Munawwar Hussain, CTO, Huawei Technologies, Middle East

Exclusive interview by Gulraiz Khalid

Mr. Munawwar Hussain is working as Chief Technology Officer for Huawei Middle East regional office, a strategic center for Huawei where his function is to provide support to Huawei’s regional teams in 14 countries. This support is geared towards catering customer’s requirements from conception of solution to final acceptance, completion of projects where Huawei is making phenomenal contribution in the development of region’s telecom infrastructures such as Fixed Networks, GSM, UMTS, 3G WiMax & LTE and paving the way for future technologies.
Responsibilities include interfacing customers and regional offices to promote Huawei’s products, services and update clients with upcoming advances in technologies, road maps by conducting workshops and seminars leading to strengthening Huawei’s standing in the region.

Mr. Munawwar Hussain has over 22 years of wide ranging experience in telecommunication with strong technical and business in-depth understanding, prior to his current role in Huawei, he served for operators and vendors such as Cable and Wireless Europe, Asia and USA, Ericsson UK, Ericsson Nigeria, Ericsson Saudi Arabia, MTN Nigeria and STC Saudi Arabia in key roles. He graduated from NED University Karachi and further studied Computer Engineering and Micro Electronics from United Kingdom beside attending many professional training courses.

He was attending a summit here in Islamabad on“Next generation Broadband Network in Pakistan” where we caught him and he was kind to speak to Teletimes, on Huawei’s achievements and activities. The excerpts from his interview are given below for the readers.

Teletimes – Where many firms were charging prices with supernormal profit margins. But since the arrival of companies like Huawei, telecom operators world-wide and specially in emerging markets have benefited most and end users are enjoying telecom services at affordable prices, Please talk to us about the pricing strategy of Huawei?

Munawwar Hussain – Yes, I agree with you about the profits and margins made in the past were phenomenal. This was due to limited numbers of Telecom vendors who were supplying equipment and services at the rates which are a thing of the past in current times. They had almost a monopoly in this arena. Also certain areas of technologies which were divided among them or their expertise in specific technologies among them reduced competition further, for example fixed, Mobile, IP, Radio and transmission networks etc. This lack of choice to operators has been removed by entrance of companies from east such as Huawei and brought much fairer competition. Now operators are enjoying deployment of networks which are highly cost effective and advances in telecomm technologies have further facilitated price reductions.

It will be worth mentioning that due to costs associated with R&D, production, delivery and support in different part of the globe, companies from western countries had this price difference. This in fact brought a great degree of change in their business strategies and some companies merged, while others like Nortel went out of business.

Coming to your point abut our strategy in Huawei, its very simple, reduce the overheads, optimize all business processes, like R&D, production, delivery and after sales support etc. As you can see we are catering to a wide spectrum of customers, where average revenue per user (ARPU) ranges from few USD dollars like in Pakistan to over 50 USD in some ME countries. We devise solutions based on what customers need, rather than what we aim to sell. This has won us trust of our customers around the world and many of our clients do not see us as a vendor rather than their strategic partner. This is our long term vision to be customer focuses in providing best services at most cost-effective manors to theirs needs.

TT – Developing countries really need to concentrate on the figures, what they are paying for to develop telecom infrastructure which can cater upcoming services on long-term basis. Rationalize their thinking in order to establish a good long-term strategy. Would you like to say something in this regard?

MH – There are many factors to be considered for telecom operators in developing countries, like we discussed in this summit here in Islamabad. For example, geographical size of the country, the spread of its population and its large size, lack of awareness and education to draw benefits of e-info for general consumers and business community, low spending power as per GDP, lack of infrastructure which limits deployment, how to provide good network coverage, low penetration in general and even lower numbers of valued users, Time to market, etc. are some of the key factors. Of course, this list can go on. But at the same time the local operators are doing a great work and making a good balance between business and service provisioning to end users. I was pleasantly surprised that 60% of the broadband users in PTCL are consuming between 30 GBits and 40 GBits data. This shows that PTCL has done a great work in providing good high speed broadband and there is a good scope for growth, as in Pakistan internet penetration is just over 10%.

In regards to long-term strategy, one has to think how to balance between current business and how to sustain Some times making a decision for a long-term strategy appears to be costly but in reality, they pay more. For example, if running an old network is costing high operational costs, service interruptions due to age and most of all incapability to deliver service packages, then its worth to modernize those elements, to save OPEX, increase efficiency and revenue with new services. Especially in a country like Pakistan, high capacity equipment and its evolution and adoptability to upcoming services without any major changes, low power consumption, small foot print, introduction of alternate electric power sources like solar and wind energies, etc. will be critical for telecom strategists. Introduction of Huawei’s Next Generation network (NGN) is a shining example in Pakistan for this.

TT – Our readers would like to know about the various policies of cost reduction Huawei has developed in the past to provide cost-effective networks in different regions of the world.

MH – As I explained earlier that if you can reduce your overheads and optimize the processes from R&D to delivery, this approach has played a key role in our success and winning the trust of our customers. I would also like to add that what Huawei has achieved this in a very short space of time. By thinking out of the box, we didn’t follow the typical trend when we developed our products. In many disciplines, we set the precedent like in our core network; a very high capacity of our exchanges has played a major role in network modernization, where we replaced legacy equipment comprising of many squares of meters to merely few square meters, reducing the foot prints by 90% in many cases. Naturally, this has reduced costs in the total number of sites (where civil work is the most expensive component for any telecom operator, irrespective of being in developed countries or in emerging markets), electric power for operations and cooling (reducing carbon emissions) and offering alternate power, which not only reduces the requirements of fuel but also reduces the number of visits to a site.

Moreover, by offering converged network solutions such as Single Radio Access for different technologies GSM, 3G, WiMax etc, Single Core networks, Single Subscriber data base for mobile, fixed line and broadband users, Single Business support and management system has reduced cost to build and operate telecom networks. These solutions are provided by Huawei as tested and proven technologies which are playing a key role to support our customers in their business requirements all over the world.

TT – Please share with our readers some of your success stories, such as the Viva STC Kuwait & Bahrain project.

MH – I think singling out few of our customers is hard. All of our customers world wide and especially in Middle East are all success stories! The success is based on winning the customer’s trust and confidence. As you mentioned about two projects VIVA Kuwait and VIVA Bahrain, these two are not just two projects and success stories. There is a very old relationship between us and STC. We deployed Huawei’s core network in the Holy city of Makah to provide coverage for the Hajj pilgrims in 2006, which proved to be a great success for both of us. Since then, we didn’t look back and stories like the two projects you highlighted just kept increasing.

TT – Some of our corporate readers would be very interested in Huawei’s ngHLR. Please talk in detail.

MH – I am not sure why you picked up only ngHLR( next generation Home Location Register) from a wide range of our telecomm products. HLR is indeed a critical network element which plays a major role in delivering telecommunication services to end users. Please allow me to give some details on HLR function. It stores subscriber information as a service profile, like what services are provisioned to any individual subscriber. In the case of mobile users, it retains information about user location who can be roaming anywhere in the world. HLR also plays a basic role in setting up a call to users, so you can imagine the significance of this network element. If this goes out of service, all subscribers whose data is in HLR will not be able to receive the calls.

Having a Core Network design background, Huawei’s ngHLR or how we call it USC (Unified Subscriber Centre) has really fascinated me. Traditionally HLR used to support from hundreds of thousands to few millions subscribers, and physically comprising of 6 to 8 standards telecomm cabinets. Till few years back operators who had large numbers of subscribers like over 15 millions and some reaching 30 to 40 Millions in ME and especially in Pakistan, had to spend large amounts of CAPEX and OPEX to maintain their subscribers’ data. This included large footprints, high electric and cooling costs, not to mention the cost of system upgrades to support new services and keep operations and maintenance. Whereas Huawei’s ngHLR can support 100 million active subscribers and 200m static subscribers consisting of only two cabinets and covering few square meters of footprint. It offers 100% resilience at many levels, from board to network element level, offering even geo redundancy. For example you can place two identical nodes geographically separated while working as a back-up to each other. We have implemented this solution around the world and have saved operational costs and increased revenue, which were lost due to HLR failures. For example one of the major operators in United Kingdom lost HLR function for 4 hours in 2009 loosing 10s of millions of dollars in revenue.

Huawei’s ngHLR is based on future oriented ATCA (Advanced Telecomm Computing Architecture) standard which is a widely accepted standard for next generation hardware. This gives freedom to software development and adaptation to new services thus securing operators investment for much longer period and reducing service interruptions caused by upgrades and amendments in the HLR nodes. It supports features like high capacity and resilience, multilevel data back-up, distributed structure allowing multiple functional entities, Virtual HLR function which allows HLR to be divided into several logical HLRS giving operators more flexibility to configure their networks, separate data and service processing, smooth data convergence allowing various types of services convergence, standard and open data access interfaces and MNP (Mobile Number portability), the list goes on and on. I hope that was detailed enough for your corporate readers!

TT – Data Communications & Broadband Networks are the future of this industry. In your opinion, what are the significance of broadband for the society in large and what type of network modernization would be required to serve the needs and to what extent do you think are the regional telecom operators are ready for the future?

MH – There is no doubt that data communication is the future, and it is not only limited to typical communication which we perceived as voice, internet and downloading multimedia files or reading e-mails etc. Telecommunication has evolved to such an extent that it has impacted our lives to a great degree, either as an individual or business enterprise or at government levels. We all are impacted and cant stay isolated from this evolution and take full advantages from this “Tool” to accelerate our economical, educational and social development growth. Many governments from developed and emerging nations have taken serious initiatives to promote and implement broadband. It is estimated that national broadband deployment will contribute from 0.5% to 4% in national GDPs around the world, and for every $ spent on broadband investment, the society would get 10 times the return.

About the network modernization, this is very interesting and important question. The development in telecommunication has been so fast that many matured and experienced operators I world have been caught unprepared for what I call “Data Tsunami”! They ended up taking evasive actions to keep network operational and save their integrity. For example, one operator in UK had to spend in access of 100m USD just to keep their network alive and apologized to their subscribers for poor performance after experiencing huge rise in data traffic generated by the launch of smart phones, which made subscribers use more and stay more on net.

To avoid such scenarios in this region, I believe that most of the operators are well positioned to take care of such a huge flux of data traffic. In fact, some of the regional operators are already registering very high data traffic growth. But still a lot more work is required to modernize legacy networks by introducing new available technologies in the areas such as core network, fixed and mobile access and all IP transport networks. This will bring down operational costs, enhance performance while offering quality experience to end users. I will strongly recommend that operators whose networks consist of legacy equipment should work closely with vendors and conduct network analysis, establish long-term strategies to modernize networks and prepare themselves for the so called “Data Tsunami”. It is better to be in control of the events rather than being controlled by the events.

TT – What are your views regarding the evolution in telecommunication especially through radio access providing unprecedented mobility to end users?

MH – If you see development in the field of telecommunication and speed of evolution, it has been phenomenal. Radio access network in the last two decades has given mobility a new meaning, which has impacted our lives from many aspects. Starting from analog cellular system to today’s 3G and arrival of LTE (Long Term Evolution) has brought the Internet, with high quality audio, video and graphics to people on the move. Data rates up to 200 times those of some 2G mobile phones have enabled large files to be transmitted almost instantaneously and new applications like electronic postcards and mobile video conferencing has become a commonplace.
This new e-lifestyle is many folds more revolutionary than what world saw in the industrial revolution of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, and the digital evolution in second half of 20th century.

I believe, this pace will continue. We will see ourselves far more dependant on telecom developments than ever before. What is even more interesting is that it will not be manufacturers that will be driving the technology market, which historically has been the case, but consumers will virtually possess a genie lamp and will dictate the advances in technology. Hence, the evolution will be service oriented where all technologies will converge on unified platforms to deliver services commanded by consumers.

In this region as we discussed in the summit, governments and regulatory bodies must encourage the service and contents providers who can cater the local needs, in the areas such as education, business enterprises, entertainment, social networking and localized applications.

TT – Huawei is becoming well-known for its customer care and after sales services which many vendors lack nowadays. Please tell our readers about your basic strategy towards dealing with customers.

MH – I believe that we are already well known world-wide. Flexibility and adoptability are some of our key strengths. We do not see customers as business targets but as our partners. Their successes and failures are ours to share, as we stand shoulder to shoulder with them. We ensure that our customers are well served and depending on their specific needs we offer solutions and deliver them so that their networks are performing to achieve their strategic and business targets.

TT – Huawei’s work has not been limited to just equipment provision. Please talk about the different services Huawei is providing and some of your current operations, in detail.

MH – I am glad you asked this. Yes, we are not just a box supplier; we have wide ranging products and services ensuring end to end solutions. As I mentioned earlier, we have proven products and services covering all technologies such as fixed, mobile, IP and transport, which not many suppliers can claim.

Coming back to what services we can provide! Our customers work with us from pre-license acquiring stage to having fully operational and optimized networks, all handled by Huawei in the form of so called BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer).

If I have to list the service that is very long, but below are some key areas where we are busy serving our customers.

Consultancy Service: Business & network consultancy services covering support for how to prepare for license, how to build network and how to operate and optimize.

Managed Service: We manage the entire network and this is not limited to only our products but we also manage services in a multi vendor environment

Customer Experience Evolution: Providing valuable information and data using our tools, so network can be tuned up to produce desired customer experience.

Network rollouts and Integration: We offer this service to accelerate the process by reducing complicated procedure and delivering in very timely manner.

Customer Support Service: Providing 24×7 technical support t to ensure networks are maintained in operations. We have support centers around the world with highly competent engineers who are delivering these services.
Technology Service: Our services through the Product Life Cycle meet all requirements at each network development stage, ranging from Design & Initial Tuning to Performance Management of Service & Data Migration, Audit and Benchmarking. We always focus on the Quality of Networks.
Competence Development: We offer complete knowledge transfer to our clients and run technical and non-technical training courses, either in a class room or in the field. Based on operator’s specific requirements, a customized training material is always developed and delivered.

TT – Would you like to comment on TELETIMES International.

MH – I read number of issues of Teletimes and was impressed with quality of contents, which provides valuable information to vendors and operators alike, while offering opportunity to express their views and vision how they are shaping and intend to shape the telecom industry. I also believe that your magazines should not be limited to Asia, Middle East and North Africa, it should also benefit our telecom processionals in Europe and America. I must congratulate you on you great work and wish you all the best.