that has led the company to play a greater role in the digital lives of consumers and enterprises. This forms the

backbone of a robust and one of the most advanced, fastest and widest networks in the region.

Infrastructure investments have been key to this growth and leadership in the market. This continuous investment has led to the modernization of mobile and fiber optic networks and infrastructure, development through investments in future technologies such as IoT, AI and 5G. Our robust network is a pillar in our long-term digital strategy that has helped in maintaining consistent leadership globally in setting benchmarks in the telecom industry.

For instance, the UAE remains a global leader in terms of FTTH penetration.

Today, Etisalat boasts a portfolio of brands such as Etisalat Misr, Mobily, Ufone, Maroc Telecom, PTCL and Etisalat Afghanistan. The company has also seen an 8 percent growth since last year, becoming the first Middle Eastern brand to hold such a wide portfolio. For the second consecutive year, Etisalat also retained its position as the most valuable consumer brand in the Middle East and Africa.

Operating in 15 countries across Asia, Middle East and Africa, Etisalat’s success can also be attributed to its continued efforts in developing its customer loyalty program, sports sponsorship commitments and in driving the digital future to empower societies.

Several factors have attributed to the success and growth of Etisalat’s brand value, mainly driven by an innovative customer service driven strategy, adapting well to a digital savvy marketplace, leading the 5G revolution and the successful launch of global brand building initiatives. Etisalat has reached out and engaged with its consumers across markets with global branding initiatives by sponsoring global football teams and clubs aligning with the brand’s priorities of being at the forefront of major sporting events. Etisalat also launched the new positioning campaign ‘Together Matters’ to highlight togetherness among its subscribers in today’s world of connectivity.

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Strong outlook and company performance Etisalat continued to deliver on its promise of strong performance despite the increasing global economic challenges and the mounting pressure facing the telecom industry. We have showcased good results underpinned by our continued commitment and investments toward next generation services and solutions, adding remarkable value to the communities we serve and enhancing customer experience.

Our corporate strategy has enabled us to consistently push boundaries, by responding swiftly to the global digital advancements and proactively delivering cutting-edge services and solutions to our customers. We will continue to focus on creating the world’s best and leading networks across our markets to deliver longterm value to all our stakeholders.

Etisalat Group is confidently moving forward in enriching lives and enabling societies across markets. As a group, we will continue our efforts to sustain a healthy portfolio that

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maximizes synergies and focuses on enhancing customer experience.

Synergy among our operations Etisalat’s efforts across its operating companies have helped solidify our position with our superior network, strong core business and new revenue streams.

With an international footprint that extends across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, Etisalat Group operates in a wide array of macro-economic contexts. Whilst the group anticipates market fluctuations and changes in certain markets, we expect to transform business and operating models with our dynamic and adaptable corporate strategy in order to thrive in these varying contexts.

The successful launch of 4G services in Egypt was a testimony to our efforts and a key milestone in the country, as it served as a catalyst for economic growth and delivers benefits to the entire society.

Additionally, with the deployment of VoLTE in 2018, Etisalat Misr has continuously played a significant

Etisalat recently was recognised as the ‘The Most Valuable Portfolio Brand’ in Middle East and North Africa

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role in the development of Egypt’s telecom sector. In Saudi Arabia, Mobily’s strategic vision under the Saudi Vision 2030 saw investments and partnerships to develop 5G and bolster the advanced network in the country.

Etisalat will focus on ‘driving the digital future to empower societies’ to explore the future of connectivity as it fuels new technologies and services that will blend our different maturity levels in each market.

Fostering innovation and entrepreneurship Etisalat has always believed in the power of creating long-term value and success by fostering the growth of tomorrow’s innovators and entrepreneurs. We are constantly looking to tap into the possibilities of the booming startup ecosystem.

Etisalat is looking at nurturing entrepreneurial growth by creating partnerships that will provide them the platform to grow and showcase their abilities.

We were able to work together with these young innovators and entrepreneurs to imagine, design and co-create the future. Our teams focused on solving complex challenges while leveraging assets to create unparalleled opportunities.

We will continue our efforts to sustain a healthy portfolio that maximizes synergies

With the accelerator, whose mission is to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of strategic sectors in the region, Etisalat worked with government entities and scale-ups to co-create solutions to address both the local and global challenges of the future. This partnership was part of Etisalat Digital’s strategy to bring the latest technologies and innovations to enable a smart ecosystem.

Etisalat has also collaborated with the open innovation ecosystem with its own innovation program ‘Future Now’ that focused on introducing new ways of collaborating with startups, IoT developers, government entities, enterprises and end users. Young companies get a platform to engage with experts, have access to Etisalat’s

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robust network and use digital technologies to build viable products and create new revenue streams.

The ultramodern ‘Open Innovation Centre’ provided a platform to showcase these digital technologies and was in line with the overall strategy to empower society across our customers and enable them with solutions and services on this digital journey. Businesses had the opportunity to experience Etisalat solutions applied in real-world scenarios and get a comprehensive view of technologies that deliver concrete business outcomes.

Our digitization efforts are not limited to business products and services, but also provide a digital experience for our customers. Customer experience has seen revolutionary changes using innovative digital platforms to interact with and enhance the overall engagement while continually creating new innovative products and offerings to meet their changing needs and requirements.

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For instance, Etisalat implemented advanced systems for in-depth analysis and customer feedback management modules implemented across all touch points to collect on-the-spot feedback on customer interactions.

Another example is speech analytics utilizing next generation tools and systems to analyze voice-based communications aimed at enhancing service quality, and derive actionable insights to better fulfil the needs and expectations of our customers and ensure a seamless experience.

With our portfolio of services for enterprise solutions, Etisalat offers a wide range of integrated services, from office connectivity to networking solutions. Etisalat has tailored solutions for the SMB sector to deliver the best possible value and a competitive offering. We have set up the first dedicated business hub for SMBs that is committed to providing owners with tailored, advanced solutions that increase their productivity and profitability.

We are constantly looking to tap into the possibilities of the booming startup ecosystem

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OPINIONS

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5G: A new battleground for smart cities

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f Middle Eastern cities and countries are to compete on the global stage for smart city dominance, increased cooperation between the telecom industry and government is crucial. Collaborative efforts will ensure policies and procedures are followed in order to rollout and integrate services seamlessly. By creating a suitable environment for new technologies to flourish through policies such as flexible taxation, fair spectrum pricing and facilitating access to licenses, the government has the power to accelerate the arrival of 5G and thereby offer new venues of growth for operators and organizations in their nations.

On a larger scale, global collaboration is also vital to success. In our hightech world, no company – or country – is an island. We are in a world of information. In an information

The arrival of 5G will accelerate digital transformation on a global scale – this we’ve known for years. But on a local level, the technology will ignite a competitive battleground that has the potential to define the status and prosperity of entire cities. Those cities wishing to remain competitive, at the forefront of globalization, and to facilitate AI will be compelled to integrate the next generation of cellular communication across business, tech, medical and transport sectors to unlock new venues of growth and innovation for organizations. society, interdependence between one another is unavoidable. And it is these interdependencies that drive human society to advance.

Technological progress calls for the concerted efforts of thousands or even tens of thousands of companies working in tandem.

With 5G deployment on the horizon, Huawei is laying the foundations for people and organizations to reap the fruits of these new networks by nurturing a global ICT ecosystem. In the region, we are strengthening our partnerships with operators to plan for tailor-made basestations and sites built to the specific requirements of a locality.

We are providing the customized infrastructure a city needs to wield 5G in its own way, as per its strategic roadmap.

5G is ON As the 5G world dawns, we can

begin to imagine the possibilities it presents. 5G will ultimately transform the way devices connect to the internet, and more importantly, to one another. While 4G was a massive upgrade from 3G, 5G is catalyzing the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ - a level of mobile connectivity that will power state-of-the-art technology such as AI, autonomous transport, cloud computing and smart home appliances. In a real-life scenario, a network of self-driving cars would all be connected via 5G, transmitting data between each other, communicating with traffic lights and road sensors which could bring an end to road accidents and even banish the bane of cities: traffic. These benefits extend beyond the tech sphere to the environment, reducing pollution and potentially reversing the effects of years of environmental damage. In healthcare, robotic devices could carry out surgeries remotely and

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simultaneously with the assistance of expert surgeons on the opposite side of the globe. As for connectivity, 5G will allow for a more personalized web experience called web slicing, which is a way of creating separate wireless networks that allow users to create their own bespoke network.

These examples provide just a small glimpse at the potential for 5G to enrich our everyday lives, but in ways that add up to influence a citizen or business’s decision over whether to settle in a location. By laying a sound foundation for 5G, governments will immeasurably improve the social and economic environment of cities.

AI enabling the intelligent operations In 2016, we announced our vision for the future intelligent world, where all things are connected, all things are sensing and all things are intelligent.

We have been working hard to realize this vision. Last year, we announced our full-stack artificial intelligence solution for all scenarios. We doubled the computing power of AI chipsets.

Moving forward, our efforts will focus on making AI easy to use and more accessible.

An area where we have made recent breakthroughs involves using AI at 5G basestations to conduct site surveys.

Where site surveys and data collation were previously performed manually, the introduction of AI has allowed engineers to generate 3D site graphs and complete site surveys with only a few site photos required. Information entry and collation are completed on the cloud where survey reports are automatically generated. AI makes the site survey process much more efficient, accurate and faster, and this example illustrates one of the many ways we are providing a competitive edge: by providing a 360-degree answer.

We are leading the industry in other regards: there are only several companies in the world working on 5G infrastructure equipment, and not many companies are engaged in microwave technology. Huawei is the only company in the world that can integrate 5G basestations

OPINIONS with the most advanced microwave technology.

With that capability, Huawei’s 5G basestations do not require fiber connections. Instead, they can use superfast microwave to support ultra-wide bandwidth backhauls. This is a compelling solution that makes a lot of economic sense for regions around the globe, and no other competitor offers it.

Our industry leadership is a direct result of our unparalleled investment in and dedication to R&D; over the past decade or so, we have invested 12%–15% of our annual revenue in R&D, adding up to a total of over USD 58bn. This investment has put us at least one year ahead of the industry in terms of technology, commercial use and industry influence, and we now rank first in the industry as the choice for global operators deploying 5G networks. We were the first to unveil 5G-compatible devices in preparation for largescale deployment at MWC last year. Providing end-to-end 5G solutions, we have to date signed 30 commercial 5G contracts worldwide, including nine in the Middle East, and shipped over 25,000 5G basestations.

Globally, this positions us as trusted and experienced architects for setting up 5G on behalf of operators.

Innovation inspiring new growth Our investment in 5G is a product of our commitment to support the national visions of the governments in the markets in which we operate; we firmly believe that 5G will accelerate digital transformation and enable Middle East countries to reach their goal of becoming diversified, knowledge-based economies. We want to spark the age of smart cities and empower them with the tools they need to compete on the global stage.

Bringing digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world is the Huawei vision. The launch of commercial 5G services in the GCC will be crucial to fully embracing AI while boosting the revenue of

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telecom services that have been in decline. In the UAE, AI is embedded within the UAE Vision 2031, a strategy that’s spearheading the nation’s ‘smart government’. The next generation AI-enabled government will reduce costs by 50% and boast 90% resistance to financial crises, placing it in a far stronger position to create a prosperous environment for residents and businesses. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, we want to align with the country’s Vision 2030 goal of a nation-wide digital infrastructure.

By 2025, the number of 5G connections across the MENA region will reach 50 million, according to projections by GSM association.

We are steadfast in our plans to deploy 5G across the GCC to address business needs, create new revenue streams, and bolster economic growth, ultimately powering the smart 5G cities of the future. By collaborating with our customers and partners here in the Middle East, we will ensure that the region leads the race to the age of smart cities.

By Charles Yang, president of Huawei Middle East

Our efforts will focus on making AI easy to use and more accessible

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ICT FEATURE

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Data brokers facing intense scrutiny as European regulators clamp down The introduction of the iPhone in 2008 fundamentally reshaped how societies in the Western world functioned. Smartphones have completely altered the way we interact with each other and no other technological innovation has had a bigger impact on our daily lives.

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owever, the phenomenal adoption of smartphones globally has resulted in mass quantities of personal data becoming available for data brokers. These brokers then subsequently harvest the private information and sell it to various different industries. This sensitive information is invaluable for companies and enterprises looking to sell their products or goods by finding out the habits and likes of its targeted market.

For years, these data brokers have collected information about consumers

and have operated in the shadows unaffected and unregulated. However, following the high-profile Cambridge Analytica scandal, everything has changed. The role of data brokers and how data is shared has come under intense scrutiny. It appeared that the general public was finally awakened to the dangers of data harvesting and how companies were using their personal information without their consent.

It became a major political scandal when it became clear that the UK firm had used the personal data of millions of people’s Facebook accounts without their consent and used it for political purposes. The information was used to gauge political opinion in

the Brexit referendum and the 2016 US Presidential election.

However, it has since been described as a watershed moment and has led to governments both in Europe and the US to demand that tech companies impose tighter regulations on how their data is processed and used.

Europe has been actively pursuing legislation that forces enterprises and organizations to take more responsibility with regards to how they manage the data they’ve been provided with. The European Commission reinforced this mindset with the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) -

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ICT FEATURE

Europe’s new privacy law brought into effect in May, 2018.

behemoth of breaking European data protection rules.

The European Commission has forecasted that the value of the data brokering market in Europe will reach $107bn by 2020, and the IDC has projected that data vendor sales will increase to $10.1bn by 2022, which represents a significant rise from $3.1bn in 2017.

UK information commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, expressed her grave concerns that their policies on data are not aligned with those clearly outlined in law and in direct conflict with the rules of the General Data Protection Regulation.

However, it has also emerged that campaign group Privacy International has submitted a formal request to the EU to have seven data brokers investigated in relation to data protection concerns. It is clearly evident that European regulators are seriously concerned about the way the industry has been operating and is devising a clear blueprint in a bid to clamp it out.

Mathias Moulin, director for the Protection of Rights and Sanctions at French data protection watchdog CNIL, expressed his reservations about the way the sector currently operates and has insisted that many brokers are being disingenuous in relation to how they’re processing the personal data of consumers.

Moulin said, “They are all processing personal data, and there is absolutely no doubt about that. They all try to say that it’s anonymous to lower the pressure from the public, but that’s not true. They know that and we know that.”

Much of the focus in relation to data protection and violations has focused on large tech companies like Facebook.

However, regulators and policymakers from the UK, France and Ireland are also examining the data-mining industry in an effort to uncover how these less established or recognized brokers are flourishing in the current climate.

As aforementioned above, Privacy International has been a leading advocate for regulation and changes in data and one of the seven brokers it asked the European regulators to investigate was US multinational, Oracle. It accused the software

Denham said, “We’re concerned about whether or not their practices are compliant with the laws. We’re looking at how they conduct their business and their general compliance with GDPR. There certainly does appear to be a dynamic tension between the way businesses are conducted and the principles in the GDPR.” Jeffrey Chester, who is an executive director of the center for Digital Democracy in Washington, has said that the advent of this new digital revolution means that all users are invisibly attached to a living, breathing database that tracks their every move.

According to Chester, the rapid growth of smartphone adoption has inevitably led to an exponential increase in online data, which in turn has created a new species of data harvesters, which he calls ‘privacy death-stars’.

Chester said, “The explosive growth of online data has led to the emergence of the super data broker – the privacy death-stars such as Oracle, Nielsen and Salesforce that provide one-stop shopping for hundreds of different data points which can be added into a single person’s file.”

There has been an outpouring of criticism towards data brokers in relation to how they mislead people by claiming data are truly anonymous.

Moulin from CNIL added, “None of these actors are processing anonymous data, they are processing personal data. Data on location is very sensitive with data on location you can identify a real person.”

Other regulators say businesses may fall foul of GDPR if sensitive data can be inferred from these audience categories. The European rules insist on higher standards for any data revealing demographics such as racial or ethnic

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origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or trade union membership.

One senior official at one prominent European data protection regulator said, “We will be asking organizations to justify if they have names that suggest a special category of data.”

John Mitchison, head of Policy and Compliance at the Data & Marketing Association, the trade body for datadriven businesses said that many data broking entities have already started to make changes to its fundamental day to day operations in order to fall into place of what is required for GDPR. He said, “When GDPR came in, people were forced to look at the legislation and realized the tech they were using was right at the boundary and limit of the existing law.”

What has become clear is that there has been a sharp awakening from users in our digital-driven society that there are perils associated with us becoming dependent on internet-connected devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops.

Our personal information should be important to us, but for far too long there was a carefree attitude from the majority of users globally in relation to us sharing our information online.

Coupled with the fact that there were data brokers hoovering and harvesting all of this data up in order to sell to companies has unsurprisingly caused a reaction, especially when that data was taken without consent and used to determine the outcome of democratic elections.

Data brokering was previously a relatively unregulated industry, but European regulators are clamping down and are ensuring they comply with the strict guidelines of GDPR. Technology is fantastic and can transform our lives, but it’s important to ensure that it is not used against us, and the sweeping GDPR regulations in Europe have started a conversation that really should have happened years ago. Data is the new oil, but how our data is shared should be determined by us and not companies.

INTERVIEW

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By 2023, touch will become a Digital Network Accelerator, says CEO Emre Gurkan

Emre Gurkan during touch’s first 5G Commercial trial

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ouch launched the first 5G commercial trial in Lebanon in 2018. Where are you in your 5G journey today?

In cooperation with Lebanon’s Telecom Ministry, touch is fast-tracking its 5G aspirations of

5G will soon be a reality in Lebanon thanks to the tremendous efforts deployed by Lebanese operator, touch, managed

by Zain Group. Last year, Touch conducted the the first commercial trial of 5G in Lebanon and will continue working on developing the required infrastructure and network in order to meet its 5G aspirations.

Telecom Review spoke to Emre Gurkan, Chief Executive Officer, touch, to discuss the progress the operator has made in its 5G journey in addition to the importance of MIC Ventures Fund in which touch is an active stakeholder.

offering state-of-the-art connectivity to the Lebanese business and individual community, empowering and enhancing their digital lifestyle.

heavy investment and resources the Group has dedicated to implementing the service in key markets across the region.

Furthermore, given that touch is a Zain Group managed operation, we are benefiting immensely from the expertise that Zain provides, given the

The advanced 5G implementation stages that Zain complements touch in preparing its infrastructure for 5G, having already implemented

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fiber to the core, fiber to the hub, and we are planning to deploy fiber to the site. Touch has officially requested an allocation of 5G C-band frequencies, implemented a cloud core infrastructure, and we are in the process of implementing clusters of eNode Bs that are 5G-ready from a hardware perspective.

We are planning to implement orchestration and software defined networking (SDN) in the coming couple of years. In the short-term, touch will deploy its first commercial 5G site, followed by a commercial 5G cluster.

We conducted the first commercial 5G trial in Lebanon in 2018 using Huawei equipment over C-band frequencies, which are the same commercial 5G services that will be delivered over in the coming years. We continue to modernize our network by building up the technical capabilities required to introduce 5G and analyzing the possible business models and services that national 5G systems could support.

Touch has already begun to fill up coverage gaps related to its network and progressively migrating its backbone traffic to fiber. In 2019, we will start re-farming more bands to LTE and strengthening the LTE layer for future 5G interworking. In addition to that, we will be releasing telco cloud starting with virtualization and going forward to private cloud.

During this year, touch will modernize and prepare its core network for 5G, introducing 4T4R and 4-componentcarrier aggregation (4CC) in hotspot and high-value areas. We will deploy NB-IoT technology in order to bring 5G IoT use cases into reality, and unlike previous generations of mobile networks, 5G technology is expected to fundamentally transform the role that telecommunications technology plays in society.

Once 5G is launched, huge amounts of data will be generated by the second. How will an operator like touch handle data increases?

We expect the launch of 5G to create lots of hype in the market, putting

The First 5G commercial trial at the Grand Serail

touch is fast-tracking its 5G aspirations of offering state-of-the-art connectivity to the Lebanese community

Lebanon firmly on the world telecom map contributing to the growth of the country’s economic development on multiple fronts. From technical perspective, touch will have its network ready for the increase in traffic generated by 5G through the deployment of relevant transmission technologies over both fiber and microwave from the site to the internet. We will also boost capacity on the radio access network, evolved packet core and by bringing the internet closer to the user/site through mobile edge computing.

We must invest in all network domains, including spectrum, radio access network (RAN) infrastructure, transmission and core networks in order to cope with growing data demand once the 5G is launched.

Many elements of current 5G technology build on 4G networks, rather than representing a complete departure, and this means touch can take an evolutionary approach to infrastructure investment.

For instance, we began upgrading the capacity of our existing 4G macro

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touch TIP Cohort Graduation Ceremony network by re-farming a portion of our 2G and 3G spectrum. In addition to that, we will be evolving to VoLTE (Voice over LTE) and LTE-Pro features, such as 4x4 or massive MIMO (a multiple input, multiple output technology), allowing itself to minimize investments while the incremental revenue potential of 5G remains uncertain.

When network upgrades are no longer sufficient to support the increased data traffic, touch will need to build new macro sites or small cells. That point in time will vary by location, but eventually we will need to embark on significant new build-out once 5G revenue growth is significant.

To improve transmission, we will have to invest in fiber in order to help our network meet capacity and latency requirements. On the core level, we will benefit from broader IT advances, such as network functional virtualization and software defined networking, allowing our networks to provide capacity at lower unit cost. These advances support reconfigurability, scalability and agility.

Industry commentators often mention network sharing as an important element in a successful 5G deployment experience. Do you think that network sharing is an option in Lebanon?

Operators across the globe are unlocking the value (capital and resources) in passive infrastructure by either selling the passive infrastructure or optionally sharing the sites and focus on core operations in enhancing the customer mobile

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experience. Should touch undertake either instance, it’s important to note that touch will always retain its intelligent software, technology and intellectual property with respect to managing its network.

discussions with MoT to give this idea as a sustainable and structured roadmap that can boost and provide much needed stimulus to the country’s digital startup ecosystem.

The fund will:

Network sharing lowers the high total cost of ownership of 5G and accelerates its deployment and focuses the differentiation between competing operators towards services and pricing. Network sharing can be done on active or passive equipment, and on new or existing sites. Since 5G will require the addition of a high number of new sites, passive infrastructure sharing for the new sites could be an interesting area to consider for sharing. So, the key option in Lebanon is sharing of infrastructure sites that will help operators accelerate 5G deployment while saving infrastructure costs.

• Serve as a vehicle to pool capital and expertise from key mobile operators for investment in early stage and mid-level startup companies predominantly specialized in providing cuttingedge innovative telecommunication solutions and services; • Provide these companies with strategic partnerships, thus attracting and safeguarding the IP and innovation in Lebanon; • Support and monetize existing and future innovation in mobile related technologies while offsetting decreasing revenues from traditional voice and data services; • Create employment opportunities for technology and telecom entrepreneurs.

Touch is developing strategies for 5G to cope with the expected growth in network cost. Standard measures will involve cost-saving efforts and new revenue models, but we will also need to explore more alternative approaches such as network sharing (the joint building of new 5G networks). This last option is not applicable in Lebanon because it requires a major reform in the telecommunication sector by the government. The reform initiatives might include the privatization and licensing of the country’s one fixed and two mobile networks.

This large-scale liberalization of the telecommunications market, if accomplished, could provide a well-timed opportunity to allow infrastructure-sharing arrangements to facilitate joint 5G deployment and operation of new network elements.

A year ago, the Ministry of Telecommunications launched an ICT fund dubbed ‘MIC Ventures’ to boost innovation in Lebanon. How is touch involved in this initiative?

This is something we are excited about, being a pet project for many of the 700 strong touch teams.

Touch, as MIC 2, owns 50 percent of the MIC ventures and led the

Mobile operators have reached the scale that startups lack, while startups have the local innovation mobile operators need – starting corporate VC funds has become a universal telecom operator trend and best practice.

The fund’s goal is to give Lebanese early and mid-level startup companies not only financial funding but also experienced business support and scale, thus allowing them to compete in a continuously evolving technological environment.

As touch, we are offering startups a market of more than 2.3 million users to test their products, which is essential. Touch is also open for co-investments and ready to help startups that succeed in the local market to take their products abroad.

One of touch’s own initiatives is that we created the touch innovation program (TIP), which selects highpotential entrepreneurs as touch innovators and offers them benefits to develop their startups. The program identifies and selects eight to 12 startups a year. The startups are

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2019

selected twice a year, with four to six companies accepted every six months. Those selected have access to touch digital and innovation location that serves as a working space for meetings, product/service launches and workshops.

In your opinion, how important is operators’ role, and touch’s role in particular, in boosting the country’s economy?

Mobile operators are at the heart of the mobile ecosystem that consists of infrastructure providers; retailers and distributors of mobile products and services; mobile device manufacturers; and mobile content, application and service providers.

The direct economic contribution to a country’s GDP of these firms is very important. Similarly, touch is contributing directly to the economy of Lebanon. This contribution can be estimated by measuring the value added to the economy, including employee compensation, business operating surplus and taxes.

In addition, touch is indirectly contributing to GDP by stimulating further economic activities in different major sectors such as tourism, knowledge economy, financial services, industry and agriculture, which are ranked as the top five sectors that present the highest economic potential for Lebanon in a recent plan by Mckinsey presented to the Lebanese government. The indirect contribution could be in the form of mobile voice and text services that allow workers and firms to communicate more efficiently and effectively, or mobile data bundles and internet services for SoHo and enterprises that allow workers and firms to cut travel and logistics costs.

Improved access to information and services drives efficiency in business processes across many industries. The impact of mobile internet is particularly significant in a developing country like Lebanon, where fixed infrastructure is mostly confined to the capital Beirut. Touch’s strategy in becoming a digital network accelerator by 2023 through digitizing its core capabilities, modernizing

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its network, backing startups, and undertaking IoT businesses will also allow for the digitization of services and improvement of industrial processes across the country.

by content and smart connectivity (IoT), digital value added services and B2B. We will also be focused on better customer experience across all interactions.

As these technologies become increasingly adopted, we expect them to create significant benefits by driving cost savings and operational efficiency gains in areas such as manufacturing, logistics, retail and most importantly the knowledge economy.

We also have it in mind to equip our human capital and enhance our digital capabilities in order to begin a transformation journey into becoming a Digital Network Accelerator by 2023. Touch will start building up the core with the digital capabilities; modernizing the network; launching new digital and innovation offerings and value propositions via solid partnerships; digitizing the different channels; establishing innovative and digitally-enabled sales channels; launching new customer-centric offerings and value; and focusing mainly on B2B and IoT businesses.

Touch is present this year at MWC. What do you aim to achieve from your participation and how important is it to take part in this international event?

Touch has been present and benefitting from the MWC since 2005 through its parent company Zain Group’s distinguished presence, although last year we participated with the Telecom Ministry’s coordinated Lebanon Pavilion, like we will in 2019. The networking effect of having all telecom stakeholders in one place is important – that is why we look forward to MWC every year to renew old vows and make new ones based on upcoming trends and proven business models and technologies.

During this year’s appearance at the show, we are set to undertake the following: • Showcase best practices in 5G roll out including frequencies selection, deployment strategies, applications and services • Showcase massive IoT deployment best practices, strategies, services, devices • Showcase revenue generating services over 4.5G and 5G What will be touch’s top priority for 2019 and what are the projects and plans that will be implemented this year?

Minutes, megabytes and SMS are over and saturated. We look forward to finding new and sustainable revenue streams in 2019 that will bring relevance to telecom to the Lebanese community. This will be driven mainly

We are offering startups a market of more than 2.3 million users to test their products

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OPERATORS’ NEWS

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Etisalat Digital signs agreements to accelerate adoption of AI and blockchain in ME core technology and be able to demonstrate traction and substantial use cases.

Future Now, the innovation program of Etisalat, has signed agreements with four scale-ups to develop artificial intelligence and blockchain solutions following the successful Dubai Future Accelerators programme.

The signing ceremony also marked the opening of the Future Now scale-up collaborative space for Etisalat Digital’s partners, namely Yitu Technology (China), Com IoT Technologies (UAE), 300cubits (Hong Kong) and Tradefin (USA).

They were chosen based on their capability to build and launch their

As part of the fifth cohort of Dubai Future Accelerators, Etisalat Digital launched in July this year three challenges to companies across the world. Out of all the companies that applied, seven companies were selected to address these challenges.

The companies had the opportunity to network with a number of key stakeholders and have access to resources and expertise.

Etisalat Digital selected two companies, Yitu Technology (China) and Com IoT Technologies (UAE), for the first challenge that sought to leverage artificial intelligence for video surveillance systems and create solutions that would reduce crime rates and road congestion.

To support the UAE 2021 vision of making the UAE the safest place in the world, the challenge focused on

scale-ups that could deliver solutions that would analyze behavior and predict crime-related patterns, in addition to enhancing transportation issues like congestion and accidents, and take automated decisions with the use of artificial intelligence on existing video surveillance systems.

The second challenge addresses the use of blockchain to reduce the transactional costs and complexity in business processes for banks, governments and private organizations, with the goal of reducing the costs and complexity by 40 percent over five years. 300cubits (Hong Kong) was selected for this challenge.

Tradefin (USA) was selected for the last challenge that was focused on the adoption of blockchain to enable exchange across various loyalty currencies and to transform a loyalty currency into a crypto currency that can be used to perform online and physical transactions.

Ooredoo Group achieves first international 5G call in the Arab region The call was originated by Sheikh Saud from Ooredoo’s headquarters in Doha, and received by Sheikh Mohammed in Ooredoo Kuwait’s headquarters. It took place using 5G CPEs connected at 5G speeds of up to 1 Gbps showcasing the incredible potential of 5G. Ooredoo Group has announced that it has successfully trialed the first international 5G call in the Arab world.

Ooredoo’s call was between Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al-Thani, chief executive officer, Ooredoo Group and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulla Bin Mohammed Al-Thani, chief executive officer, Ooredoo Kuwait.

Also present were senior representatives from Ooredoo Group, Ooredoo Qatar and Ooredoo Kuwait, in addition to respective government officials and invited media.

Ooredoo Qatar became the first operator in the world to launch a live, commercially available 5G network in May 2018 and has since worked tirelessly to ensure it will be ready for use as soon as 5G devices become commercially available. 5G is set to revolutionize mobile and fixed connectivity, with super-fast internet speeds, extreme throughput and low latency.

Also, Ooredoo Kuwait had announced the launch of the trial 5G for its

customers last June 2018. The 5G trial launch came as the company prepares to release the biggest network of the revolutionary internet of the future across Kuwait in 2019. This comes in tandem with Ooredoo Group’s plans to roll out 5G across its markets, following the launch of the new high capacity technology in Doha.

Detailed 5G network testing is now underway across both the Qatar and Kuwait 5G networks, and plenty of the incredible possibilities of 5G have already been showcased by Ooredoo, including a driverless aerial taxi, 5G broadband in a moving vehicle and never-before-seen gaming quality.

With this announcement, Ooredoo joins major global telco players in successfully trialing 5G calls.

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OPERATORS’ NEWS

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EITC announces its first blockchain solution for healthcare sector Du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), has announced its latest Blockchain Platform as a Service (BPaaS) use case by entering into a collaboration with Dhonor HealthTech – a leading national company focused on global healthcare blockchain solutions – to build the UAE’s first Patient Safety Blockchain Solution.

Building on its commitment to championing innovation to create a better society for all, du’s BPaaS use case will empower and enrich lives through the country’s first patientcentric safety verification blockchain solution.

This builds on the telco’s proud legacy of delivering life-changing technological solutions and will support the nation’s progress towards achieving the UAE Blockchain Strategy 2021 in creating a paperless economy and digitally transform the country.

Not only is blockchain used for data integrity over a decentralized network, but it also ensures high security and transparency of data that allows a patient-centric approach to blockchain in healthcare. This incorporates direct communication with key stakeholders, access to healthcare resources and verification of authentic medicines, which are the main drivers of the Patient Safety Blockchain solution.

This solution is design on du’s BPaas in order to provide authenticity and compliance traceability that delivers the transparency and trust that has eluded the healthcare industry to date.

With immutable data, it has the potential to give all stakeholders access to reliable information, including the origin, state and viability of use for medical products. The solution is based on NFC tags standards that enable access to blockchain solution

in order to verify if blood bags and pharmaceutical products are authentic across the medical supply chain.

Du’s BPaaS is a cloud native blockchain infrastructure that can provision private blockchain networks with a high level of customization, support multiple consensus algorithms, with monitoring, managing capabilities and smart contract capabilities which will give its users the ability to create blockchain networks, deploy and run their use cases, using intuitive UI (User interface). Without much knowledge of blockchain networks configuration and DevOps, the platform supports Etherum and Hyperledger Fabric v1.3 frameworks.

The solution therefore ensures patient’s safety and solves the problems of many patients encountering counterfeit medications and wait times for trusted blood bags.

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2019

VENDORS’ NEWS

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Huawei launches datacenter switch built specifically for AI era which is becoming a key bottleneck of the AI commercial process.

Chinese telecommunication vendor Huawei has unveiled the industry’s first datacenter switch built for the artificial intelligence (AI) era, which has been named as the ‘CloudEngine 16800’, at its network product launch event for Spring 2019 themed “A CloudEngine Built for the AI Era”.

Huawei defines three characteristics of datacenter switches in the AI era: embedded AI chip, 48-port 400GE line card per slot, the capability to evolve to the autonomous driving network, and innovatively incorporates AI technologies into datacenter switches. The pervasive use of AI will help customers accelerate intelligent transformation.

With the advent of the AI era, the AI computing power is affected by the performance of datacenter networks,

On a traditional ethernet, the AI computing power of datacenters can only reach up to 50 percent due to a packet loss rate of 1/1000. At the same time, the industry expects that the annual volume of data worldwide will increase from 10 zettabytes in 2018 to 180 zettabytes (180 billion terabytes) in 2025. Existing 100GE datacenter networks will be unable to handle the predicted data flood.

In addition, traditional manual O&M methods will be unable to meet requirements as the number of datacenter servers continues to increase and the computing network, storage network and data network become converged. It is therefore imperative that innovative technologies be developed and introduced to improve the intelligent O&M capability.

The CloudEngine 16800, the first datacenter switch in the industry to leverage the power of an embedded high performance AI chip, uses the innovative iLossless algorithm to implement autosensing and auto-optimization of the

traffic model, thereby realizing lower latency and higher throughput based on zero packet loss.

The CloudEngine 16800 overcomes the computing power limitations caused by packet loss on the traditional ethernet, increasing the AI computing power from 50 percent to 100 percent and improving the data storage Input/Output Operations Per-Second (IOPS) by 30 percent. It’s the industry’s highest density 48-port 400GE line card per slot, meeting the requirements for 5-fold traffic growth in the AI era.

The CloudEngine 16800 boasts an upgraded hardware switching platform, and with its orthogonal architecture, overcomes multiple technical challenges such as high speed signal transmission, heat dissipation and power supply. It provides the industry’s highest density 48-port 400GE line card per slot and the industry’s largest 768-port 400GE switching capacity (five times the industry average), meeting the traffic multiplication requirements in the AI era.

In addition, the power consumption per bit is reduced by 50%, ensuring greener operation.

Ericsson beats expectations in Q4 Swedish telecom vendor Ericsson has surprised analysts with reduced losses in Q4 driven by the increase of sales revenues and costs reduction. Sales as reported increased by 10% year on year and sales adjusted for comparable units and currency increased by 4%. Costs related to revised Business Support Systems (BSS) strategy impacted Digital Services operating income in Q4.

Sales have gradually improved during 2018, resulting in full-year organic sales growth for the first time since 2013. This is partly due to an improved market, but also driven by market share gains in Networks as a result of a more competitive radio product portfolio.

Networks sales adjusted for comparable units and currency grew by 6% year on year and digital services sales adjusted for comparable units and currency grew by 5% year on year.

Gross margin was 25.7% (21.6%). Gross margin, excluding restructuring charges and other costs related to revised BSS strategy, improved to 36.3%, supported by cost reductions, the ramp-up of Ericsson Radio System (ERS) and the contract review in Managed Services.

Operating margin was -2.9% (-33.3%).

costs related to revised BSS strategy, was SEK -0.6 b.

Operating margin, excluding restructuring charges and other costs related to revised BSS strategy, was 8.7%.

Commenting on the results, Börje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson, said, “Our focused strategy has yielded clear results. Ericsson is today a stronger company. Increased investments in R&D for future growth, managed services contract reviews, combined with efficient cost control have proven to be successful, with improved competitiveness and profitability as a result. As the industry moves to 5G and IoT, we will now take the next step, focusing on profitable growth in a selective and disciplined way.”

Networks operating margin excluding restructuring charges was 17.5% (8.6%). The increase was driven by cost reductions, the ERS ramp-up and reversal of provisions for impairment losses on trade receivables, partly offset by increased investments in R&D. Digital Services operating income, excluding restructuring charges and

Managed Services operating margin excluding restructuring charges increased to 5.2% (-13.0%). The review of all 42 low-performing customer contracts has been completed.

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VENDORS’ NEWS

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Major technological breakthroughs crown Huawei world’s 5G leader At a 5G launch event in Beijing that doubled up as a pre-briefing for the MWC Barcelona 2019, Huawei officially launched its 5G multimode chipset Balong 5000 – along with the first commercial 5G device powered by it, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro. Together, these two new products provide the world’s fastest wireless connections for your smartphone, your home, the office and on the go.

Huawei also launched world’s first core chip specifically designed for 5G basestations, Huawei TIANGANG. The innovative chip will support simplified 5G networks and largescale 5G network deployment all over the world. To date, the company has won 30 commercial 5G contracts and shipped over 25,000 5G basestations globally.

Balong 5000 is the first chipset to perform to industry benchmarks for peak 5G download speeds. At Sub-6 GHz (low-frequency bands, the main spectrum used for 5G), Balong 5000 can achieve download speeds up to 4.6 Gbps. On mmWave spectrum (high-frequency bands used as extended spectrum for 5G), Balong 5000 can achieve download speeds up to 6.5 Gbps – 10 times faster than top 4G LTE speeds on the market today.

Balong 5000 is also the world’s first chipset that supports both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network architectures for 5G. It is also the world’s first multi-mode chipset that supports vehicle to everything (V2X) communications, providing lowlatency and highly reliable solutions for connected vehicles. Huawei’s 5G smartphones powered by Balong 5000

will be released at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

At the 5G event, Huawei also launched the industry’s first 5G core chip, Huawei TIANGANG, with breakthroughs in integration, computing power and spectral bandwidth. This chip is highly integrated, which means it can support large-scale integration of active power amplifiers (PAs) and passive antenna arrays into very small antennas. It also boasts super high computing capacity, with a 2.5fold increase over previous chips.

Using the latest algorithms and beamforming technology, a single chip can control up to 64 channels, which is the industry’s highest standard. This chip also supports the 200 MHz high spectral bandwidth, getting ready for future network deployment.

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Sofrecom co-constructing a ‘digital Middle East and Africa’

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ust over 12 months ago, Sofrecom declared that it was co-constructing ‘a digital Middle East and Africa’. Can you specify how?

Acting to make the digital revolution an accelerator of economic and social progress for the benefit of the people is the whole issue of digital transformation in the Middle East and Africa and throughout the world.

Digital is everywhere in our lives and now plays a leading role in the ways in which people, communities and businesses communicate, exchange and interact. The aim is to make life easier for everyone, to work for financial inclusion, to promote the

Enterprises are attaching great importance to digitalization as the world enters a new digital era. In order to achieve a smooth transformation, telcos need a trusted partner to help them succeed in the process. That’s where Sofrecom plays a crucial role. In an exclusive interview with Telecom Review, Guillaume Boudin, CEO, Sofrecom, highlighted what makes the company the driver of digital transformation in the MEA region and addressed the main pillars of its digital strategies. opening through easy access to online services, to rethink urban and agricultural models, and to develop economic activity.

While the region as a whole is progressing globally, all the governments are not moving at the same pace. Some stand out, pave the way. Four pillars can accelerate this digital transformation, while taking into account each country’s trends specific characteristics.

1. Development of digital strategies 2. Establishing digital infrastructure on which services can be operated 3. Innovation to develop rich digital services 4. Training and skills development,

both to boost innovation, but also to facilitate new uses Regarding these four pillars, can you outline to us in detail how Sofrecom is helping operators, enterprises and governments achieve their digital transformation goals?

We help them to build their digital strategy If the objectives of digital strategies come together to improve quality of life, economic development or the simplification of administrative procedures, the means of implementation remain countryspecific and depend on multiple parameters: social, economic, geographic, regulatory, etc.

Sofrecom, through its consulting

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activities, help governments and operators to understand the challenges of digital transformation, to define their digital vision and goals, to determine the most suitable actions to take.

Our consultants support them at all stages of their project— from master plan to the development of digital services such as mobile financial services or e-government services —in order to improve the service provided to customers or citizens.

We create with and for them the right conditions for digital performance Digital infrastructure is required in order to guarantee connectivity everywhere, or almost everywhere.

Sofrecom, through its networks and IT engineering activities, help operators and governments to implement these digital infrastructures: We assist them to design, to supervise rollout of very high speed fixed (fiber) and mobile (4G, LTE, 5G) networks and to transform their information system.

We help them to achieve optimal management of processes to improve their organization, reduce costs and increase profits, without compromising quality of service. We work alongside them to adapt their technical resources, to define the best strategy and choose the best partners.

We support them to use digital innovation as a growth driver The emergence of strong digital ecosystems will stem from close interactions that bring together companies, startups, universities, operators, public authorities and financiers.

Through Sofrecom, the innovation of Orange Group will be able to work towards the co-construction of a digital Middle East and Africa. This capacity of innovation allows us to go beyond the usual telecommunications services. We capitalize on Orange experience and expertise (e-payments, insurance, credits, e-identity, etc.), to promote digital as a factor of development and financial inclusion whether for citizens or businesses.

INTERVIEW We support operators and governments to involve their staff fully in their digital transformation project There are many different ways to digitize services, but without the necessary human skills, it would not be successful. Talent’s development t is a major challenge for addressing new digital issues. This is a key to help the innovation process, but also to enable the proper use of new digital services.

Sofrecom ’experts create with and for our customers, specific development and training plans for managers and employees through change management and capacity programs.

Were you happy with Sofrecom’s performance in 2018, and can you highlight some of the major projects you participated in?

2018 was rich in achievements for our customers and our teams. Many projects have been carried out on the four continents. I can mention few: In the area of strategy, marketing and distribution: • Market positioning and market sizing in 5G, IoT in France and Europe • Mobile Money potential studies for the B2B sector in Africa • Wholesale activity modeling projects for European and African operators • Digital strategy of an operator and its subsidiaries in the MEA zone • Several e-government projects in Ivory Coast, Niger and Indonesia • We have just completed a project to assess an operator’s customer experience in Africa.

In Europe, our due diligence consultants accompanied the integration of a fixed operator following its takeover of a mobile operator and the launch of its convergent services.

This transformation plan focused on business and IT and networks transformation.

In the area of network and IT infrastructures, our engineers and project managers: • have piloted design, supervision, audit and deployment of backbones in Africa

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• carried out feasibility studies of VHB national plans for Governments in ME and Europe • modernized the information system of an operator’s physical distribution network.

Our service and application development teams have also delivered several business applications in the areas of customer experience, e-government services, distribution and sales for our customers in France and Africa.

The majority of these projects included components of change management and skills development.

In your opinion, what is it that differentiates Sofrecom from other consulting firms in the ICT sector?

The specificity of Sofrecom lies in its multiple and complementary expertise combining both market watch, anticipation skills, business and ITN consulting and development of services. Such expertise permits to bring to our customers end-to-end support: from a strategy definition to its operational deployment.

Our intervention is part of a dynamic co-construction. Our approach is based on a shared vision and strategy with our clients, a co-definition of the short, medium and long-term objectives: this leads to co-creation between Sofrecom experts, customers and the stakeholders, of solutions adapted to the specific context and the challenges of our customers’ markets.

In addition, we seek to transfer competencies and highlight the need for support through capacity building and change management programs.

What can we expect to see from Sofrecom in 2019, and what are your primary objectives and goals for the next 12 months?

We plan to enrich our value proposition with new services and partnerships.

We will pursue our internal site “culture and skills” with a main priority being the generalization of agile methods and design thinking to all of our teams. In 2019, we will work on our new strategic plan Sofrecom Vision 2025.

The future of smart cities

starts here!

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InfiNet Wireless to stage global debut of groundbreaking spectral efficiency solution at MWC 2019

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ffering significant cost savings when compared to other cable and wireless solutions available, Quanta 5 is the first product from InfiNet Wireless designed primarily for the small home and office market and small service providers. The SoftwareDefined Radio (SDR)-based solution can be deployed easily and quickly in a diverse range of applications, from backhauling for WiFi and 4G/ LTE basestations to CCTV and videosurveillance infrastructures. It can also provide internet access to remote locations.

Designed to offer the highest spectral efficiency available in today’s wireless market, Quanta 5 easily fights and mitigates from interference in noisy radio environments whilst showcasing an unprecedented performance in less

InfiNet Wireless, the global leader in fixed broadband wireless connectivity, will showcase the latest breakthrough in cutting-edge wireless technology at Mobile World Congress 2019, where it will premiere its record-breaking spectral efficiency solution – Quanta 5.

radio spectrum. This provides service providers with an all-in-one solution which can meet the increasing demand for bandwidth, allowing them to increase their service offering to new and innovative internet of things and 5G services and applications.

“Our Quanta 5 solution is designed to address challenges such as limited spectrum availability, growing interference challenges and demands for yet more capacity as we see unprecedented growth in IoT applications and connected devices,” said Kamal Mokrani, vice president at InfiNet. “This, combined with the move towards 5G, brings new challenges to the broadband infrastructure – and it is vital that service providers have the tools to keep pace with these technology innovations and deliver the fast and reliable connectivity required. Quanta 5 helps service providers do just that, providing a high-performance, cost-

effective, easy-to-install and futureproof solution.”

Providing optimal performance in all operational scenarios, Quanta 5 can operate in sub-zero temperatures, as well as extremely hot conditions, thunderstorms and wind speeds of up to 160km per hour. It features 14 modulation coding schemes (MCS) to dynamically select the most suitable MCS to ensure delivery of all packets transmitted, even in high-interference environments.

A new design also allows new features to be implemented remotely via a firmware upgrade, even for units already deployed in the field.

InfiNet Wireless will demonstrate its Quanta 5 solution at 1D80, Hall 1, during Mobile World Congress, which takes place at the Gran Fira, Barcelona, Spain, from Monday, February 25 until Thursday, February 28, 2019.

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Planning 5G networks

The benefits of 5G will be felt first by IoT, smart cities, public safety and other real-time applications requiring fast wireless communications. While deployments are starting to appear, it is foreseen that 5G will co-exist with other radio access technologies (RATs) such as LTE-A/Pro, NB-IoT and WiFi for some time yet.

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n addition to supporting traditional services provided by the existing mobile networks, three new service categories are envisioned for 5G – enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and lowlatency communications (URLLC) and massive machine type communications (mMTC). These three new categories of services have diverse requirements in terms of bandwidth, latency, mobility, connection density and data rates.

For example, eMBB places high requirements on spectrum efficiency, peak data rate, area traffic capacity and network energy efficiency.

In order to account for a greater diversity of services supported by 5G and be spectrum and energy efficient, 5G New Radio (NR) has a much higher degree of flexibility and scalability than previous mobile networks, resulting in a more complicated radio system.

To fulfil what 5G promises, 5G NR needs to be empowered by key enabling technologies, including Millimetre wave (mmWave) communications, Massive MIMO and 3D beamforming, ultra-dense small cell and heterogeneous network (HetNet) deployments, and scalable OFDM numerologies - 2N sub-carrier spacing, scalable CP, TTI, etc.

The complexity of 5G NR, the need of cost-effective deployment and the inter-working with existing networks based on multi-RATs will bring the complexity of 5G NR network planning to an unprecedented level compared to previous generations of mobile networks.

Requirements for 5G NR network planning To reduce the cost and implementation time of 5G NR networks, the urban environments where 5G NR will be deployed need to be modelled accurately. This is mainly because mmWave signals will be affected by small objects such as trees, vegetation, street furniture, vehicles and the crowd. In addition, 5G NR will be more integrated with its operating environments. For example, small cells will be mounted under roof tops and on street furniture, antennas integrated with building structures, and IoT nodes embedded in walls, roads, etc.

GIS (Geographical Information Systems) have been widely used for outdoor network planning since the 1990s, providing multiple layers of information such as terrain, clutter and vector data.

The resolution of GIS required has evolved from 20m to 5m for 2G to 4G, but for 5G NR a resolution of 1m or better is needed to reveal objects such as trees, vegetations or lampposts.

With most mobile traffic taking place indoors or in-built environments such as Central Business Districts (CBDs), train stations, airports or shopping malls, care needs to be taken to ensure indoor and outdoor mobile coverage is seamless. In 2G/3G/4G mobile networks, most of the indoor mobile traffic is served by outdoor macrocells. However, this will become infeasible in the 5G era, as 5G’s higher frequencies are ineffective at penetrating into buildings. With an estimation that over 80% of indoor traffic will be served by mobile networks installed in buildings, there has to be a better solution. But in order to cost-effectively deploy small cells and DAS indoors, more accurate 3D building models are needed.

As indoor networks increase, interactions between indoor and outdoor become important. To achieve seamless service and minimize interference between indoor and outdoor networks, indoor and outdoor networks need to be planned and optimized in coordination. This calls for a new generation of network planning tools.

Ranplan Professional is the only radio network planning tool that delivers combined indoor and outdoor modelling capabilities and keeps pace with growing coverage and capacity complexities presented by 5G. Ranplan Professional is an all-in-one, heterogeneous network planning, optimization and simulation solution for small cells, DAS and WiFi across indoor and outdoor environments and also integrates with macro cell networks. It is used to accurately predict the received signal strength and throughput, enabling RF engineers to plan 5G NR networks with complete confidence, resulting in reduced time scales and cost in design, testing and post-deployment optimization.

Visit Ranplan Wireless at MWC 2019 Hall 7 Stand C24 https://ranplanwireless.com/

By Alastair Williamson at Ranplan Wireless

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the foundations for an agreement this year that could be approved and enter into force in 2020,” he said.

The prediction comes a year after the scheme looked doomed as member countries failed to agree a text presented to the G20. At the time, “we didn’t think we could do it this year,” acknowledged Gurria, who believes that “a space for consensus could now open up.”

The tax proposal would likely hit the sales of digital companies, instead of profits, which the tech companies tend to bank in the most tax-friendly jurisdiction. Faced with the difficulties of reaching an agreement within the OECD and even the EU, countries such as Britain, France and Spain have announced their intention to unilaterally tax the giants.

Are economies ready for digital taxes?

The term ‘digital’ has changed everything the moment it emerged and has become somehow a label. Coupled with different other factors, the world has found itself amid a whole new era built on digital transformation, digital currencies and digital economies. The change that occurred had a significant impact on consumers’ behavior, business operations, government systems, and of course, finance. This is when the concept of a digital tax was born.

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ECD SecretaryGeneral Angel Gurria said at the World Economic Forum held in January 2019 that he hopes to lay the foundations this year for an international tax on digital giants that could come into force in 2020.

The possibility of an international deal to tax US tech giants such as Amazon, Google and Facebook is sensitive, as countries threaten to go it alone and Europe is divided on the issue. “It is possible,” the head of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) told AFP at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “I believe that the conditions exist to lay

In Davos, Google vice president Ruth Porat supported the negotiations overseen by the Paris-based OECD, which groups advanced economies.

“We are very frank: we support the OECD initiative,” she said.

In 2018, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released its interim report on the tax challenges arising from digitalization, which is a follow-up to the 2015 report on addressing the tax challenges of the digital economy. In the reports, the OECD acknowledges the importance of taking into account the shift in world economies and the ensuing need to adapt the rules accordingly, including taxation rules. The Organization, which groups major world economies, is working on a proposal for a new international scheme that would regulate taxation on tech firms.

Digital taxation: The case of the Middle East Several countries in the Middle East and in the GCC in particular have introduced in recent years VAT. Most recently, the UAE introduced a value added tax (VAT) of 5% on January 1, 2018, after publishing the Federal VAT Law in August 2017 establishing the domestic rules applying for VAT in the UAE. The standard VAT rate of 5% is applied to goods and services, including the services offered by telecom companies.

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According to the Federal Tax Authority of UAE, VAT is a tax on the consumption or use of goods and services levied at points of sale in the UAE, including the telecom sector. VAT is levied at each stage of the supply chain. In general, the final consumer is the one who bears the cost of this tax, while businesses, including telecom companies, collect and calculate the tax, as a tax collector for the Federal Tax Authority. The tax was applied on prepaid and postpaid services purchased from telecom operators.

In the UAE, just like in any other country in the world, telcos are bearing the burden of increased data demand due to the increase of OTT services such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Netflix and YouTube on mobile devices. This increased demand causes congestion in the network, compelling mobile operators to invest in network capacity enhancement, increasing their financial burden, while their text and voice profits get reduced.

OTTs were able to escape from the VAT while burdening the infrastructure of telcos who are actually subject to the VAT. Technically, operators had to add a 5% VAT on all their services while consumers were able to benefit from OTT services for free and without any increase in tariffs. This certainly puts into question the fairness and integrity of tax systems, with global online service providers being seen to gain a competitive advantage over enterprises that operate at a domestic level.

Europe leads global digital taxation efforts Europe has lead the way in terms of digital taxation with its so-called “GAFA tax” - named after Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon - to ensure the global internet giants pay a fair share of taxes on their huge business operations in Europe.

“We are working on a tax that would affect internet service companies with global sales of more than 750 million euros ($850 million) and 25 million euros in France,” Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced. “If these two criteria are not met, the taxes will not be imposed.”

ICT FEATURE The low tax rates paid by US tech giants in Europe has repeatedly caused anger among voters in many European countries but the 28-member bloc is divided on how to tackle the issue.

Ireland, which hosts the European headquarters of several US tech giants, leads a small group of otherwise mostly Nordic countries that argue a new tax could lead to reprisals against European companies and stoke anger in the US. France and Germany had agreed to introduce a new joint measure in 2021, which would give the Paris-based OECD time to work on a new global solution.

Policymakers across the world have had difficulty in taxing the US-based giants who dominate their sectors internationally, but who often route their revenues and profits via low-tax jurisdictions to reduce their liabilities.

Countries such as France have sought to introduce the digital tax due to domestic budget concerns and with the aim of generation new revenue streams.

Some other EU member states such as Britain, Spain and Italy are also working on national versions of a digital tax, with Singapore and India also planning their own schemes. Austria is also among the first EU countries calling for the tax. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz vowed to press ahead with a tax on large internet and technology companies, following France’s example, as the European Union struggles to finalize a new EU-wide levy. “It is only fair that internet giants in Europe pay a proper amount of tax,” Kurz said. “In addition to an EU-wide move, we’ll also act on a national level. We will introduce a digital tax in Austria.”

Kurz said that EU member states “agree in principle that there is a need for such a tax.” He said the tax would come into force soon as part of the government’s planned tax reforms in 2020. “The aim is clear - to tax companies that generate huge profits online, but pay hardly any tax on them, such as Facebook or Amazon,” Kurz said.

Under EU law, US technology titans can choose to report their income in any member state, prompting them to pick low-tax nations like Ireland,

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the Netherlands or Luxembourg.

Such firms, on average, pay a nine percent levy, compared to 23% for other businesses, according to Margrethe Vestager, the EU competition commissioner.

However, fears of retaliation by the US president have blunted Germany’s ambition for a European digital tax, with Paris and Berlin now proposing a scaled down version. “Until now, there has lacked a clear commitment by the Germans,” said EU economics affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici.

“There’s an elephant in the room: the fear of trade reprisals by the Trump administration that might consider a tax as a protectionist measure against US high tech giants,” he told reporters.

Germany especially fears damaging tariff hikes on vehicle exports to the US. The digital tax initially aimed to cover a wide swathe of the digital economy, potentially capturing companies such as Amazon, AirBnB and Trip Advisor. In the watered-down proposal, the scope of the tax would be largely limited to ads on Google and Facebook, which dominate the online advertising market in Europe and around the world. The tax would only come into force in 2021 if a plan for a global solution being negotiated at the OECD is not agreed before then.

However, it seems that achieving a global consensus on tax reform in the digital age is quite difficult, especially that many countries are actually benefitting from tax havens. With digitalization, governments across the world are losing increasing portions of their tax revenue. It may be hard to reach a common agreement on taxation reforms in digital economies, but eventually, that might the only solution.

Digitalization continues to be an important enabler of global economic growth, therefore, every regulating system should seek that enabling aspect. Policies related to taxation of the digitalized economy should seek to promote, and not hinder, economic growth and cross-border trade and investment. That is where every effort deployed should be oriented.