Bocar A. BA , CEO of SAMENA Telecommunications Council, sheds light on the council’s role in an ever-evolving telecom regulatory landscape during an exclusive interview with Teletimes International
Teletimes: Given its multifaceted role within the Industry, what were some key impact areas led by SAMENA Council last year and what is your focus in the current year?
Bocar A. BA: During 2023, SAMENA Council’s focus was on building stakeholder support, advocating regulatory transformation, correlating societal welfare with secure digital space, corroborating the necessity of high-capacity fixed networks, supporting 5G evolution for cross-industry development, bringing Mobility/Transportation sector stakeholders together with ICT sector stakeholders, advocating sustainability imperatives, and leading a way forward on an innovative framework to finance and fund future digital infrastructure.
As you are aware, SAMENA Council is representing the Private Sector at the UN Member-State level and is at the center of information and experience exchange necessary for materializing digital transformation for the Industry as well as the economy of the region. In this role, in the current year, SAMENA Council is continuing to engage with regional and global bodies to help enhance national policy and regulatory capacities, while supporting general enablement and facilitation for the digital ecosystem.
The Council believes that the digital ecosystem needs to be made sustainable and thus attention is required to allow for end-user choice, fair competition in the digital services platforms that are boosting the digital economy, and strengthening ways to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Council believes that the digital ecosystem needs to be made sustainable and thus attention is required to allow for end-user choice, fair competition in the digital services platforms that are boosting the digital economy, and strengthening ways to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship. Our RISE Roundtable in Riyadh in March this year, focusing specifically on these areas, is now being followed by Leaders’ Summit 2024 in Dubai, which focuses on technology integration, intelligence and sustainability in the infrastructure. Soon thereafter, we will conduct an advocacy exercise in Riyadh through another conference toward end of May 2024 to assist in accelerating transition in Saudi Arabia toward 10 Gigabit network development, building onto the discussions we initiated with SAMENA Council Members last year.
TT: Teletimes notes SAMENA Council’s seemingly sudden focus on FWA. What are your objectives in this regard?
BA: It may appear to be a “sudden” focus, but let us recall that, since 2018, SAMENA Council has actively voiced and provided the platform for demonstrating 5G policy imperatives, new use-cases, and new possibilities that 5G could bring to the business, to the industries, and to the end-users.
Our focus on Fixed Wireless Access (that is FWA) is simply to help draw the Industry’s focus on monetizing 5G investments. 5G has catalyzed positive impact on new planning and developmental fronts, cross-industry co-operation, policy and regulation upgradation, and has provided the SA-ME-NA region’s stakeholders visibility on what to expect and prepare for in the new Digital Age. Thus, 5G serves as a new foundation, and FWA is a very useful case, among various others, to effectively utilize 5G investments. By 2030, the FWA market space could exceed US $150 billion, for instance. This, in strong ways, shows that 5G FWA is an area of interest around the world due to its excellent experience-enhancing prospects, fast time to market, and low initial cost.
Moreover, SAMENA Council views that major industry use-cases of FWA include education, healthcare, agriculture, transportation, public safety, manufacturing, retail, environmental management, and IoT ecosystem, among others. Notably, all these areas are of importance in our region.
Thanks to innovations introduced by leading technology provider Members of SAMENA Council, which are playing a highly active role in the manifestation and evolution of the 5G ecosystem, in the emerging markets and as an affordable high-speed home broadband access solution, FWA is making it possible for Operators to quickly recover investment costs. In more developed digital economies within the SA-ME-NA region, particularly in the greater GCC region, FWA can make a noticeable difference in Operators revenue growth as well, and I personally believe that we can also make real progress in connected the unconnected through FWA.
So, that’s the rationale for setting this technology area among our priorities.
TT: What do you view to be areas of immediate importance for policymakers and regulators for fostering development of the Industry and various digital ecosystems?
BA: Given that we all need to strive to digitally transform reginal markets and contribute to achieving a collective set of milestones we call the “SDGs”, SAMENA Council observes that the region’s policymakers and regulators need to drive greater impact and value from their existing digital transformation efforts and new initiatives. This can be achieved by promoting an open and competitive digital environment, where pro-competition policies are adopted; where users have greater choice in digital services and platforms; and where multi-stakeholder dialogue and engagement efforts are carried out on a sustainable basis. To this effect, SAMENA Council specially appreciates the continued efforts of TDRA-UAE and CST Commission of Saudi Arabia for being always ready to enable and tangibly support industry-wide dialogue.
Furthermore, SAMENA Council feels that some other areas for policymakers and regulators to consider are proactively streamlining procedures for infrastructure development and faster service provisioning; prioritized consideration of needs of Telecom Operators, especially those that have made significant infrastructure investments and have played a visible role in uplifting digital experience of end-users and have demonstrated regulatory compliance; incentivize cybersecurity; empower new e-commerce and digital-economy boosting digital services and platforms; encourage the adoption of green technologies and practices to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions; and promote ethical guidelines and standards for the development and deployment of digital technologies.
The digital environment will soon become even more complex, and we need all these areas placed under our observation and facilitation at the highest stakeholder level possible. This is one key reason for the Council to conduct its industry meetings and advocacy work.
TT: Are they are any global-level initiatives that SAMENA Council is a part of?
BA: SAMENA Council is a key collaborator in building a comprehensive financing framework for building broadband infrastructure around the globe, especially for underserved or totally unconnected regions and communities. What started out as report on recommendations for expanding the base of contributors, steered by the UN Broadband Commission’s working group on 21st century broadband financing and funding models and chaired by SAMENA Council, has now taken on a shape of an implementable set of strategies agreed upon by a diverse group of stakeholders including the ICT Industry, Telecom Operators, investors, regulators, and development banks. Moreover, the framework has already found pilot implementation prospects in some countries of Africa. Extension of this framework’s application from pilot projects in those countries is now anticipated in the ASEAN region as well.
This is a major milestone on the financial front that the Council has been privileged to lead and support, and it is expected to reduce financial burdens on our Operator Members, while unlocking access to new capital and making a direct difference in provisioning broadband connectivity across regions.
On another global front, SAMENA Council is now fully active in the Digital Innovation Board, which has been established by the ITU’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development.
On another global front, SAMENA Council is now fully active in the Digital Innovation Board, which has been established by the ITU’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development. I am privileged to represent SAMENA Council in this board to provide strategic guidance and to advocate building critical local enablers and fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in digital development, with the larger goal of ensuring digital inclusion and creating an equitable future.
TT: What new regional-level collaborations has SAMENA Council embarked on in the larger interest of the Industry and the region?
BA: Our most recent collaborative undertaking has been initiated with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to address key sustainable development challenges in the Arab region. Through this collaboration, both organizations are promoting digital inclusion, advocating enablement and fulfillment of sustainable development goals, and enhancing new connectivity and digitalization initiatives in the Arab region.
The primary focus of this regional-level initiative is to support “Digital for Sustainable Development” in ensuring accessibility of digital connectivity and technologies by all; and to leverage digital technologies to improve access to education, healthcare, essential services, and foster digital innovation, which should be carried over across the neighboring regions.
We also foresee making progress on green ICT development – which adds to SAMENA Council’s continued messaging on the sustainability front over the last two years for reduction of carbon emissions.
We also foresee making progress on green ICT development – which adds to SAMENA Council’s continued messaging on the sustainability front over the last two years for reduction of carbon emissions, and engaging with governments, businesses, civil society, and other stakeholders. SAMENA Council’s leadership congregation platforms, such as the annual Leaders’ Summit, are some of the means utilized by the Council for the purpose of fostering such regional-level engagement with private and government sector stakeholders.
TT: About the Leaders’ Summit, which we consider to be one of the most important ICT stakeholders’ meetings in the world, what is on the agenda this year?
BA: SAMENA Council’s Leaders’ Summit, for well over a decade, has positioned issues, private-sector players, and leaders in ways that should support us all, collectively, and to foster predictability, sensibility, and sustainability in the Industry. With this legacy aim in mind, the 2024 edition of the SAMENA Council Leaders’ Summit will delve into “Evolving toward Integration, Intelligence & Sustainability in Infrastructure”. Under this theme, the annual, international industry-leadership meeting will bring renowned regional and global private-sector players to discuss how we can thrive in the 5.5G Era, build cyber resilience in the telecom networks and business, benefit from post-WRC-23 spectrum opportunities, conduct sustainable digital transformation, and discuss new roles and opportunities in the space & satellite ecosystem.
Teletimes and your audience would appreciate knowing that, in the environs we operate in, sustained multi-stakeholder dialogue and priority alignment among leaders and drivers of change, are a constant need. The SAMENA Council Leaders’ Summit serves to fulfill this need. This year, the SAMENA Council Leaders’ Summit 2024 will be held on May 13th with chief-patronage of the TDRA-UAE, global collaboration of the ITU, platinum innovation partnership provided by Mobily, and strategic industry development partnership of Huawei, stc, Zain, and the World Broadband Association.
TT: Given your multiple roles within the Industry, what are your final thoughts?
BA: I feel, it is essential to remain mindful of advancements and innovations under play in relation to the regional digital transformation trends. The digital ecosystem needs to be made sustainable and thus attention is required to allow for end-user choice, fair competition in the digital services platforms, and in strengthening ways to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship. The SAMENA Council platforms are ever ready to provide the necessary foundation and support to make progress on these and other areas, important for the Industry, for its leaders, and for the society, at large.
