KA: Congratulations on your new role! What are the prime initiatives that you will be taking as the CEO of Huawei Pakistan?
MM: Thank you so much! It is an honor to lead Huawei in Pakistan. There is a significant opportunity for our solutions to contribute towards a ‘digital Pakistan’ while bringing digital to every person, home, and organization for a fully connected, intelligent society. I want to thank all our customers and partners who have supported us in the past 22 years. I hope to earn your continuous support in the coming years.
Our aim is to openly collaborate with the public and private sectors to create an ICT ecosystem that drives digital transformation forward. This will support the government’s vision to move towards a diversified, knowledge-based economy. We already know that ICT is hugely important to any country’s economic development, Pakistan being no exception.
Just as before, we will continue to support the government’s Digital Pakistan vision with the latest technologies like 5G, AI, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT), unlocking new avenues of growth and innovation. In fact, Huawei is a unique end-to-end enabler of the digital society, with capabilities across the ICT value chain—whether it is serving telecommunications carriers, enterprises, governments, or consumers.
At the heart of the Huawei ethos is our belief in openness and knowledge-sharing. That is another important priority moving forward. For example, we are committed to supporting the development of a local ICT talent ecosystem in Pakistan, and are very active in this domain through numerous CSR initiatives. We have already launched training program for 1000+ government employees on latest technologies. Huawei established 23 ICT Academies which helped in certification on more than 10,000 ICT talents. We have also worked closely with government in COVID-19 operations.
KA: How would you comment on the Pakistani telecom sector? Especially in comparison to other telco markets in the region?
MM: Pakistan is one of the fastest-growing and maturing telecom markets in the region. Since 2018, for example, in the past 3 years Pakistan has shown exponential growth in 4G subscribers by almost 30 Million subscribers. Pakistan was also the first country in South East Asia to have tested 5G in 2019. With 64% of Pakistan’s population also under 30 years old, the future of digital innovation in Pakistan is very progressive. All this growth and technological innovation make Pakistan a front runner in the telecom sector. Today’s advanced ICT services and solutions are also enabling the government to achieve their digital transformation goals, to strengthen knowledge economies, and to accomplish their wider national development agendas even faster.
KA: How do you think COVID has affected the telco market in Pakistan? Is Huawei’s business affected in anyway or are Pakistan’s relatively low COVID numbers helping in dealing with the pandemic much easily in comparison to other markets?
MM: Definitely COVID-19 has impacted businesses globally, and in Pakistan as well. Telecom operations were in turn affected. However, through deep collaboration between operators, government partners, and private sector leaders like ourselves, we have overcome these challenges.
Pakistan had 50% increase in data traffic during the COVID-19, people online usage behavior changed. That was resolved with aggressive rollouts and capacity improvement. Pakistan’s relatively low COVID-19 numbers were a result of outstanding planning by the government, but also the support that telecom operators gave in terms of educating people about COVID-19 with specialized ring back tones, identification of areas for smart lockdowns, and so on. We have worked tirelessly with our own customers and partners over the last few months to provide smooth and reliable network connections which keep businesses running 24/7 and people connected and informed. Huawei teams performed 40,000+ Sites Field Visits, 6000+ Network Problems were solved during COVID-19 lockdowns to ensure connectivity.
KA: As a trusted partner for 5G deployment across the world, Huawei must be having a key role in 5G deployment in Pakistan? What are Huawei’s plans for 5G in Pakistan? When will the market for 5G be ready?
MM: Huawei is a leading vendor for 5G commercial networks across the globe. In Pakistan, Huawei has already conducted trials with three operators, and showcased the technological innovations 5G will bring to the national economy and society at large.
The COVID-19 pandemic in particular has led to increased demand for ICT solutions specifically in areas like 5G. Meeting that demand will require new forms of public-private partnerships in the area of 5G based on open collaboration, supporting strong industry policies, and providing enhanced service experiences to consumers.
5G is not just a technology; it will be the backbone connecting all industries. As such, the government of Pakistan and the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) have undertaken groundbreaking initiatives for 5G in Pakistan. The 5G Committee in Pakistan, of which Huawei is a member, is working on a 5G strategy and native use cases for 5G’s launch in Pakistan.
KA: What significance does Pakistan hold in Huawei’s regional presence and expansion plans?
MM: As I mentioned earlier, Pakistan is one of the fastest-growing ICT markets in the region. For us, it is a significant market where we contribute to the development of the ICT industry.
By Aug 2020, the number of mobile users in Pakistan exceeded 169 million, with a penetration rate of 79.65%. According to statistics, 12-14 million 4G users are added each year. Huawei’s continuous growth also comes from bringing digital services to more people, families, and organizations.
We will continue to support our partners in Pakistan as an end-to-end enabler of the digital society, supporting national ICT initiatives and local industry by cooperating across the ICT value chain.
KA: How is Huawei supporting the local SMEs and businesses and contributing to the digital economy?
MM: We have been providing services and products in Pakistan for 22 years. Our innovative enterprise solutions have laid the foundation for building business competitiveness, and are widely recognized by customers in Pakistan and internationally. We work with local enterprises and governments to embrace technologies like 5G, AI, cloud, and big data as enablers of “advanced intelligence”. This is bringing us to an intelligent world where all things will sense, all things will be connected, and all things will be intelligent.
With that in mind, we deliver customer-centric, business-driven solutions to the sectors that matter most, including energy, government, transportation, education, healthcare and much more. We are working with 500+ local partners in Pakistan on different kinds of cooperation.
KA: Prime Minister of Pakistan has appreciated the support of Huawei to realize the objective of ‘Digital Pakistan’, how will you comment on this and would you elaborate Huawei’s contribution in this regard.
MM: I am very thankful to the Prime Minister of Pakistan for his encouraging words. We are also grateful to Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom and Pakistan Telecom Authority for their consistent support of Huawei’s 22 years’ operation in Pakistan.
Huawei is committed to creating value for the communities where it operates. We are collaborating with the government in multiple projects to help achieve the Digital Pakistan vision.
Apart from ongoing technical projects, Huawei has launched multiple programs for knowledge transfer and talent cultivation. Recently, we are working with MoITT to arrange training on the latest technologies like AI, IoT, and Cloud Computing for 1,000 government employees, which will enable them to contribute more to Digital Pakistan.
Within Huawei’s vision to bring digital to every person, home, and organization for a fully connected and intelligent world, all our collaborative and educational initiatives in Pakistan are designed to accelerate progress. An example of this includes our ICT Competition which has been in Pakistan for four years and is running now in 2020. The ICT Competition was created to give young people with a curiosity for technology a platform to learn and develop their skills set.
Moving forward, Huawei will continue to innovate in meeting customer needs, and openly cooperate with industry partners, governments, and communities across Pakistan.
