Telecom Review Summit Lebanon 2019

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

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019 - S91

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

CONTENTS

2

T HE TELE CO MS I N DUSTRY M EDI A PL ATFORM

12

6 By 2023, touch will become a digital network accelerator, says CEO Emre Gurkan

Oracle Autonomous Database Transaction Processing

Alfa embarks on its 5G journey in Lebanon

16

19 Ogero projects bring Lebanon closer to digital economy

17

MWC Barcelona—‘Foldable,’ ‘wearable’ and even ‘adorable’ technology means nothing without smart ecosystems

18

Oracle Exadata makes consolidating databases so easy that it just seems to “happen”

22

5G is on, bringing the most advanced 5G solutions to Lebanon

26

Ericsson CEO says its technology leadership has made it a global leader in 5G

30

“Nokia is better positioned to deliver 5G in Lebanon” – Roger Ghorayeb, Nokia

32

Numbase striving to expedite digital transformation in Lebanon

34

Building smarter experiences through 5G

35

IPT PowerTech celebrates its 25th anniversary, a quarter century of innovation, growth and excellence

36

SAUGO360 aiming to become leader in software and networking solutions development

38

Data Consult enhancing clients’ digital journey

40

Will foldable phones save the smartphones market?

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

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

EDITORIAL

3

Toni Eid, founder editor in chief Telecom Review International

Christine Ziadeh christine@tracemedia.info Editorial Team Christine Ziadeh (Lebanon), Jeff Seal (USA), Jennifer Saade (Lebanon), Lacinan Ouattara (Ivory Coast), Mark Forker (UAE), Martha Kassouf (Lebanon), Shelley Beyak (Canada), Tala Issa (UAE), Toni Eid (UAE) Copy Editor Shelley Beyak

Top leaders meet at the 12th Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit

Advertising Enquiries Mohammed Ershad ershad@tracemedia.info

Welcome to the 12th edition of the Telecom Review leaders’ Summit, welcome to Beirut.

Graphic Designer Tatiana Issa

Our Summit is always about sharing ideas and knowledge in order to shape the future together. This year, it is much more than that.

Today, we are proud to have the top leaders of the industry from vendors, operators and the Lebanese diaspora in the ICT sector.

Responsible Manager Joseph Bou Daher News Provided in cooperation with AFP, the global news agency

We will discuss the 5G era, the new network capacity, and how to make this network secure in addition to technology affecting our daily lives.

Published by

A big thanks goes to our sponsors: touch, Alfa, Oracle, Ogero, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Numbase, CSG, QTS, IPT Powertech, Data Consult, SAUGO360, Comatec, Arabsat, Ja-Square and Krypton for their contribution, support and commitment to our Summit which make every edition larger and better.

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

-S91-

A special thanks goes as well to our distinguished speakers, panelists and moderators. This year we have a combination of experts from the ICT and telecoms industry and from the academic field.

INTERVIEW

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

6

By 2023, touch will become a digital network accelerator, says CEO Emre Gurkan

Emre Gurkan during touch’s first 5G Commercial trial

T

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. Touch has embarked on its 5G in Lebanon last year 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

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

INTERVIEW

7

fiber to the core, fiber to the hub, and we are planning to deploy fiberto-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 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 is 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 and contributing to the growth of the country’s economic development on multiple fronts. From a 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 bring 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 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

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

INTERVIEW 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.

touch TIP Cohort Graduation Ceremony macro 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 LTEPro 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 focusing on core operations in enhancing the customer mobile

Network sharing lowers the high total cost of ownership of 5G, 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.

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

8

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: • 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

Touch is developing strategies for 5G to cope with the expected growth in network cost

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

for technology and telecom entrepreneurs.

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.

As touch’s own initiative, we created the touch innovation program (TIP), which selects high-potential 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 selected twice a year, with four to six companies accepted every six months. Those selected have access a 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

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

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.

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

9

revenue streams in 2019 that will bring relevance to telecom to the Lebanese community. This will be driven mainly by content and smart connectivity (IoT), digital value added services and B2B. We will also be focused on better customer experience across all interactions.

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.

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

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

INTERVIEW

12

Alfa leads the 5G journey in Lebanon 2019 will be a major milestone in Lebanon’s telecommunications sector and in Alfa’s journey, in particular, because this is when 5G deployment will take off. This is what Marwan Hayek, CEO and Chairman, Alfa promised during an exclusive interview with Telecom Review.

A

lfa is the host partner of the 12th Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit. What should attendees expect from your participation this year?

Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit Beirut 2019 attendees will experience exceptional technology-innovation brought for the first time to Lebanon by Alfa. We will be showcasing, together with our partners Nokia and Ericsson, the massive capabilities our live data network is able to support on latest technologies and devices launched at MWC 2019, as well as live 5G use cases, and we are glad to do that at Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit Beirut which will gather Lebanese and regional telco executives.

Last year, at Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit Beirut, we accomplished a

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

historical achievement for Lebanon and Alfa, which was the first live 5G trial. During this year’s event, we are showcasing “The Final Step to 5G in Lebanon” before going live with the technology later this year as promised.

Since we relaunched the Beirut version of the Summit in 2017, together with Toni, the event grew to become one of the largest telco gatherings in MENA region, showcasing Lebanon and Alfa’s technology leadership and an important event to raise awareness about our exceptional efforts over the past years in the industry, which reinforced Lebanon’s positioning especially on the mobile side. This year, we are making Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit Beirut more memorable than ever for Lebanon and the telco sector, introducing a new chapter of innovation which will further cement our role as a tech leader or what I call “Lebanon’s happiness provider”.

In December, you promised our readers that Alfa will rollout 5G in the first half of 2019. Where are you now in this process? Will you be able to keep that promise or did you face any obstacles that might cause delay?

We’re certainly keeping the promise.

5G rollout will take off before July 2019 (starting in hot spots in main cities).

In your opinion, what are the elements that make an operator a leader in 5G today? And what makes Alfa a leader in 5G today?

We are only steps away from the official 5G launch. We have established official partnerships for this pioneering 5G network deployment since 2017 with our network suppliers, which are of the top worldwide. Since then, we have been preparing our network, core and infrastructure for this evolution. We have embarked on a massive network cloudbased and virtualization modernization plan along with the launch of VoLTE which was a first from Alfa last year.

We are also in the process of reassessing our network deployment and operations. Given the much greater density of cell sites required for high-band 5G, the traditional model for macro-cell deployment will be too expensive and impractical to adopt.

With its highly customized approach to network deployment, sites can take

INTERVIEW more than six months to go live. To reduce deployment time and costs, we are rethinking these processes, digitizing and automating them. We are also working on preparing the radio network for faster migration to 5G – the 4G HW equipment that we recently purchased from our suppliers are 5G-ready. So, only a quick SW upgrade will be required to have 5G service activated in these sites.

One of the critical resources for 5G deployment is securing the radio spectrum and this is in the final stages of completion. Our teams have also triggered market studies and analysis to identify the market needs and business opportunities as well as the industries to address and the use cases that will become possible with 5G. Our end goal is to develop the ecosystem in which we can partner with developers to offer innovative solutions, and with private and public sectors to benefit to obtain the optimum benefits from the upcoming revolution. 5G is promising unprecedented speed, reliability, latency and bandwidth, and everyone should be aware of the opportunities that this evolution will bring. One of the major initiatives we have done in this regards is preparing the public for the 5G revolution through raising awareness about 5G and Alfa’s 5G strategy and commercial launch readiness. Our first 5G public event last year had great momentum in this regard, as it showcased live demos on 5G brought to Lebanon for the first time to the public. For all the above reasons, Alfa is the first in Lebanon on 5G front and other technology fronts, as well, as well and certainly among the leaders in the region from a practical perspective.

Alfa focuses a lot on CSR. Back in 2017, you launched the “People with Iron Will” denomination and you are known as the Ambassador of the rights of these people. What’s the history behind this national call and how did you come up with this it? And why is Alfa so involved in CSR initiatives?

I am proud to witness what started as a personal initiative and a personal call in November 2017, growing to become today a widely-adopted national cause.

Founding the People with Iron Will terminology and calling for its adoption, came naturally. After so many years of

13

supporting this cause and witnessing the outstanding abilities of children and people with communication needs, I was personally moved by the determination and perseverance these children and people were demonstrating to us and to the community at large. This is how it all started.

“People with Iron Will” is a national call I made back in November 2017 during the “Chain of Love” panel, which Alfa organized, where we listened to NGOs about the challenges they face and offered what we could do to start to change the denomination which I believe is degrading to humanity and to these people who are an integral part of our society - and any society.

I reiterated this call from the UN headquarters in New York back in September 2018 when I was on the CEO roundtable of the UN Global Compact Leaders’ Summit and recently in February 2019. In the national workshop for “People with Iron” held at the Lebanese Parliament, I called for the adoption of the terminology in the Lebanese law 220/2000 governing the rights of “People with Iron Will” - not only in the panel name.

I am proud to see that this call and this change has been now officially adopted by ministerial and governmental bodies, and I am happy to say that we at Alfa are the source of this change. This is a personal cause I promise to continue to advocate until the end. It is the result of a personal belief and our corporate mission which is embedded in our company’s culture.

I am glad to tell you that the first colleague with Iron Will joined Alfa at its inception. This simply means that Alfa has established the CSR culture in Lebanon and our CSR program “Alfa 4-Life” is the natural birthchild of this sustainable commitment. Since its foundation more than 13 years ago, our program has changed destinies of more than 3000 beneficiaries from different NGOs, namely through art therapy and communication-enhancement programs.

Few figures to highlight the impact: We have tailored more than 70 initiatives

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

INTERVIEW

CSR and sustainability for us are a serious, non-ending commitment

14

aimed at empowering children and People with Iron Will to achieve their full citizenship and to be productive members in the community. Our Artist with Autism, Ali Tlais, has gathered a remarkable sum of money out of his painting exhibitions, etc. At Alfa, we walk the talk, we have started from within through the employment of the People with Iron Will and we have exceeded the 3 percent quota stipulated by the 220/2000 Law. In addition, we are proud of our successful Alfa family team that includes managers with Iron Will as well as champs in different sports activities. CSR and sustainability for us are a serious, non-ending commitment and a pledge and oath we have made.

For life to ourselves, our values, our

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

society’s well-being and prosperity, and above all - we are proud.

In the same context, and as the goal leader of SDG 9 in Lebanon, can you brief us on how are you working on achieving SDG 9 in Lebanon?

As a leading telecom operator in a vastly growing sector in Lebanon and worldwide, we have a crucial responsibility to employ technology to the benefit of our planet and our people. Indeed, we believe that we are not merely a cellular operator, but also a provider of happiness. As of 2015, Alfa has committed to the Global Goals and to the UN 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. We have been championing SDG #3: Good Health and Well-being, SDG#10 Reduced Inequalities, and I Lead Goal SDG#9: Innovation, Industry and Infrastructure on the national level as one of the goal leaders on the SDG National Council and Advisory Board.

Before and through this mandate, we have always pioneered technology innovation and we stand firm towards this commitment. We were the first to launch 3G, 4G, 4G LTE-A, and we accomplished the first live 5G test last year. Our internet speeds are reaching outstanding levels and we rank today third in the MENA region in terms of 4G speeds. As goal leader of SDG 9, my commitment is to maintain this momentum in terms of this technology leadership we have achieved thanks to the vision we have set.

We will continue to empower our societies through ongoing network modernization and bringing latest technologies, as well as creating the needed infrastructure for digital innovation and enabling e-government.

My focus, as well, l is to promote a culture that embraces technology innovation where everyone is aware of the massive change and opportunities new technologies can and will bring to our country if every one of us thought smartly and contributed smartly to the upcoming revolution.

The 17 Social Developments goals that were adopted by UN, in 2015, constitute for us a business map and model. Our energy and drive are

INTERVIEW mobilized to improve the quality of life of our community. We have the tool (technology), the will and the vision to achieve the Sustainable Developments Agenda for the benefit of our country.

The new government has officially adopted the 2030 UN SDGs agenda in the ministerial statement and called for full-integration of the SDGs in national programs and strategies, which add more responsibility to my role.

Alfa Sports app has had positive feedback from sports fan in Lebanon ever since it was launched. What was the main objective behind the app? And why did you choose sports over other fields?

Alfa Sports is the birthchild of our future vision and is a pillar in our digital transformation and transition from a traditional operator to a content and multi-services provider. It is also a reflection of our role as a community partner. We have been a proud supporter of almost every national sport, and a large number of national athletes, as we believe that sport is a source of unity and national pride as well as positivity.

Alfa Sports is a project that was intended to rescue Lebanese sport, which was needed in order to continue to exist and compete locally and internationally. Since its launch in October 2018, Alfa Sports became the talk of the town, as the first OTT platform offering live streams and VOD sports content through mobile, smart TV and web, ushering a new phase of content involvement for telecom operators, sports enterprises and sports fans alike. I can say that through Alfa Sports, we opened a new chapter for the content industry in the MENA, changing it forever, and there is no going back.

This project is also a main pillar in the framework of Lebanon’s integration in 5G. We are gradually working on expanding the reach of the app to make it widelyaccessible to all sports lovers, and we have recently signed an agreement with Cablevision which made Alfa Sports content available on the big screen to all Cablevision subscribers in Lebanon.

Alfa Sports is today the exclusive broadcaster of the Alfa Lebanese

15

Basketball Competitions (Cup, League, & Women’s League), the Alfa Football league, the Alfa Lebanese Volleyball Championship, the Alfa Ski and Golf Championships, the AFC Asian Cup, and the participation of the national football team in regional and international tournaments. And, we are currently in talks to acquire rights for other sports as well.

Will you dedicate 2019 to focus on 5G solely or will you launch new projects in parallel?

We are still expecting that 5G will complement the previous major technologies, namely 3G and 4G, and will not replace them. Therefore, we are planning to launch innovative products and services targeting 3G and 4G users solely, while working on 5G offerings in parallel. Given the high-cost and complexity of 5G devices, we are not expecting that this technology will take over the telecommunication market in the next five years.

In addition to launching our first 5G sites this year, the implementation of the network expansion projects that we started in 2018 will continue during 2019, including the 500 new sites 10452 project, VoLTE enablement on all our services, as well as network optimization. On the other hand, more investments will be put in place on the 4G network to further enhance capacity, speeds and quality of service in order to cope with the continuously growing demand of our subscribers for data. It is worth noting that 4G will remain a highly-demanded technology for many years to come, driven mainly by the growth in LTE handsets penetration which exceeded 75 percent on our network.

Our P&S agenda for 2019 will offer more diversification to customers in terms of offerings, bundles as well as discounts on prices especially on the data side.

We will also work heavily on growing the reach of Alfa Sports and further enriching the app’s content with more premium and exclusive sport content that further positions it as a visionary and modern product, addressing and anticipating future consumer trends and behaviors.

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

OPINIONS

16

O

racle Autonomous Transaction Processing Cloud Service uses groundbreaking machine learning and automation to eliminate human labor, human error and manual tuning for rapidly growing volumes of data, delivering unprecedented cost savings, security, availability and productivity. This unique cloud service automates the entire data management lifecycle.

The latest service in the Oracle Autonomous Database Cloud portfolio, Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing, raises the bar by enabling selfdriving, self-securing and self-repairing databases for transaction processing, reporting, batch, IoT and machine learning workloads.

Deployed in minutes, it empowers customers to accelerate innovation, lower costs and reduce risk. How does this compare to the current state of affairs?

Traditionally, database management systems have to be hand-assembled using standard components. The onus is on the customer to build, test, tune, secure and operate the database management system - a labor-intensive approach that reduces economies of scale and increases runtime costs.

Accelerate innovation with Oracle’s latest selfdriving database Intelligent autonomous systems are quickly taking hold in many industries, driving paradigm shifts in financial services, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, IT infrastructure and more.

Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing represents an entirely new category of service based on machine learning technology that dramatically transforms how companies use missioncritical databases, boosting efficiency and freeing IT professionals to focus on innovation. It empowers IT teams to focus on high-value data management projects at a lower cost and with greater efficiency than is possible with other public clouds. It is self-driving, which means it automates database maintenance, monitoring and tuning while also handling many infrastructure management tasks. The automation supports mixed workloads and allows for database creation in minutes, not days. It is self-securing, protecting itself from external cyberattacks as well as from malicious internal users.

And it is also self-repairing, which means it will automatically recover from any glitches or failures.

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

OPINIONS

MWC Barcelona - ‘Foldable’, ‘wearable’ and even ‘adorable’ technology means nothing without smart ecosystems MWC19 came to a close last month, and for some it was an abrupt change to return to a home or office devoid of robots playing piano or touchable holograms that blended the real with the surreal. It became clear that the one thing you couldn’t see or touch at MWC19 would be the one thing that would really change the world: 5G

5

G was unquestionably the star of the show and is now indelibly etched into our gray matter. The concepts of zero-latency and mind-blowing 20 Gbps speeds will change the way we experience life as we know it... the ways we connect to one another and to other “things,” whatever they may be. We will re-think human connection and our relationships to people and things as 5G transforms everything: gaming; augmented and virtual reality; autonomous (vehicles, cockpits, space ships); industrial IoT; wearables; foldables, connected homes; smart homes, smart cities; cryptocurrency; and concepts not even perceived yet.

But no matter the gadget or technology that took your breath away, it became clear that the innovations will mean little in terms of value or impact if something foundational, beyond the 5G networks themselves, doesn’t help to makes sense of it all. That’s why at MWC Barcelona, we focused on communications-driven smart ecosystems, which we believe will be increasingly crucial to the enablement of 5G-driven digital services. Just think about all the moving parts: the stakeholders, partners, devices, sensors and “things,” as well as the underpinnings of comms, IT, operations and business processes fueling them. And what about the data - the

17

the Digital Experience and Digital Services. And through eight demos, we showed how to enable smart ecosystems with Digital Business Models. The booth was full of energy and interest, as onlookers saw unified intelligent platforms across concept-tocash-to-care and the ways to monetize smart city, IoT and subscription services.

unimaginable amount of data that all of these parts will generate and consume?

This all has to be managed somehow— something we will cover in our blog, which examines why there is “no one way to do it.” So how do you pick one?

How do you start?

Also generating tremendous interest at MWC Barcelona and the Oracle booth was the issue of 5G security, with a focus on SD-WAN for secure, flexible and extensible communications, as well as signaling firewalls, monitoring and analytics.

We got the ball rolling at MWC Barcelona, highlighting the ways in which CSPs can be integral to integrating capabilities within a broad range of services, and integral to creating higher-value “verticalized” services for enterprises. We demonstrated the need for not only ecosystems but clouds - public and private clouds, edges and hybrid approaches— for efficiency and innovation. We also looked at network slicing and specialization and the impact on smart ecosystems through slice-as-a-service business models and the potential for a slice market place.

With all that is happening in digital, cloud, IoT and SD-WAN, CSPs and enterprises have a profound opportunity to drive (and derive) value through intelligent, connected ecosystems, which will span an ever-expanding universe of vertical industries and consumer segments.

As revealed at MWC, the momentum now around 5G and the literally trillions-of-dollars in smart ecosystem and digital-service opportunities will be unleashed in the evolution from 4G to 5G mobile networks, but we must figure out how to transition to cloud-native platforms and the benefits of 5G core architecture.

During our one-hour workshops at MWC Barcelona, Oracle strategists showed how to transform and monetize

By Susana Schwartz, Oracle Marketing Communications

Smart ecosystems will enable 5G-driven digital services

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

OPINIONS

18

Oracle Exadata makes consolidating databases so easy that it just seems to “happen”

Over the last five years, I have seen amazing advancements in Oracle Database technology. Actually, ever since the launch of the second version of Oracle Exadata, I’ve seen customers leapfrog over earlier benchmarks of performance, availability, scalability and management. Today, Exadata’s unmatched hardware and software capabilities have made it the go-to choice for running any kind of Oracle database workload, including data warehouses, analytics, OLTP – as well as a combination of these workloads. There really is no better platform to run a mixed environment.

B

ecause it can handle any workload you throw at it, Exadata is the perfect environment for database consolidation. That comes as good news for customers, since most are experiencing runaway growth in the number of databases they’re managing. With Exadata they have the option to put everything on a single platform that’s high performing, scalable and simple to manage.

Consolidating on Exadata is easier than you think. Of course, if you’re not familiar with the platform, it helps to start by migrating your less critical environments first, and then adding more important workloads as your infrastructure team becomes more comfortable with the platform. But this shouldn’t take very long. For many of my clients, the transition is so easy that it almost seems to “happen” on its own. Well, maybe not exactly, but you get the idea.

Of course, it never hurts to plan ahead. This is especially true for more complex engineered systems like Oracle SuperCluster. It’s also true that even when you make solid

consolidation plans, you may be surprised at what happens when you actually make the move to Exadata. More than a few customers end up with a lot more headroom than expected, thanks to features like Smart Flash Cache and Hybrid Columnar Compression, which can save a large amount of space and drive big performance gains.

As a result, customers often find they have additional opportunities for consolidation. For example, CaixaBank, one of Spain’s leading financial services companies, worked with Accenture to consolidate 17 data marts into a powerful data repository.

So the big question is, why consolidate? Everybody knows that consolidation helps you save on hardware and other equipment, not to mention license costs. That’s a given.

But these savings can go even farther because the Exadata infrastructure is engineered from the ground up to be fully integrated. This means the platform’s compute, network and storage resources can be managed centrally by a smaller group. So not only do you save on capital costs, but you can also increase your productivity and cut operating overhead, giving you the best of both worlds.

There are different ways you can consolidate databases with Exadata.

One is through virtualization using Exadata Cloud Machine that Oracle maintains behind your firewall, and the other is through Oracle Exadata Cloud Service. Both technologies are great.

Multitenant is really the premier consolidation feature in Oracle.

Nothing else gives you the same flexibility that Multitenant can when it comes to sharing the same environment with multiple databases.

With virtualization on Exadata, you get an extra level of isolation that was not available before. That means you can have cross-department consolidation, test-dev, disaster recovery (DR) and applications all running on the same infrastructure – with all of them taking advantage of InfiniBand network.

That’s why Exadata VMs deliver near raw hardware performance.

Remember, it’s not a case of either/ or. Oracle Cloud infrastructures, for example, leverage both methods of consolidation. For clients that want to dig deeper into the best way to consolidate their databases and applications, and see the improvements they’ll get first hand, we’re happy to set up a proof-ofconcept at our Accenture Innovation Center for Oracle Engineered Systems.

Is consolidation happening in your organization? If so, I’d recommend taking a close look at Exadata. When it comes to cost, performance, scalability and ease of management, Exadata can’t be beat.

By Anne Plese, director, product marketing, cloud infrastructure database solutions

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

INTERVIEW

Ogero projects bring Lebanon closer to digital economy With the aim of knowing where Ogero is exactly in the implementation of some of the major projects it launched last year, Telecom Review interviewed Imad Kreidieh, Director General and Chairman, Ogero, who announced when exactly will Lebanon have public WiFi and its own national datacenter.

19

K

reidieh explained more about how Ogero is working to keep Lebanon below the global network malfunction benchmark and provide higher internet speeds. The Director General and Chairman stressed the importance of having a Lebanese pavilion at the international exhibition.

A new Minister of Telecommunications was appointed in Lebanon. What are your thoughts on the new appointment?

Just like our former Minister of

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

Telecommunications H.E. Jamal Jarrah, our new Minister H.E. Mohammed Choucair has already started to think of ways to develop the sector because he realizes the importance of the ICT sector and its contribution to the economy.

H.E. Mohammed Choucair has expressed his keenness to continue the execution of the plan we elaborated with H.E. Jamal Jarrah and look into ways to further develop the sector.

We are optimistic and we hope that under the supervision of H.E. Mohammed Choucair, we will be able to overcome some of the obstacles we’re facing in order to expedite the implementation of the plan.

Lebanon just stepped up six ranks in the international speed average on fixed broadband. Will we see further progress in 2019 in terms of fixed broadband speeds?

The improvement of Lebanon’s ranking is a result of the hard work and efforts deployed, and it reflects the improvement of networks and quality of internet in many regions.

We are gradually increasing the number of cabinets and central stations and shifting to fiber optics.

Consequently, in 2019, we forecast an even better ranking in terms of

INTERVIEW

internet speeds. Whenever we rollout fiber optics in new areas, internet speeds are increasing. We are also examining the possibility of lowering prices which will give more people the chance to benefit from higher speeds, thus further improving our global ranking.

According to the ITU, the global yearly network malfunction rate ranges between 8 to 26%. Where is Lebanon positioned in terms of network malfunctions compared to the global range? And can we aspire for zero malfunctions?

We are always trying to stay below this global benchmark. In fact, we had previously the impression that our network malfunctions exceed by far the global rate; however, we realized that we were wrong when we started taking record of the number of malfunctions and the time taken to fix them.

In 2018, we were below the global benchmark of 25% and that can be associated with the fact that we’re more proactive now, we’re following up with our customers more and we’ve adopted a customer-centric strategy. Our network is not ideal yet, but we’re endeavoring to further improve it. Just like any network in the world, ours can be subject to malfunctions and we’re trying our

20

best to always fix them as quickly as possible Aiming for zero malfunctions is impossible. Networks which are basically made of cables - whether copper or fiber – are prone to malfunctions and technical

In 2019, we forecast an even better ranking in terms of internet speeds

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

INTERVIEW

21

problems. Our goal is for our network’s malfunction rate to stay below the global benchmark and reach the rate of 8% per year which is that of countries boasting very advanced networks.

It is estimated that Cadmus submarine cable to become out of service within three years. What about the new cable project that you started studying? What changes and improvements this cable will hold to the telecommunications sector?

All submarine cables will no longer be operational after a certain period, which requires changing the equipment to improve the quality of telecommunications services.

Cadmus is one of the submarine cables that link Lebanon with other countries and is set to be out of service soon which means it will be replaced by another cable.

New technologies will come along with the new submarine cable that allows both the sender country and the recipient country to upgrade the equipment which will lead to an increase in capacity and improve data flows. The most important thing for us is that the new cable that links Lebanon to the world has several landing points so that in case of a malfunction, we won’t be faced with an internet outage.

Cadmus is set to be replaced by the new cable Europa which will be operational along with the IMEWE cable, so that Lebanon will be able to have the necessary capacity and provide internet services to citizens in case one of the cables is temporarily dysfunctional.

In 2018, you have announced two major projects: public WiFi and the establishment of a national datacenter. Where are you in achieving both projects?

Regarding the public WiFi project, we launched a tender and the results about which party will handle the deployment of this service will be announced by the end of February.

Ogero’s public Wi-Fi will be launched first at Beirut’s International Airport and then will reach public squares

and parks in downtown. We expect that Beirut’s airport will have public WiFi by the summer.

Moreover, Ogero proposed last year another important project which is the establishment of a national datacenter under the umbrella of a private-public partnership. The project has been transferred to the privatization commission that has been assessing it and is currently undertaking its final review. The execution phase is expected to be announced in spring. I am very excited for this project because it is the first step towards digital economy in Lebanon given that datacenters are a fundamental part of a digital economy’s infrastructure.

MIC1, MIC2 and Ogero will be the anchor tenants of the national datacenter and will be the first to put their data. Ministries are also invited to place their data in the datacenter in order to embark on our digital economy journey. We also hope that legislators will be able to enact the appropriate laws for us to truly benefit from this project.

Are you planning new projects to be launched in 2019 or will you focus on achieving the projects you have already embarked on?

The technological field holds endless development possibilities, but we have to set our priorities. Ogero is

working on 30 projects at the level of the smart infrastructure and fiber infrastructure in order to keep up with leading countries. Work is still yet to be done, that’s why, in 2019, we will continue the implementation of the projects we had launched in previous years before launching any new projects.

This project is the first step towards digital economy in Lebanon

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

OPINIONS

22

As Huawei reflects on 2018, the challenges around us today and our goals for 2019, we see one thread linking the past, present and future: our unshakeable commitment to bringing digital to every home, person and organization, for a fullyconnected and intelligent world. We are global, regional and local pioneers in transformative ICT, connecting the world on a historically unprecedented scale.

W

5G is on, bringing the most advanced 5G solutions to Lebanon

hile 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. Sectors as educations, health care, agricultures, retailing business, and emergency services will all benefit from such revolutionary technology. 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.

Several nations already recognized these benefits that’s why we see several national strategies and visions to encourage and accelerate the adoption of 5G. Autonomous driving, smart cites, further immersive entertainment will be

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

available because of 5G in a short period.

Targeting operators and carriers at MWC, we showcased how Huawei’s intelligent service and innovation can help partners identify new business opportunities and thereby achieve growth. As Huawei’s commitment to bringing digital connection to every home, person, and organizations, to create a fullyconnected and intelligent world; our attention and efforts are devoted to 5G development, deployment and infrastructure.

5G arrival is beyond our expectation, generally speaking it achieve 500M subscribers globally in 3 year. As your reference, to reach these subscribers, 3G spent 10 years while 4G spent 5 years.

Till January 2019, Huawei won over 30 commercial contracts consisting of more than 50% of all 5G commercial contracts globally and shipped over 40,000 5G base stations globally. All the GCC countries already cooperated with Huawei to start 5G massive commercial network deployment. If we cannot catch the trend of 5G development, Lebanon mobile network will experience a huge lag behind many countries.

We are able to offer the world’s fastest wireless connections for smartphones, homes and offices to Lebanon in shortest time. In South Korea LGU+ Huawei implemented 10,000+ 5G sites within 3 month.

As the only global end-to-end 5G solution provider, Huawei is proud to launch an ultra-broadband, simplified, and intelligent end-to-end 5G solution which consists of:

OPINIONS experience and can be flexibly deployed in all scenarios, including rooftops, lamp poles, and towers.

• 5G microwave solution: Fully support the additional backhaul requirements of 5G services, offering simplified, ultra-broadband and intelligent solution in various deployment scenarios.

• Converged transport: Based on a simplified and converged architecture, expanding transportation capacity for a lower cost per bit and supporting 5G Transport lifecycle automation.

• 5G Core: Supporting a converged, centralized and autonomous Control Plane for all services (2/3/4/5G NSA/SA) featuring a distributed and programmable user plane.

• Global services: 5G precise planning, digital engineering and AI technologies are used to accelerate 5G deployment, achieve automatic and intelligent O&M. This marks great progress towards one of our main goals: to build a fully connected, intelligent world. With this ambition in sight, Huawei is leading the way with our deployment strategy and forming important partnerships with key operators and ministries across the region.

As a fast growing market, the number of Lebanon LTE subscribers expanded 200% in the past years, reaching 2 million while it is expected that 1 million more subscriber will migrate from 3G to 4G before 2020.

• 5G devices: First 5G indoor and outdoor CPE for Wireless Home Broadband use case which enabled the earliest 5G commercial networks in 2018 , Huawei also unveiled the world fastest 5G foldable phone during MWC2019.

4G is still the operator’s cash cow, its end user experience should be enhanced also. At the same time more spectrum of 2G/3G should be refarming to LTE. Huawei will introduce the latest solution to support operators for persistent spectrum efficiency improvement and LTE network enhancement. LTE will be ubiquitous and all band 5G ready network in Lebanon.

• Simplified RAN: Support Massive MIMO to guarantee the user

Looking back to the accomplishment Huawei has achieved, it is convinced

23

that we are the preferred to be a long-term partner on 5G, datacenter and other ICT domain for Lebanon’s digital transformation to build a full connection country.

We are excited to be living in the 5G era! Huawei is committed to supporting our customers achieve the national agendas by providing the latest innovative solutions. By laying a sound foundation for 5G, governments will immeasurably improve the social and economic environment of cities.

By Paul Fengnan CEO, Huawei, Levant

Huawei won over 30 commercial contracts consisting of more than 50% of all 5G commercial contracts globally and shipped over 40,000 5G base stations globally

The 5G switch made easy.

ericsson.com/5G-switch

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

INTERVIEW

26

Borje Ekholm, CEO, Ericsson

Ericsson CEO says its technology leadership has made it a global leader in 5G Ericsson has enjoyed a meteoric resurgence and renaissance since the appointment of Borje Ekholm as its CEO. The Swedish telecommunications behemoth was a company in distress when he was tasked with the responsibility of restoring the pioneering force in the ICT industry back to the top.

T

he implementation of Ericsson’s Focused Business Strategy has not only helped to turn around its fortunes but it has ultimately enabled the company to become the go-to player for

operators seeking to commercially deploy 5G networks.

Ericsson has signed major commercial 5G contracts with AT&T and Verizon in the United States and announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona further 5G contracts with Saudi Telecom Company,

Etisalat and Ooredoo Qatar, which solidified its positon as market leader.

Telecom Review managed to secure an exclusive interview with Ericsson’s CEO at Mobile World Congress in an effort to find out how Ekholm has transformed the Swedish vendor into a global leader for 5G technologies.

In what was a detailed and fascinating insight into Ericsson, we discussed its 5G platform, its cellular IoT portfolio, the decision to restructure its BSS strategy, why Europe is at risk of being left behind in terms of deploying 5G technology because of extortionate spectrum fees and heavy regulation, and his projections for the future.

Ericsson has enjoyed a sharp turnaround in its fortunes since your appointment as CEO and has enjoyed continued profitability for the first time in a number of years. How much of a key role has the implementation of the ‘Focused Business Strategy’ played in Ericsson’s revival?

It was critical as a starting point to

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

get the strategy right. I often say that it is 90 percent execution and 10 percent strategy. However, if you get the strategy wrong then it doesn’t help you with the execution. Our Focused Business Strategy was the foundation for turning the company around. We made a commitment to increase our R&D in an effort to reach technology leadership. We also focused on rebuilding our market position and we needed to take out costs in order to become more efficient.

Ericsson has really positioned itself as a go-to player for operators seeking to commercially deploy 5G networks. This is evidenced by Ericsson signing major 5G deals with AT&T, Verizon, STC and Etisalat.

In your opinion, why are operators selecting Ericsson as their vendor for 5G? Our key competitive advantage, I believe, is technology leadership and our commitment to lead our customers from 4G into 5G. You can see that mindset, for example, in how from very early on we made our hardware 5G-capable. The hardware we developed in 2015 came with a software upgrade run by 5G NR traffic and now we’re launching our unique spectrum sharing which allows the operator to dynamically allocate spectrum between 4G and 5G – and this allows for a very rapid buildout of 5G. With this type of thought leadership, it’s really important for us to work with lead customers, but that’s also why lead customers work with us.

During your keynote at Mobile World Congress, you highlighted that European operators had access to 5G technology, but that their biggest challenge in terms of deployment was a combination of high spectrum and heavy regulation. Can you elaborate more on this issue?

What’s key to acknowledge first and foremost is that the technology is available. So, for example, we have commercial networks in North America since Q4 last year and we have networks up and running on mid-band in Europe, and we also have that in Australia. We have networks already available, so the operators can access that. However, the big

INTERVIEW problem in Europe is in the investment climate. You can see that 4G coverage in Europe is much lower than in North America or North East Asia, and it goes back to the whole investment climate and that shows up in high spectrum fees.

If you look at some of the auctions in Europe, they’re designed to maximize the fee paid for spectrum but are not necessarily maximizing the best for the economy of driving a mobile network. In addition to high spectrum fees, you’ve got heavy regulation, but you’ve also got a very, very fragmented market. If you look at China and India, they’ve both got three operators. In the United States, they’re on their way to three operators if the merger deal between T-Mobile US and Sprint gets approved. However, in Europe, every market has at least four operators, so in total on the continent you’ve got around 220 operators. I don’t think we get the scale necessary to really drive new technology and that’s the big risk for Europe. We need to create an environment where the operators can actually make a return on their investment.

Ericsson has unveiled its vision for the evolution of cellular IoT by launching a number of new solutions at Mobile World Congress. Ericsson divided the evolution of cellular IoT into four market segments. However, can you outline to us in more detail what new industry use cases they can create?

We categorized the evolution of cellular IoT into four market segments which are industrial IoT, massive IoT, critical IoT and broadband IoT. I think it is going to be different depending on the markets, which use cases take priority. So, I think different markets will roll out in a different way. If we take China, for example, you can see that they’re investing very heavily towards industrial IoT. We can see that in our own factory in China, where we are very early in terms of championing this type of technology by implementing devices in every screwdriver which enabled us to detect when screwdrivers needed to be replaced.

The ROI on that has been more than 200 percent; so basically, after six

27

months, we’ve got payback after introducing IoT on the screwdriver, and this is just a small example of the power of industrial IoT. We’ve been conducting demos at Mobile World Congress which focus on some areas in which we think industrial IoT is going to have a huge impact in terms of developing new use cases. Industrial IoT is where we’re seeing most of the early traction, but another area we see a lot of development in is remote servicing.

Augmented reality can be used instead of travelling to detect faults, a service engineer would actually be able to project that on his augmented reality glasses. It’s going to take a few years, but I think we’re just on the verge of a number of cutting-edge and revolutionary use cases that will transform how many businesses conduct their operations.

There has been a lot of discussion here at Mobile World Congress about Ericsson’s 5G platform and its phenomenal capabilities. Can you tell our readers what this platform enables operators to do?

What we’re trying to do is future-proof our customers’ investments. What that basically means is that they should always be able to go from 4G into the

Our key competitive advantage is technology leadership

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

INTERVIEW

28

5G world in a cost-efficient way. So one part is the radio platform where they can do the software upgrade and become 5G-capable which enables them to carry more traffic and they can also do the same with the core - and the core can carry 4G and 5G traffic. Then the entire orchestration layer needs to accommodate both 4G and 5G end-to-end and that’s what we’re trying to do with our new platform.

Ericsson has recently launched a new AI-based solution that simplifies managed services. How will this solution address the complex challenges facing operators as the industry moves towards 5G and the internet of things?

Ultimately, we believe in a zero touch network, but that will require a lot of automation. However, it will also require you to be proactive; instead of reacting to an incident, you’ll be able to predict and adjust in advance in a seamless fashion. That’s what we’re trying to do now by utilizing the data from network operators and we’ve got almost 1 billion subscribers that we manage globally. By using that database, we can start to be much more predictive in the way we run the network, and that is ultimately going to make a big difference for our customers. Operators need to have closed-loop automation, and our capabilities will actually allow them to have that so if there is an incident they can automatically fix it.

Ericsson recently decided to overhaul its existing BSS strategy and it has announced its intention to increase investment in its digital BSS platform. Why did you restructure your BSS strategy and what are your projections for your BSS business in 2019?

What we saw is that we had allocated most of our R&D into a future platform and we have a large installed base. We needed to keep the installed base with a future-proof solution in the same way we do with the 5G hardware.

So basically, we identified that we needed to increase our investment in our existing platform. In a way, we’re diverting R&D money from the future platform into making the current

platform upgradable in the future instead.

We believe that this is a much better strategy for us, but in fact, it is a much better strategy for all our customers.

We have 350 customers that use our billing and charging solutions globally so we need to protect their investments, and that’s why we’re restructuring our existing BSS platform.

At Mobile World Congress, we’ve seen a lot of 5G-enabled handsets being unveiled. How much of a driver will these 5G-powered devices play in the acceleration of the rollout of 5G networks?

It is critical. 5G is going to depend on the ecosystem and there’s no point in having a network if there are no handsets and applications. It is imperative that the whole ecosystem comes together and that means spectrum availability, infrastructure, handsets, devices and applications all need to be fostered in an environment that merges all of this together in an effort to drive 5G penetration and adoption.

Ericsson published the findings of its latest ‘Mobility Report’ at Mobile World Congress. Can you tell me from your perspective what you found to be some of the most interesting insights that emerged from the report?

One of the most interesting insights

to emerge from the comprehensive report compiled by Ericsson is that 4G is going to be a long living technology. So, for example, 60 percent of the subscriptions will still be 4G in five years. 4G is going to remain the key access technology for mobile subscribers on a global scale.

However, what is equally interesting is that we foresee about 1.5 billion 5G subscriptions by 2024. That’s going to happen in North America, North East Asia and in parts of Europe, but it actually is a very sizeable number of subscribers and that I think is very, very interesting and represents an exciting new chapter that will take place in the ICT ecosystem over the next five years.

Can you outline to us what your primary goals and objectives are as CEO of Ericsson for the rest of 2019?

We need to maintain our position as the leading vendor of 5G in the market and that’s really important for us. In addition to this, given that we’ve strengthened the company significantly over the last number of years, we’ve now got an opportunity to start growing as well. We’re going to go for more profitability-seeking growth and that’s where we see that in our existing business, but also in new applications, for example, in IoT. We’re very exciting about where we’re positioned in the market right now and what the future holds for us after navigating our way through some choppy waters.

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

INTERVIEW

30

“Nokia is better positioned to deliver 5G in Lebanon” – Roger Ghorayeb, Nokia

Lebanon is on the right evolutionary path towards 5G, says Roger Ghorayeb, customer team head for growth in West MEA, Nokia, in an exclusive interview with Telecom Review. Ghorayeb highlighted the role of Nokia in expediting 5G deployment in Lebanon.

W

e see a good number of 5G deals have been signed by Nokia with leading operators in MEA and across the globe. How is Nokia positioned on this?

Yes, we now have more than 25 5G contracts across the globe and have already had almost 100 5G engagements with customers in every region of the world. We are the only vendor with a 5G end-to-end portfolio across all network domains and present in all the regions of the world.

We believe that no company is better positioned to deliver 5G than us.

The fact is that 5G is more than a new technology advancement, unlike 3G and 4G. 5G is more than radio as it involves tight interworking across all the network domains: access, backhaul, cloud native core, and network slicing and security. As such, 5G characteristics in terms of speed, capacity and latency rely on an exhaustive set of enabling technologies like, but not limited to, fiber backhauling, network slicing, automation and analytics as well as seamless IP infrastructure. Therefore, Nokia’s 5G leadership position is based on its unique end-to-end portfolio offering. Our end-to-end 5G offering includes Nokia’s innovative Future X architecture, AirScale radio platform, AirFrame datacenter solution, 5G core, mobile transport, services for 5G and 5G acceleration services. The Future X architecture invented by our Nokia Bell

Labs has made it possible to mix the knowledge across Nokia technologies including IP, optics, RF, software and innovative in-house silicon.

We are able to deliver unprecedented capabilities and efficiencies that will allow our customers to transform their networks to provide 5G services.

Nokia is a one-stop shop for 5G for its customers, guarantying performance, high quality and security, thanks to the power of end-to-end 5G solutions.

Early adoption of 5G is expected to be more rapid than what we saw in earlier generations of technologies globally and in particular in the MEA region.

In your opinion, where is Lebanon in its 5G journey and what role is Nokia playing in accelerating 5G deployment?

Lebanon is on the right evolutionary path towards 5G and Nokia is playing a technology enablement role in this regard. Fiber infrastructure and services are mandatory to address the 5G requirements related to speed, capacity and latency especially when it comes to the backbone network.

The national fiber project, the national and international optical transport projects and the IP MPLS national broadband network project have built the fundamental pillars based on which the 5G network architecture such as converged edge cloud, massive-scale access and SDN smart network fabric become possible. Nokia has been actively present in these foundational projects.

On the mobile network dimension, Nokia is helping its operator customers

through a clearly defined evolutionary path - 4.5G Pro, 4.9G reaching ultimately 5G – with its commercially available 5G end-to-end portfolio. We initiated this engagement last year with Alfa where we demonstrated the 4.5G Pro showing gigabit speeds. This kind of higher speed broadband will enable data-hungry applications and services such as ultra high definition video streaming, e-health and e-education, and can support millions of smart devices connected for internet of things (IOT) and smart cities. On the radio platform front, we have already deployed Nokia AirScale basestation both in Alfa and touch networks that is 5G-ready to deliver 5G non standalone (NSA) configuration in 2019.

What is Nokia hoping to achieve in Lebanon by the end of 2019?

In Lebanon, the road to 5G was paved by the launch of the LTE-Advanced network back in 2017, and the evolution was happening during the past few years. Alfa and Nokia successfully completed the 4.5G Pro (CAT 16) cluster in Hazmieh area recently. Nokia is determined to continue on the same evolutionary path to demonstrate further gigabit LTE speeds in live network environment. For 5G, Nokia will leverage its Fixed Wireless Access 5G CPEs and plan to have the first 5G cluster ready in Lebanon by end of 2019.

Nokia 5G Future X Unleashing the potential of 5G

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

INTERVIEW

32

Numbase striving to expedite digital transformation in Lebanon

T

elecom Review secured an exclusive interview with Ayman Jomaa, CEO of Numbase, to get his views on the evolution of digital transformation in Lebanon and how it is fulfilling customers’ needs.

How do you describe the role of Numbase in Lebanon’s digital transformation journey?

Numbase currently employs more than 100 professionals in Lebanon serving most of its footprint in the MENA, Europe and South East Asia regions. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a clear and serious digital transformation strategy by the Lebanese government; yet, Numbase has been continuously striving to contribute to an “unplanned” and “per-project” digital transformation.

We hope that the new cabinet is serious about this matter, and we are putting a lot of hopes in the new minister of telecommunications and the state minister of information technology.

Competition in the VAS field is fierce in Lebanon and the region. How do

Digital transformation has been on the agenda of organizations for several years and we are witnessing its implementation across industries. AI, machine learning and IoT are key pillars to this transformation and all neighboring countries seem to have already started implementing a digital-first approach, with Lebanon is on its way. Even though there is no clear strategy in place to enable the country’s digital transformation, Numbase, as an international mobile VAS provider, has been making efforts to develop cutting-edge technologies to boost Lebanon’s position between countries. you manage to differentiate your company?

Competition by itself can be a very tricky word. Competition in VAS should be directed towards competing on innovation, not on price and influence. Unfortunately, VAS is taking a very dangerous turn where MNOs and people who have influence on these MNOs are trying to commoditize the VAS industry, thus turning it into a price war. All serious VAS companies should resist this turn to preserve the value, and create more value rather than becoming another “pipeline”.

Numbase’s mission is to deliver customers’ needs through AI capabilities, big data analysis and advanced profiling techniques. In your opinion, how important are these three elements for enterprises to meet customers’ needs?

We strongly believe that this vision can be the savior of the telecom industry, and day after day, it is becoming a “need” and not just “nice to have”. During MWC this year, I joked with one of our partners that every company we visit will mention: AI, machine learning and IoT - and I was right, although very few actually

are! As mentioned before, we strongly believe in this vision on a condition that it is seriously worked on, and not transformed into another commodity or cliché title.

Numbase has been striving to contribute to an “unplanned” and “per-project” digital transformation

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

OPINIONS

34

Building smarter experiences through 5G The sprint to 5G has begun with widespread deployments expected by 2020. The opportunities for both consumer and enterprise markets are massive.

Access to high speed networks will not only delight consumers as they traverse the web, but also set a new standard in the types of experiences businesses can create for their audiences. 5G will deliver speeds up to 1000 times faster than 4G, as well as much lower latency and the ability to support huge numbers of devices connecting to the network simultaneously.

W

ith the proliferation of 5G just around the corner, here’s a few things to expect:

efficiently and at low cost and risk. The sharing of knowledge to develop new applications, products and services will become essential.

• Providers will get smarter with bandwidth: The benefits of 5G extend well beyond faster internet speeds. The directional nature of 5G networks allows CSPs to prioritize bandwidth through network slicing. This is important because the amount of data flowing through networks is set to grow exponentially. Rather than straining under the weight of providing onesize-fits-all coverage, CSPs can distribute bandwidth to different “slices” of their network to ensure seamless experiences aligned to the profile of the service they are delivering.

• A stepping stone for smart cities: Connected communities require a massive network ecosystem for information to flow, be processed and analyzed in near real-time. 5G moves the construction of smart cities from the theoretical to the practical. For example, underpinned by the speed and data flexibility of 5G, cities can completely transform their traffic systems. This is already starting to occur as ride sharing replaces traditional transportation options – a study by MIT found that New York City traffic could be reduced by 75 percent by ride sharing. Smart cities and the algorithms that power them can create new efficiencies throughout all aspects of urban life.

• Fortune will favour the brave: 5G presents an incredible opportunity to embrace innovation and generate new revenue streams.

CSPs that work with digital partners across industry borders will tap into premium revenue streams far beyond that which connectivity alone will offer. To achieve this, businesses must integrate with 3rd party providers, streamline and simplify ecosystem processes, and focus on automation to operate

• A need for balance between innovation and privacy: Between the enactment of GDPR in Europe in 2018 and the growing cost of data breaches – a recent study estimated an average of $3.68 million in 2018 – consumer awareness around data privacy is at an all-time high. The conversations around regulating this new environment extend to 5G networks, particularly how CSPs look to deliver services through

access to private data. Consider emergency services. In the event of a catastrophe, location data can be used to ensure individuals are safe or if additional resources need to be dispatched. But customers need to allow that data to be shared in the first place. CSPs, like all companies learning how to balance data privacy and personalization, are still testing the waters of how to deliver the best experiences.

For businesses embracing 5G, every organization is unique in their digital maturity, customer need and the types of service they offer customers. It is vital to understand the opportunities and challenges in this rapidly emerging market, and leverage 5G as a way to enable smarter, faster experiences that ultimately delight customers and capture their loyalty.

CSG simplifies the complexity of transformation in the digital age for the most respected communications, media and entertainment service providers worldwide. Talk to CSG about your needs from 4G and 5G, to IoT and internet TV. For over 35 years, CSG has delivered revenue management, customer experience and digital monetization solutions for every stage of the customer lifecycle. CSG is a trusted partner for leading global brands including Arrow Electronics, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Charter Communications, Comcast, DISH, Eastlink, iflix, MTN, TalkTalk, Telefonica, Telstra and Verizon. CSG has one vision: flexible, seamless, limitless communications, information and content services for everyone. For more information, visit www.csgi.com.

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

OPINIONS

35

IPT PowerTech celebrates its 25th anniversary, a quarter century of innovation, growth and excellence Established in 1993, IPT PowerTech is a complete solution provider combining energy-efficient solutions with innovative telecom infrastructure along with managed services, all the way to initiating and implementing the Guaranteed Savings Model and T-ESCO Model (Telecom Energy Service Company). The 25 year journey has been a rapid evolution to becoming the initiator of the dual battery concept, with a wide geographical footprint spanning over 11 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia, and covering more than 50 countries.

I

nnovation and anticipation have always been at the core of IPT’s business as the Group has spotted the need to integrate power equipment into outdoor cabinets and began manufacturing its own enclosures independently through its manufacturing facility in Romania. IPT Powertech remained at the forefront of the industry with customized power solutions, telecom and managed services, and ESCO services that meet the specific needs and interests of MNOs and the towercos. The ability to innovate, integrate, manufacture and manage our in-house hybrid solutions made IPT Powertech frontrunners in the world of power, pioneers in the telecom and managed services which propelled the initiation of their differentiation factor, becoming the exceptional leader of T- ESCO and guaranteed savings.

to meet the customers’ evolving business expectations and desire for CAPEX and OPEX savings as it contained the combined power and telecom infrastructure solutions along with the managed services for the telecom sites, including the renewable energy solutions (solar energy and wind turbine), the engineered solutions (TRION family), the batteries and power systems, the enclosures and cabinets, up to the extent of offering the largest portfolio of hybrid solutions worldwide. Today, IPT PowerTech is a T-ESCO that invests and provides comprehensive energy and site infrastructure solutions and services to its customers, from auditing, redesigning, procuring and implementing innovative site solutions, all the way up to managing networks on a full OPEX model, while guaranteeing savings and efficiencies.

The company’s portfolio has expanded over the past two decades in order

As for the Lebanese market, the Group initiated and implemented the

ESCO concept by signing an ESCO contract with the two MNOs: Alfa and touch; thus, becoming pioneers in the region. Recognized as “leading T-ESCO globally”, IPT PowerTech is by default the market leader, with the largest number of ESCO sites worldwide across Nigeria, Guinea Conakry, Lebanon and Myanmar and one the few global players to offer the largest portfolio of hybrid solutions.

IPT operational excellence is a strategy that proved successful over time, and it can only be driven by the operational leadership and by the continuous investment in our 4,500 specialists, which is the main contributor to the growth, success, excellence and differentiation of the Group.

At IPT Powertech Group, we strive towards operational excellence by redefining power solutions and reinventing telecom infrastructure.

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

OPINIONS

36

SAUGO360 aiming to become leader in software and networking solutions development The increased adoption of smart mobile devices since the early 2000s created an explosion in the demand for data and value added services. Telco service providers found themselves in a constant race to satisfy KPI baseline values under increasing pressures from dwindling margins and prevalent business models in highly penetrated market. Rapidly evolving consumer and business requirements and the need to develop and deliver cost-effective quality services overwhelmed the imperative to make long-term investments with calculated risks.

I

n order to tackle these demands, and under the pressure of new economic models, innovation and the introduction of new technical and business use cases should only be done through incremental changes coming from disparate parts of the network, where investments are dynamically managed and corrected.

Network virtualization, automation, management and orchestration are key areas where incremental growth can be applied and where long-term results will be observed.

The introduction of software defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) technologies into the network constitute one of the first ventures that operators are engaging in to disaggregate software from hardware.

Benefits ranging from decreased capex and opex to increased business agility and reduction of vendor lockin have been put forward. Vendors are growing products and service offerings where the more established players tend to virtualize their existing network functions on top of generalpurpose hardware, while new entrants take a chance at challenging the

hegemony by building cloud- and software-native network functions.

Regardless of the approach, accounts of initial trials and implementations are showing technical, operational and organizational challenges that need to be addressed. For instance, integration of multi-vendor solutions on top of a single hardware platform require intimate knowledge of the individual capabilities well beyond the promise of advertised plug-and-play.

Service providers are also finding a need to acquire DevOps skills while adopting agile methodologies and revamping exiting processes to accelerate delivery and improve quality. Operators succeeding with their NFV implementation are focusing on data normalization and service abstraction models, while automating processes for control, orchestration and management of virtual network functions.

It is evident that the adoption of new service delivery models is incremental in nature as it embraces a continuous development and integration lifecycle.

Implemented solutions must cater to specific operators’ needs, where a “one solution fit all” model is unlikely to succeed; operators need to develop

and maintain their own systems based on internal processes and services.

For as long as network virtualization remains in the realm of technology implementations, early adopters are not likely to improve operation or increase the ROI of existing infrastructures. Achieving substantial impact requires operators to establish a holistic view of their extended network and develop service offerings that cater to their specific needs, while taking into account long-term infrastructure investments that have already been made. Furthermore, operators can optimize service delivery and infrastructure utilization by deploying tools that streamline configuration management audit and remediation. Such tools can provide early detection of configuration errors, reduce down-time and ensure uniform performance across the network.

SAUGO360, a pioneer in technology development in the Middle East, is working on simplifying service provider network problems by developing solutions that respond to the specific network operational needs. The work encompasses the development of SDN-specific modules and network configuration, audit and remediation tools as well as developing business solutions for web, mobile, AR, data analytics and AI. SAUGO’s Elastic Services Configurator was recently awarded the Most Innovative Solution Award at the 2018 edition of Telecom Review, developing the Configurator for TELUS’ specific needs.

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

INTERVIEW

38

Data Consult enhancing clients’ digital journey Managed services are an important element in a company’s digital transformation journey. Data Consult is a leader in this field, driving a better evolution of the infrastructure and smoother operations, while minimizing business-impacting incidents. Marc Nader, chief operating officer, Data Consult SAL, spoke to Telecom Review about the role of managed services in the digital era.

D

ata Consult offers different solutions and services to support companies, among which are managed services. Can you elaborate more on these kinds of services that the company offers?

Data Consult offers advanced managed services to a variety of clientele in the EMEA region. Our model goes beyond the traditional “break & fix” methodology. It enables our specialists to dive into the client’s technology infrastructure in order to assess and pinpoint weak points and bottlenecks to proactively resolve them and implement necessary enhancements. This ultimately leads to a better evolution of the infrastructure and smoother operations, while minimizing businessimpacting incidents.

There are two types of managed services: • On-premises, where we proactively monitor and manage the technology which is located on customer premises. In this model we act as an extension of the technology team of our customers. Our capability covers the complete spectrum of infrastructure technologies: network, systems, voice, security and computing.

• Off-premises, where we host the technology in the datacenter which we control and customers consume

the technology service from this datacenter. We are currently offering three flavors of this service: security, collaboration technologies and computing.

How important is the role of managed services in a company’s process of digitization to help it reach better business outcomes?

Imagine being free of the financial burden and time-consuming task of managing your network, and making sure that you are safe from cyberattacks. Data Consult will manage the network, ensure its health and scalability which allows the client to focus his efforts and resources on developing tools that will actually help in growing their core business.

Let us say you are a bank. Rather than having your IT department tied up with IT tasks, you want them to focus on improving business processes and working on enhancing customer experience. This focused effort will surely pour right into the growth plans of a client.

Nowadays, businesses are growing more and more competitive and the ones who are thriving and succeeding are the ones who are innovating and offering a unique customer experience.

In your opinion, what other elements are crucial in a company’s digitization process?

In this age where digital is everywhere,

businesses will not be able to prosper if they continue doing business in a conventional manner. You will notice that the most traditional businesses are implementing digitization strategies, whether in academia, NGO, governments, banking, SPs, retail; you name it, everyone needs to scale and compete. Mobility is changing how a company operates, how it connects with its resources and clients alike, and without digitization, there is no place for innovation, no market reach, no product diversity, in short, no competitive edge.

In order to implement a digitization strategy, organizations need to be focused on their business objectives, and their technology teams focusing on supporting their business peers to reach this objective. We see ourselves as an enabler of these corporate initiatives. The more we offload technology teams from operation tasks, by providing state-of-the-art platforms installed and running, the more these teams will be able to deliver on the demands of their business leadership.

TELECOM REVIEW LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2019

ICT FEATURE

40

Will foldable phones save the smartphones market?

Global smartphone sales saw their worst contraction ever in 2018, and the outlook for 2019 isn’t much better, new surveys show. Worldwide handset volumes declined 4.1% in 2018 to a total of 1.4 billion units shipped for the full year, according to research firm IDC, which sees a potential for further declines this year. the bottom, however, this time, the handset seems much more likely to become an actual device, one that can open up to become a mini tablet.

A

ccording to IDC analyst Ryan Reith, the reason behind this drop is that the market has been hit by consumers waiting longer to replace their phones, due to the high cost of premium devices, and political and economic uncertainty. The Chinese market, for example, which accounts for roughly 30 percent of smartphone sales, was especially hard hit with a 10% drop, according to IDC’s survey.

Recently, at the Mobile World Congress that took place in Barcelona, “foldable” was a buzzword. Perhaps, it is the shakeup the market needed to regain its activity. Alongside the big announcements on 5G, the new generation of wireless network, this new phone concept was launched to get the attention of the public and has been conceptualized by Samsung and Huawei with their Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X. Foldable phones signal an evolution in mobile design that could change the future of phones and tablets as device categories, said IHS Markit’s analyst Wayne Lam. In fact, we’ve seen before “foldable” phones, a handset that bends at the middle so the top of the phone can touch

It’s no wonder that after years of phones looking markedly similar, people are excited to see something new.

There are at least three good reasons why one might want a foldable phone. First, getting a double-sized screen with a compact look seems ideal. Second, when unfolding its larger display, it unfolds with it various possibilities to use it as well: it helps you browse, watch, connect and multitask simultaneously.

The phone can be used just as a single screen, or with both screens operating as one big display, or even use both screens, each with a different app on it - an option presented by ZTE’s Axon M foldable phone. Third, it offers additional high-quality cameras to the consumer while keeping the same crystal-clear focus, sharp, detailed edges and bokeh blur photos. Even more, not only does a foldable smartphone remove the need to carry two devices (a phone and a tablet), it’s also the friend of any traveler or commuter. You can enjoy entertainment on the train or on an airplane, yet fold it up and stick it in your pocket.

However, a folding phone might be for some an awkward phone.

We’ve seen phones with screens on either side, with smaller ticker-style screens at the bottom or top, and designs with a touchscreen on the

outside and a smaller display (and keyboard) on the inside such as the Kyocera Echo. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out to be a success but it was an instructive one that warns us of the ways dual-screen phones can go wrong really fast. In addition, foldable phones can feel thicker and heavier.

Not to forget that more complexity means more ways to go wrong: design and software wise such as the fact that the second screen becomes useless dead weight most of the time.

The more pertinent question is should you buy a foldable phone now? It rarely pays to be one of the earliest adopters of any tech.

You’ll pay extra for the premium of being first, and you’ll miss out on the improvements that come with second and third iterations (and beyond). If you don’t have $2000 to spare, perhaps it’ll be smarter to wait for foldable phone tech to become more common – and a lot cheaper.

The day may come when the only type of phone you’ll buy is foldable. The tech we’ve seen so far is definitely a glimpse into the imminent future and a much-needed kick into gear for the smartphones market, which has been stalling of late with incremental upgrades that are far from revolutionary.

As Veteran technology blogger Liao A-hui pointed out, the first wave of foldables are not for everyone.

“They’re really for those first-wave technology adopters. […] It’s like not everyone will go buy a Lamborghini or Maserati.”

Internet Over Satellite Ser vices - In Partnership with SES Internet connectivity offered in partnership with SES via a satellite beam and locally installed teleports, providing wireless internet connectivity for all local and remote areas.

Smart Meters Our unparalleled Smart Metering Solution and Platform are dedicated towards bringing the flow of energy and water into the heart of digital economy, offering various benefits to society through smarter and more efficient energy and water management. This is made viable through SIM card integration in the devices, which offers remote data reading and control of the electricity availability and water flow.

Water meters are equipped with a remotely controlled valve to control water flow and a 10-year lifetime battery, and electricity meters come in single-phase and three-phase, both remotely controlling and monitoring the energy flow.

module 1 module 2

Smart Water Meter

Smart Power Meter

THE FASTEST OFFICE WIFI

25 GB at $35

LIMITED OFFER