Teletimes Mar 2013

CABSAT 2013 

12 - 14 March - Dubai 

Verscom successfully established its operations in 

more than 30 countries in less than a decade 

Mehmet Balos 

CEO, Verscom Solutions 

March 2013

Media Partner:

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6687-Teletimes.indd 1 

2/28/2013 1:13:34 PM

Vol: 08 Issue: 03 

ABC Certified 

www.teletimesinternational.com 

The only tri-regional magazine focused towards 

the ICT & Telecom sectors 

of The Middle East, Asia and Africa 

E-mail: info@teletimesinternational.com 

8th year of publication 

Recipient of 

“International Arch of Europe Award for Quality” 

and 

“Teradata ICT Execellence Award for Media” 

Dr. Zafar Khan MBE 

Prof. Nasreen Khalid 

ADVISORY BOARD 

Dr. Alaa Bader Hindawi 

Media Partner to: 

Iqtidar Zaidi 

Haroon Rashid 

Publisher & Chief Editor 

Executive Editor 

Associate Editors 

Assistant Editor 

Sub Editors 

Director Sales (MEA) 

G.M (Business Dev) 

Graphics Editor 

Legal Advisor 

Correspondents 

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Paris 

Istanbul 

Jeddah 

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Tel: (+92) 51 2874225, 2279830, 

Cell: (+92) 300 9559879 

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Khalid Athar 

Raheela Anjum 

Izhar Ahmad, Qutubuddin 

Gulraiz Khalid 

M Awais Hanif, Aslam Mumtaz 

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Naveed Ahmad Khan 

Khurram Shahzad 

Hashmat Habib 

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Printer: Khursheed Printers (Pvt) Ltd. 

A PROJECT OF PPA PUBLICATIONS

In this edition 

Interviews 

16 Verscom successfully established its 

operations in more than 30 countries in 

less than a decade. 

Mehmet Balos 

CEO - Verscom Solutions 

Khalid Athar 

29 “Commeth the Hour, 

Commeth the Man”. 

Naeem Zamindar, 

CEO - Wateen Telecom 

34 “Technology alone is not the 

differentiator or major revenue enabler 

in a competitive market”. 

Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Badran 

CEO, VIVA Telecom - Kuwait 

22 

Research & Analyses 

31 Mobile NFC – The hype and the potential! 

Authur D. Little 

Dr. Karim Taga, Nicolai Schättgen 

50 Create your own buzz: 

The promise and practice of digital 

marketing 

booz&co. 

Thomas Künstner, Timo Benzin, Sebastian 

Blum, Christopher Rischard 

27 

Articles 

09 Ideal Revenue Assurance 

Nev Phillips 

10 Technology for Technicians: 2013 Trends 

Dale Kyle 

13 Green energy efficient power solutions 

needed to reach the next billion mobile 

phone users 

David King 

46 Microsoft engages youth to drive 

sustainable African economic growth 

56 Let us change the world together! 

Rehan Allahwala 

59 

04 www.teletimesinternational.com 


In this edition 

Reports & News 

20 Etisalat Group profit up 27% 

before Federal Royalty year-on-year 

Aasem A Alali 

22 Etisalat extends winning streak through innovation 

Fadwa Al-Hashimi 

25 Omantel revenue grows to R.O 459machieves 

net profit of R.O 116.2m 

27 Qtel Group to unify under new brand 

Julie Amann 

38 Third wave of technology disruption! 

Arun Shankar 

41 Life gets faster with turbocharged broadband services 

from Nawras and even faster with the launch of 4G 

Julie Amann 

42 Winners and losers emerge in Europe’s race to a fibre future 

34 

43 Huawei unveils SoftCOM - 

New vision for reshaping the future of network architecture 

44 2G spectrum: 

Indian SC dismisses curative petitions of telecom firms 

45 Hala Badri presides over MENA Cristal Festival Advertisers Grand Jury 

45 4G mobile network to be launched in Qatar 

47 NEC, Fujitsu completes Asia Submarine-cable 

Express (ASE) system 

48 PCCW achieved strong results across core segments 

49 Tadiran Telecom’s Aeronix received VMware Certification 

57 PM inaugurates USF projects in Sindh 

Aslam Mumtaz 

57 3G technology to benefit mobile users 

with faster data exchange: Naveed Siraj 

59 Mobilink Foundation wins GSMA’s 

Global Mobile Awards 2013 

29 

60 Wateen Telecom launches ‘Values’ to achieve strategic ambition 

Tayyab Babar 

61 Ifran Wahab Khan replaces Aamir Ibrahim at Telenor 

and much more .... 

March 2013 


05

From Mobile Operator 

to the Communications Provider of Choice… 

Khalid Athar 

Chief Editor 

The development in the ICT & 

Telecom Sectors of MENA during the 

last half decade has been exemplary. 

During the 8 years of publication 

of Teletimes International, I 

have seen many of the region’s 

companies grow from scratch 

to big corporations. However 

Nawras Telecommunication has left 

behind many of those by setting an 

outstanding example and becoming 

one of the biggest success stories of 

the region. 

I believe that the credit of this 

amazing composed performance 

by Nawras goes to all its family 

members. Nonetheless, the dynamic 

well-focused leadership of Mr. 

Ross Cormack, one of the best 

telecom leaders in the region has 

to be acknowledged. I have had the 

opportunity of visiting Ross in his 

workplace a few times, and where in 

my experience, the CEOs are having 

the best, extravagant offices in their 

buildings, I was surprised but more 

than that impressed to see that Ross 

was working in a workcell along 

with other staff members. With 

that kind of leadership and working 

culture, an organization is bound to 

grow and succeed and thus Nawras 

has. As the Media Partner to almost 

all important events in the region, I 

usually attend the events myself. I 

have always found Ross as the most 

frequent participant and speaker in 

conferences and technical sessions 

of tier one telecom executives. Due 

to his understanding of the industry, 

he is not only a great leader but one 

of the favorite and most popular 

speakers in the region. 

Operating for the last eight years 

in Oman, Nawras has grown 

from a mobile operator to the all 

communications provider of choice 

in the Sultanate by expanding into 

landline services, expanding the 

broadband business and becoming 

the first company to demonstrate 

the 4G services in Oman. As one of 

the articles in this issue says, Life is 

surely going to get faster for people 

with 4G and turbocharged networks 

in Oman. 

Keeping in view all above and the 

immense contribution Nawras has 

made to the society through CSR, it 

is an honor for Teletimes to publish 

a special supplement (along with 

this March 2013 edition) covering 

different aspects of how Nawras has 

been contributing to the industry, to 

the market and to the contemporary 

society. 

We congratulate Nawras on its 

eighth anniversary and would 

like to express our deep hearted 

felicitations to the Nawras family, 

the CEO Mr. Ross Cormack and 

Chairman Ooredoo, His Excellency 

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin 

Saud Al-Thani. 

I would also like to specially thank 

Julie Amann, Hashar Al-Mandhari 

and Kaltham Saif Ahmed Al-Harrasi 

for their valuable coordination 

in the preparation of the above 

mentioned special supplement on 

8th anniversary of Nawras with our 

Assistant Editor Gulraiz Khalid. 



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Nev Phillips 

Ideal Revenue Assurance 

A view as to what the perfect Revenue Assurance function might look like 

Strategy and Scope 

A clear Revenue Assurance 

strategy exists that defines 

Revenue Assurance scope and 

ambitions for current and future 

years. The strategy is signed 

off at C-Level. It defines how 

Revenue Assurance will be organised 

and measured and how 

it will integrate with and support 

general business strategy. It 

defines any policies for procurements 

of tools and services and 

how the benefits of those will be 

evaluated. It provides a budget 

model and incentive for reaching 

KPI targets with sensitivities for 

partial achievement. Where a 

Group function exists it specifies 

that relationship in terms of 

funding, seeding, centralisation, 

federation, cooperation and 

dealing with contention. The 

strategy will look to provide a 

cost effective and realistic plan 

of initiatives with defined (budgetary) 

costs and benefits. 

Measuring Success 

The Revenue Assurance function 

is operated and measured based 

on a risk and benefits model. Key 

measures might be risk coverage, 

risk mitigation achieved, risk 

gap, estimated time to restore 

target risk level, mean time to 

protect, mean time to correct 

(MTTC), mean time to detect 

(MTTD), Revenue Assurance 

productivity, protected revenue 

value, recouped revenue value. 

Monthly targets are set for each 

KPI, and measures tracked for 

trending in other areas. Gaps 

between KPI achievement and 

target are actively managed, 

with longer term improvements 

embodied within the Revenue 

Assurance strategy. 

Organisation & Human Capital 

Organisationally Revenue Assurance 

is part of a Business Assurance 

function including Fraud 

Management, Security Management, 

Credit Management, 

Quality Assurance and other Risk 

Governance functions that have 

a common strategy. Business Assurance 

reports to C-level. 

Revenue Assurance has motivated, 

knowledgeable resource 

using an appropriate mix of employees, 

contractors, outsourced 

staff, managed service and 

group services to meet flexibility, 

skills profile and productivity 

requirements. 

Team members are evaluated 

against skills and characteristics 

for their individual functions 

and the team will have a mix of 

influencers, assessors, analysts, 

investigators, change managers, 

technical authors, solution 

designers and administrators. 

Staff will have defined professional 

and knowledge development 

plans that are tracked and 

proactively managed. Managed 

services will have performance 

and SLAs reviewed regularly. 

Revenue Assurance maintains 

a knowledge library which 

references all necessary internal 

operational documents, manuals, 

specifications, project definitions, 

data structures, customer 

publications, technology literature 

and also categorises useful 

external knowledge sources. 

Change Management 

The company change management 

process ensures it is mandatory 

to involve Revenue Assurance 

with any business change 

(product, pricing, network, IT, 

service). Revenue Assurance 

assess risk impact and propose a 

control mitigation and sensitivity 

analysis. Risk assessment is 

undertaken collaboratively with 

all necessary Business Assurance 

functions. The change project 

budgets for the cost to provide 

adequate controls for the initiative, 

or accept residual risk. 

Automation 

Revenue Assurance operates, or 

manages the operation of, such 

tools as to achieve a suitable 

control infrastructure in the 

most cost effective manner. 

Tools are automated and 

intelligent where feasible, but in 

any event will be deployed with 

efficiency and effectiveness in 

mind. Features would include 

‘noise’ suppression to minimise 

false positives, to produce 

clear fix paths for observed 

issues, to auto-fix issues where 

possible, be aware of and tuned 

to detect likely issues, to act in 

suitable timeframes to minimise 

Mean Time To Detect (MTTD) 

and Correct (MTTC), to self 

learn, to produce statistics that 

feed directly to KPI roll-ups, 

be integrated across vendors/ 

platforms/group, be efficient 

in terms of CPU/Data Storage, 

and be efficient in terms of 

cost of operation and cost of 

maintenance. 

Controls Landscape 

The controls landscape will appropriately 

cover all areas of potential 

risk from completeness, 

accuracy and profitability threats 

across usage, transactions, 

customer/subscriber, reference 

data and revenue accounting, 

validating revenue and cost 

integrity in the order-bill/service, 

network-bill/service, designdelivery, 

collection and financial 

accounting chains. Controls will 

act proactively where possible 

to correct issues before occurrence. 

Greater emphasis will be 

placed on proactive, preventative 

controls than on reactive 

controls. 

Revenue Assurance looks to 

work with the business to 

establish permanent solutions to 

recurring issues. There is a visible 

bias for strategic solutions and 

preventative measures, and tangible 

business support to such 

initiatives. 



09

Technology for Technicians: 

2013 Trends 

Dale Kyle 

President, Handheld US 

It is a great time to be a technician 

using technology. Work 

done in the field is getting 

easier, more efficient and more 

accurate as the tools we use get 

smaller, faster and more precise. 

And we can perform new functions 

in ways we might not have 

imagined five years 

ago. Asset tracking, 

inventory and cloud 

computing are three of 

the strongest application 

trends in 2013. 

When it comes to technology, 

predicting very 

far into the future is a 

dicey proposition. But in 

the short term, it is possible 

to look into 2013 and 

see what is coming – and it 

is exciting stuff. Here is what I 

think will be some of the leading 

technological developments in 

the coming year. 

The next level of applying 

technology 

While there are holdouts in 

the working world still using 

pen and paper to work in the 

field, more and more organizations 

are already using mobile 

technology – and many of them 

are in their second or even third 

phase of deploying advanced 

levels. Initially they focused on 

the obvious gains technology 

provides – like field techs not 

having to do data-entry back 

in the office at the end of a 

shift – but now that they are 

comfortable with the tools and 

the technology, they are looking 

around for what else they can 

accomplish with it. 

I think the biggest opportunity 

is the multi-functional capability 

of newer mobile devices. People 

started with simple handheld 

computers that let them jot 

notes or enter basic data; that 

is like learning to use a screwdriver. 

But now a single device 

offers an entire toolbox full of 

capability. 

In 2013 users will explore what 

more they can do with that toolbox. 

Today you can easily find 

a handheld device that offers 

WiFi, GPS, barcode scanning, 

RFID and a really good camera. 

When people understand those 

functions and take some time 

thinking about how they can be 

used for their tasks, the horizon 

is going to get very wide. 

Here are some examples that 

many leading companies have 

deployed and others will add 

soon: 

● Asset tracking – Techs take 

pictures of the condition of 

any asset, write up a maintenance 

or repair report and 

transmit the photos and 

report back to the main office 

instantly, using WiFi. Or a 

field tech can use RFID or a 

barcode scanner to identify 

the asset and then send an 

associated report. 

● Inventory – Real-time tracking 

is a huge advantage; when 

someone in the field consumes 

a part or other asset, a 

real-time report and inventory 

update can go back to the 

central office, which can react 

automatically by ordering a 

replacement. 

● GPS – Advanced GPS 

functionality can be used 

for exact location information 

of workers or equipment, 

or for efficiency 

improvements such 

as route optimization. 

● Wireless networks – Most 

devices are already solid in offering 

3G-level wireless speed 

and access; when 4G modems 

come out, they will quickly 

be integrated into the mobile 

form factors. That will allow 

for faster transmission of 

bigger files in both directions. 

4G is coming, and the leading 

products will have it. 

Other developments to watch 

– Cloud computing (software 

as a service) lets users deploy 

new functions quickly and 

at a low initial cost, because 

there is no upfront expense of 



uying software. Machine-tomachine 

communication, where 

remote sensors on field assets 

can communicate with a field 

tech’s handheld device, will let 

a tech know what to expect in 

advance, offering all sorts of 

efficiency improvements. And 

for retail operations and other 

functions that involve payment 

processes, several mobile payment 

companies are making it 

easier to take credit card payments 

on the fly. 

These are just a few of the 

advanced capabilities that are 

available now and will be adopted 

more in the year ahead. 

Smartphones are the new 

computers 

Another interesting development 

is that more people are 

doing their jobs with their cellphones. 

There is a generation of 

workers coming up that thinks 

nothing of running their lives on 

a little phone; their logic is, why 

not use it for their jobs, too 

I see more and more demand 

for devices like small rugged 

handheld devices or rugged 

smartphones. So besides seeing 

a move toward the larger tablet 

form, we may also see a surge 

at the opposite end – to devices 

even smaller than traditional 

handheld computers. 

In the world of wireless, the 

capabilities that 4G networks 

make possible are going to 

change the way field techs 

work. The speed will let you 

do everything wireless faster, 

and the quantity of information 

you can send will be so much 

larger. Things that would have 

taken too long to send before – 

database files, schematic, maps, 

photos – now will not slow you 

down. 

You can even extend this 

scenario to streaming video 

and other rich media – there is 

a wide variety of ways you can 

communicate to troubleshoot or 

solve a problem no matter how 

far it is between the problem 

and the answer. 

The role of collaboration in 

workflow 

Applications called enterprisecollaboration 

tools – essentially, 

social media within an organization 

– offer the ability to connect 

employees across all levels of an 

organization. These tools will be 

used much more widely in 2013. 

Field technicians could discuss 

problems with colleagues not 

only with words but also with 

photos, internet links, videos, 

chat functions etc. 

In essence, these types of collaborative 

tools will capture the 

collective knowledge of every 

single person in your organization 

and make it available to 

everyone, virtually anytime. And 

their capabilities can extend 

beyond inter-organization communication. 

Smart outfits will 

find ways to use these applications 

to engage directly with 

customers – how do you think 

customers would react to realtime 

updates on appointment 

times 

Bringing it all together 

One of the biggest challenges 

of all these new technological 

functions and capabilities will 

be to get all the pieces to work 

together effectively. What you 

will need is a combination of devices, 

networks, application and 

overall integration. The burden 

here will fall on your organization’s 

IT department to connect 

it all effectively. 

From my point of view, the key 

here will be to choose your 

technology products wisely, 

keeping in mind this need to 

integrate everything effectively. 

With the complexity of today’s 

technology configurations, 

the cost of deployment 

and downtime is so high if 

something breaks down on 

you – that makes it all the more 

important that your upfront 

planning and product choices 

be forward-thinking. You want 

devices and applications that are 

rugged and reliable; buy good 

tough products the first time. 

It is impossible to see too far 

into the future of technology. 

But I hope that I have been able 

to at least give you a glimpse of 

what to expect in 2013. Happy 

field work! 



11

“Green energy efficient power 

solutions needed to reach the next 

billion mobile phone users – 

Will ‘save the planet’ as well” 

David King 

CEO, Flexenclosure 

Telecom and tech companies 

could, and will, make billions 

by serving the ‘Next Billion’ 

customers in the developing 

world. However, new strategies 

are needed to reach this attractive 

market in an economically 

viable way. To begin with, mobile 

operators must adopt green 

cost-saving power solutions for 

their networks. All indications 

show that they are in fact doing 

this right now, with major implications 

for the industry and the 

environment. 

The adoption of green power 

solutions as the strategy of 

choice for mobile operators going 

forward would prevent many 

million tons of CO2 emissions 

– enough to actually make a 

difference. Operators could save 

up to 20 percent of their total 

cost mass, freeing up capital to 

expand their footprint and make 

the necessary investments to 

serve the Next Billion customers, 

most of whom are living off grid 

or in bad grid locations – exactly 

where these green power 

solutions are needed most. And 

with these customers typically 

of the low ARPU type, using cost 

effective green power solutions 

to serve them would also help 

make them profitable for the 

operator. 

No other practice in the mobile 

telecom industry is more 

environmentally harmful than 

powering several hundred thousand 

of off-grid base stations by 

burning diesel fuel. One single 

diesel powered base station can 

consume around 20,000 litres 

of diesel per year, and spew 50 

tonnes of carbon emission into 

the atmosphere. 

And no other practice is more 

financially onerous for mobile 

operators. Operating a single 

diesel powered base station can 

cost US$40,000 per year. For 

many operators in developing 

markets energy is the single largest 

cost item, often representing 

as much as 40-50 percent of 

total operating costs, and the 

energy cost item is high due to 

the use of fossil fuel to power 

base stations. 

The good news is that there are 

alternatives to powering base 

stations with diesel, particularly 

those located in sunny and/or 

windy locations. There are several 

companies offering power 

management solutions based 

on renewable energy sources, 

with control systems and battery 

banks for energy capture and 

storage. And even without renewable 

energy sources, simply 

using energy efficient power 

systems based on intelligent 

controllers and batteries, power 

for base stations can become 

“green” using a fraction of the 

diesel currently used today. 

Short payback time makes investment 

decision a no-brainer 

These alternatives exist today, 

and are proven to deliver savings 

in fuel-related operating expenses 

by 20, 30, 50 and in some 

cases (the eSite) 90 percent, 

when the system is highly energy 

Contd. on page 15 



13

Supporting Media Partner:

Contd. from page 13 

“Green energy efficient power solutions needed to reach the Next Billion mobile 

efficient and uses a sophisticated 

controller. Converted into hard 

cash, this equates to annual savings 

of more than US$30,000 per 

base station per year, making 

the investment decision a virtual 

‘no-brainer’ with payback times 

of less than two years (on equipment 

that can last for ten years 

or more). 

There are several hundred 

thousands off-grid and bad grid 

sites in the developing world, 

mainly in Asia and Africa – which 

are also the biggest and fastest 

growing mobile markets in 

the world. The overwhelming 

majority of them are powered by 

diesel or inefficient battery-hybrid 

solutions. Still, only around 

3 percent of the base stations in 

developing markets use green 

energy. 

So why aren’t there more green 

base stations out there powered 

by energy efficient power 

solutions and renewable energy 

And why do network 

operators continue 

to spend so much 

money on base station 

diesel fuel when 

lower cost and more 

sustainable alternatives 

have existed 

for some time These 

aren’t easy questions 

to answer, but I believe 

that there are a 

number of contributing 

reasons: 

● Operators are 

more focused on 

expanding their services than 

on reducing OPEX. There has 

been a clear push to roll out 

services to as many potential 

customers as possible, as 

quickly as possible. The operators 

have always made good 

money, so why worry about 

costs now 

● Most organisations are slow 

to see opportunities to save. 

This is particularly true for 

larger organisations and 

mobile operators are typically 

huge companies. 

● Power management is not a 

core competence for most operators. 

As such, it’s not getting 

the attention it needs and 

possibly not at a high enough 

management level, where 

the impact of the potential 

savings on operating expenses 

and bottom line would be 

most keenly felt. 

● The business case proposition 

has, until now, not been 

compelling enough to get the 

attention of senior management. 

Renewable energy 

solutions are relatively new 

technologically and payback 

times have not been short 

enough. Also, some operators 

have had bad experiences 

with early equipment that 

have impacted the decisions 

to go ahead with the much 

more advanced green power 

solutions available today. 

● Evaluating solutions will take 

time when several suppliers, 

and local options, are considered 

and results are evaluated 

over seasonal changes. 

● Power related equipment is 

part of the passive infrastructure 

which, in many organisations, 

is purchased only on 

price and not performance. 

Focus has therefore been on 

keeping CAPEX budgets low 

rather than reducing OPEX 

costs in the long run. 

● The diesel distribution chain is 

strongly entrenched in many 

countries, making it difficult to 

introduce new technologies 

that reduce the dependence 

on diesel. 

On reflection, at least 

half of the reasons above 

are just poor business 

sense – decisions that 

are simply ill informed 

and un-thought through, 

such as buying inferior 

equipment just because 

it is cheaper to purchase 

even if it is more 

expensive to operate. 

You can also call them 

inexplicable – no reasonable 

CEO should invest 

in something that is so 

much more expensive in 

the long run. 

So what could and should be 

done to change this clearly suboptimal 

way of powering base 

stations in off-grid and bad grid 

locations around the world 

Luckily, no major intervention is 

needed as the situation is about 

to change by itself. Market forces 

are now putting increasing 

pressure on mobile operators 

to reduce their operating costs, 

driven by the data boom that is 

putting a strain on the infrastructure, 

and the competition which 

is squeezing call rates. 

On top of this, the cost of diesel 

cannot be expected to decrease 

in the long run – rather the 

opposite. And green power 

management solutions are now 

seen as tested and efficient 

enough to not be regarded as a 

risky choice. 

There are many factors that suggest 

that we are on the threshold 

of a major shift to adopt 

green power for base stations. 

One example on the ground 

is Airtel’s current program to 

roll out hundreds of brand new 

state-of-the-art green power 

solutions all across Africa. It is a 

clear mind shift and also takes 

into account the positive effects 

to the brand by migrating from 

dirty base stations to green base 

stations. Mobile operators do 

not want to be seen as environmental 

‘bad guys’. 

As I see it, green power management 

solutions are essential to 

reach the Next Billion customers. 

They are essential to the operators’ 

bottom lines, and their long 

term financial health. And they 

are essential for the health of 

our planet. Implement them and 

everybody wins. 



15

Interview: Khalid Athar 

Verscom successfully established its operations in 

more than 30 countries in less than a decade 

Mehmet Balos 

CEO, Verscom Solutions 

speaks to Teletimes 

Khalid Athar - How did you 

find Verscom when you were 

joining it Did you bring any 

immediate changes as the new 

CEO 

Mehmet Balos - I got to know 

Verscom four and a half years 

ago in my previous role as chief 

marketing officer at Genband 

when we acquired a company 

called NextPoint Networks in 

September 2008. Verscom was 

a NextPoint reseller. Following 

the acquisition,Verscom 

become a GENBAND reseller 

and due to their success was 

named GENBAND’s first master 

reseller for Europe, Middle East 

and Africa and has become 

very strategic for GENBAND in 

Europe, Middle East and Africa 

in serving Regional Service Providers. 

In my role at GENBAND, 

I quickly learned that Verscom 



was a very technically capable 

company for IP transformation, 

including Class 4 and Class 5 

switching, interconnect SBC 

applications and appreciated 

their deep, strategic relationships 

throughout the regions 

they served. 

As CEO now, my role has been 

to strengthen and enhance 

that very strategic foundation 

and portfolio. A major initiative 

has been to increase our 

focus on developing valueadded 

Verscom solutions that 

complement our OEM supplied 

products as well as extends 

our account penetration both 

horizontally and vertically. By 

vertically I mean selling our 

diversified product portfolio 

to existing customers and by 

horizontally, I’m referring to 

“In Middle East region, we are in 

Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, 

Kuwait, Lebanon and Iraq. In Asia, we 

have a very strong base in Pakistan, 

which we are now expanding in 

Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia.” 

unique challenges related to 

the deployment of new voice 

signaling technology, multivendor 

equipment interoperability 

issues and multiple 

transmission technologies in 

their networks. VoIP and other 

multimedia IP applications 

bring with them the requirement 

to view your network in 

a new light where metrics that 

didn’t exist in the TDM world 

must be monitored by carriers 

in order to effectively assess 

the health of networks and assure 

the quality of the calls that 

transit them. 

We delivered our first Odine 

Suite of products called 

“VOSS” in August for OSS (Operational 

Support Systems), 

which was specifically designed 

to address these new monitoring 

and analysis requirements. 

Based on a centralized architecture, 

ODINE VOSS is an innovative 

monitoring solution for 

VoIP networks. ODINE VOSS 

relies on Call Detail Records 

(CDR) as well as other available 

device dependent information 

that is collected and processed 

in near real-time, and then 

stored in a centralized database 

for reporting, alarming 

and dashboards. 

VOSS was designed to rapidly 

find, diagnose and fix issues 

before they become revenueaffecting 

problems for carriers. 

This approach is emblematic 

of the type of solutions you’ll 

see us deliver that enhance our 

OEM products. By empowering 

telecom carriers with real-time 

visibility into their networks 

through network performance 

and advanced traffic analysis, 

VOSS enables significantly improved 

operations efficiency. 

In addition to application 

innovation like Odine, we 

implemented new countrywide 

switching and interconnect solutions 

in the Middle East and 

are strengthening our portfolio 

to support the IP transformation 

in enterprise markets. Just 

as IP has revolutionized service 

provider networks, there is a 

major transformation underway 

in the enterprise and our 

expertise in managing such 

transitions applies well for our 

business customers. Additionally, 

we are supporting our 

network operator customers 

serve their business customers 

better. 

KA - Our readers would be interested 

in details about your 

expansion into Africa, would 

you like to give us some details 

in that aspect. 

MB - We have just successfully 

completed two countrywide International 

Gateway projects in 

Guinea and Gambia in 2012. We 

have several major business 

development initiatives and 

bids underway across Africa, 

expanding our country coverage 

in Europe, Middle East and 

Africa. 

KA - Would you like to comment 

on the progress Verscom 

has made since you have been 

appointed as CEO. 

MB - Verscom is very well 

positioned for 2013 in part because 

we are laser focused on 

supporting the requirements 

and challenges facing our 

customers with value-added 

Verscom innovation. For instance, 

carriers are faced with 



17

including Gambia, Ghana and 

Guinea. The telecom market 

in Africa is very different, as IP 

has not yet revolutionized user 

behavior in many countries. As 

a result, telecommunications is 

still very much based on legacy 

wireless and wireline systems. 

Additionally, the major income 

for carriers is still voice and 

more specifically international 

calls. 

As Verscom has wide experience 

in international communications, 

we help carriers evolve 

their networks to IP while 

preserving voice revenues. 

Using the combination of 

International Gateways and 

Security Solutions, Verscom 

introduces new monitoring 

and control mechanisms that 

enable carriers to maintain the 

voice revenues that were moving 

away to OTT providers. 

Verscom is excelling across 

Africa as many countries leapfrog 

ahead through IP innovation. 

Our teams enjoy strong 

cultural, language and market 

fluency across Africa. 

KA - Please tell us more about 

Verscom’s introduction of the 

new OSS/BSS platform Odine. 

MB - Odine is a family of 

solutions, in addition to what I 

have mentioned about VOSS. 

The entire suite represents 

well our ongoing investments 

in innovative solutions that 

leverage and enhance our OEM 

partnerships. The Odine OSS- 

BSS Platform is an integrated 

suite of applications featuring 

flexible, scalable and eventdriven 

real-time routing, route 

optimization, addressing, 

number portability, rating, 

billing, financial reporting, 

analytics and engineering / OSS 

tools. With the first release 

of OSS, we have sold multiple 

systems. In addition to VOSS 

described earlier, ODINE 

consists of the following 

applications: 

●● 

VCRS (Verscom Centralized 

Routing System): VCRS overcomes 

route management 

issues in multi-vendor, multinode 

and multi-site packet 

voice networks, allowing 

existing infrastructures to 

support higher call volumes, 

more complex routing and 

an ever growing number of 

carrier interconnects. 

●● 

VROS(Verscom Route Optimization 

System): The primary 

role of VROS is to analyze 

call traffic volumes, sell rates, 

route costs and qualityrelated 

data, and generate 

optimized switch routing 

plans in order to maximize 

carrier profitability while 

maintaining or improving 

QoS levels. Tightly integrated 

with the VBS and VCRS applications 

in the ODINE Suite, 

VROS also maintains Service 

Level Agreements (SLAs) 

and adapts to the market 

dynamics and networks in 

today’s wholesale voice 

business. 

●● 

VBS(Verscom Billing System): 

Real-time mediation, dial 

code management, automated 

supplier rate and dial 

code import, rating, invoicing 

and prepaid balance/credit 

management are some of 

the features of VBS that 

help carriers improve their 

profitability, accelerate their 

ROI, minimize losses due to 

human-errors and lower their 

OPEX through the improved 

efficiencies. 

KA - Please tell us about some 

of your other major advancements 

in terms of technology 

solutions 

MB - We are consistently 

developing security solutions 

as vulnerabilities emerge 

throughout IP transformation. 

Internet protocol networks 

are continually being hacked 

whether to perpetrate fraud or 

to hijack networks. The solutions 

that we are developing 

are essential to helping service 

providers detect and block 

these external threats and 

operate their networks with 

committed SLAs. 

KA - Congratulations to you 

and Verscom Solutions on 

reaching over 120 clients in 33 

countries. Would you like to 

talk a little about your client 

base around the region. 

MB - Thank you. In less than a 

decade Verscom successfully 

established more than 30 country 

operations, making us a 

thriving international company. 

We have customers in the UK, 

Germany and various European 

Union countries. Since we are 

headquartered in Istanbul, the 

bridge between Europe and 

Asia historically and today, we 

have been well positioned to 

serve the world’s major service 

providers including Turkcell 

and Vodafone. In Middle East 

region, we are in Egypt, Jordan, 

Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon 

and Iraq. In Asia, we have 

a very strong base in Pakistan, 

which we are now expanding 

in Bangladesh, Malaysia and 

Indonesia. 

KA - How do you see the 

industry of telecom solutions 

on a global level, how is the 

industry evolving and where 

do you see it in 5 years Please 

talk in detail. 

MB - Telecom and communications 

providers across the 

board are moving to all-IP and 

this transformation process is 

“Verscom Solutions’ resource pool and technological skill 

set combines a unique blend of multi industrial and multi 

geographical expertise domains, which keep us a step 

ahead of the competition compared to a legacy systems 

integrator or solutions enabler.” 

very much underway. This IP 

transformation requires a set 

of unique solutions, not just 

for the replacement of legacy 

equipment, or to bring in new 

functionality, but also solutions 

to meet the new challenges 

that arise as a result of this 

evolution. 

Three specific areas where we 

are seeing increased demand 

are 1. Fraud Protection 2. Access 

and Enterprise SBCs and 3. 

Class 5 solutions. 

Telecom fraud is on the rise, 

and a survey made by the 

Communications Fraud Control 

Association (CFCA) in 2011 

estimates global telecommunications 

fraud resulted in 

losses of $40.1 Billion (USD) or 

nearly 2% of worldwide telecom 

revenues. Though this fraud 

has traditionally been targeted 

at large operators, with the 



advent of VoIP-based next 

generation networks, communications 

service providers of 

all sizes are now vulnerable and 

being targeted by fraudsters. 

As a result, we have developed 

solutions sized and priced for 

these smaller service providers, 

which are lacking solutions on 

the market. 

One of the areas where the 

IP transformation is rapidly 

taking place is at the edge or in 

access networks. As you know, 

there is huge market growth 

globally around Enterprise SIP 

Trunking and this is pushing 

demand for Access and 

Enterprise SBCs. One of the 

areas where Enterprise SBCs 

excel is security and this ties in 

with the increased awareness 

around fraud as enterprise 

equipment such as PBX and 

voice mail systems are often 

exploited and used to originate 

the Fraud. On the Access SBC 

side, we see IMS as being the 

evolutionary driver for demand 

and this will increase as 

additional VoLTE trials go live. 

When we look at core networks, 

we believe that Class 5 

solutions will start getting the 

attention that they deserve 

globally as well as in the markets 

we serve. This growth will 

not only be driven by replacements 

of legacy solutions, 

but also through demand for 

new innovative services such 

as Hosted IP Centrex and 

Unified Communications, as 

well as IMS, Mobility and OTT 

applications. The new all-IP 

infrastructure unleashes huge 

potential across these exciting 

new applications, particularly 

when combined with the smart 

phone and tablet revolution. 

Lastly, we are seeing a 

convergence of Telecoms 

and IT where IT is taking a 

much larger and more critical 

role in Telecom Networks as 

communications are unified 

under service providers’ all IP 

networks. Though this includes 

the virtualization of Network 

Functions and their deployment 

in the Cloud, which is one 

of the most powerful trends 

for operators, it also includes 

the transformation of B/OSS in 

order to keep up with new service 

architectures such as IMS 

but also to be able to maximize 

service providers’ revenues 

and margins in increasingly 

competitive landscapes. 

KA - How do you see the future 

of Verscom as a part of that 

industry 

MB - Verscom is very well 

positioned to serve all these 

trends since our reputation of 

being an end-to-end solution 

provider has been strong and 

is continually being enhanced 

through our Odine suite and 

other developments. Additionally, 

since we are so focused 

on the customer’s evolving 

needs, particularly in all-IP 

environments or environments 

under transition, we are able to 

deliver very tailored, customized 

solutions that allow our 

customers to focus on their 

core businesses. 

KA - Where do you stand in 

terms of competition What 

is your strategy towards overcoming 

the competition from 

within your region and also 

from outside the region 

MB - Verscom Solutions’ 

resource pool and 

technological skill set 

combines a unique blend 

of multi industrial and multi 

geographical expertise 

domains, which keep us a 

step ahead of the competition 

compared to a legacy systems 

integrator or solutions enabler. 

Additionally, our geographical 

presence, focus and cultural 

fluency have been major 

competitive differentiators 

and are continually validated 

to us by our existing and new 

customers. Understanding 

the unique requirements of 

our customers requires more 

than just technical skills; we 

need to appreciate the context 

under which they operate and 

the unique sensitivities of the 

markets our customers serve. 

We also leverage our expertise 

in handling “any Tier scale,” 

starting with the IGW/ incumbent 

down to a wholesale Aggregator. 

Our strategy utilizes 

this unique blend of know-how 

supported by long-term R&D 

investments, which our tailormade 

software solutions such 

as ODINE and a market leading 

top-notch Partner Product 

Echosphere illustrate. 

KA - Would you like to comment 

on Teletimes. 

MB - Teletimes International 

is one of the key publications 

serving the Middle East, North 

Africa and Asia where we 

operate successfully. We rely 

on your insights and news coverage 

to monitor the market 

and best serve the needs of 

our customers. Additionally, 

Teletimes International is an 

outstanding partner for reaching 

our existing and potential 

customers in communicating 

vital trends and news. 



19

Etisalat Group profit up 27% 

before Federal Royalty year-on-year 

Teletimes Report 

Etisalat Group has announced 

its consolidated financial results 

for the year ending 31st December 

2012 showing two percent 

year-on-year growth. 

Results declared to the Abu 

Dhabi Securities Exchange 

indicated Etisalat Group’s net 

revenue for the year was AED 

32.9 billion, up 2% year on year 

and its net profit increased to 

AED 13.2 billion before Federal 

Royalty, up 27% year on year. 

Upon ratifying the results, Etisalat 

Group’s board approved a 

full year dividend of 70 fils (AED 

0.70) subject to shareholder 

approval. 

Trends for the Year End 

● Strong consolidated subscriber 

acquisition driven by 

growth across all markets 

● Consolidated revenue growth 

driven by international operations 

that grew by 11% 

● Consolidated operating profit 

improved to AED 16.9 billion; 

an increase of 6 percent year 

Subscribers 

Etisalat Group aggregate subscriber number 

grew to 139 million by end of December 2012 

representing year over year growth of 18%. 

The Group reported strong net additions of 

21 million subscribers as a result of growth 

across all of our operations. 

Revenues 

Consolidated revenues for FY2012 reached 

AED 32.9 billion representing an increase of 

2% in comparison to 2011. 

Revenues from international operations 

grew by 11% to AED 9.4 billion, representing 

29% of group consolidated revenues. This 

growth in revenues is across all clusters. 

Net Profit before Royalty 

Consolidated net profit pre-Federal Royalties 

increased year-on-year by 27% to AED 

13.2 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) reached 

85 fils representing an increase of 15% as 

compared to last year. 

Revenue and Profit Summary 

on year due to high revenues 

and efficient cost optimization 

● Capital expenditure was 

maintained at a comparable 

level with 2011 

Key Highlights during 2012 

● Appointment of a new 

Chairman and new federal 

government representatives 

to Etisalat board of directors; 

● one of the world’s highest 

credit ratings in the telecoms 

sector, rated AA- by S&P, A+ 

by Fitch and Aa3 by Moody’s; 

● Etisalat Group CEO appointed 

to GSMA board; 

● Successfully completed the 

highest 4G LTE speed test 

in the world (Etisalat UAE), 

reaching speeds of 300 Mbps; 

● Launched the new 4G LTE 

mobile Wifi device allowing 

customers the opportunity 

to enjoy reliable wireless 

internet access at all times; 

● The flagship multiple-play 

eLife service surpassed the 

Chairman’s Message 

Eissa Al Suwaidi, Chairman at 

Etisalat Group, said: “Strong results 

in 2012 have demonstrated 

Etisalat’s positive performance 

in 2012 and enabled Etisalat 

Group to distribute a total 

dividend of 70 fils per share (25 

fils already paid and 45 to be 

paid), and in doing so reward 

our shareholders for their loyalty 

with added-value on their 

investments. 

“Throughout the year, we 

continued to invest in emerging 

markets in the Middle East, 

Africa and Asia, where we now 

reach over 139 million customers 

in 15 countries. 

“Our commitment to 

development through 

information and 

communications technology not 

only positively impacts regional 

economies through job creation 

and boosting the gross domestic 

products in the countries 

where we operate, but it also 

positions us to reap the benefits 

of investing in these rapidly 

growing economies in the 

future. In 2012, Etisalat Group 

benefited from strength and 

consistency in the UAE market, 

where it consolidated its 

position as the largest provider 

of telecommunications services 

to the local market. 

“Our achievements in 2012 

would not have been achieved 

without the support of H.H. 

the President, H.H. the Prime 

Minister, H.H. the Crown Prince 

of Abu Dhabi and the UAE 

government’s continued support 

for Etisalat. I’d also like to 

acknowledge the support of the 

governments and regulators in 

all of our operating countries 

and thank our customers for 

their loyalty throughout the 

year. 

“Overall, 2012 has been a very 

positive year for Etisalat Group.” 

CEO’s Message 

Commenting on the results, 



Etisalat Group & Huawei sign new agreement 

for Telecom consultancy services 

Etisalat Group, the leading telecom 

operator in the Middle East, 

Africa and Asia, and Huawei, a 

leading global information and 

communications technology 

(ICT) solutions provider, have 

announced the signing of a 

new global agreement in which 

Huawei will support Etisalat 

Group by focusing on the enhancement 

of its broadband and 

digital services. “This agreement 

continues a long and successful 

history of collaboration between 

both companies and presents us 

with a win-win situation,” said 

Mr. Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, 

Etisalat Group’s CEO. 

Dalia Achour 

half-a-million customer milestone; 

● Introduced pioneering mobile 

innovation in various sectors 

including financial services 

and healthcare; 

● Awarded 3G license in Côte 

d’Ivoire; 

● Deployment of first 3G network 

in Afghanistan; 

● Named “Most Powerful Company 

in the UAE” by Forbes 

Middle East; 

● Winner of three major 

international awards at 2012 

Mobile World Congress, ‘Best 

Mobile Health Innovation’, 

‘mWomen Best Mobile Product’ 

and ‘Best Mobile Money 

Innovation’; and 

● Winner of four Gold International 

Business Awards, 

including Executive of the 

Year – Telecommunications, 

Most Innovative Company of 

the Year in the Middle East 

and Africa, Best New Product 

or Service of the Year and 

Corporate Social Responsibility 

Program of the Year in the 

Middle East and Africa; 

● Etisalat joined European 

Telecommunications Network 

Operators’ Association 

(ETNO) as observer 

member. 

Ahmad Abdul Karim Julfar, 

Group CEO, Etisalat Group said: 

“The 2012 results reflected 

strong performance across the 

Group operating companies 

and marking significant steps 

towards Etisalat Group’s vision 

of becoming one of the leading 

telecommunications companies 

across emerging markets. 

“Etisalat Group enjoyed a strong 

increase on net revenue from 

its international operations in 

2012, reflecting the added-value 

investments Etisalat Group has 

put in to its operating markets 

to increase customer retention 

and acquisition and reinforce 

its commitment to delivering 

new technologies and services 

that help enable communities to 

transform for the better. 

“Those investments in new 

technologies and services 

included building and investing 

in the networks of the 

future, including FTTH and LTE 

in countries like the UAE and 

KSA, being the first provider of 

3G services in Afghanistan and 

through the delivery of innovative 

solutions through applied 

technology such as mHealth and 

mCommerce, M2M and cloud 

networking. We will continue 

to study means to enhance our 

services to existing customers 

that help to shape the way we 

live and work and accelerate social 

development and economic 

growth. 

“The investment in Next 

Generation Networks and in 

introducing value-added services 

also had a positive impact 

on subscribers attracting an 

increase to our global subscriber 

base to 139 million subscribers. 

The consolidated growth was 

driven mainly by increases in 

subscribers across all markets of 

operation. 

“Our focus moving forward will 

be on continuing to developing 

the level of service and meeting 

the expectations and demands 

of our customers in key 

markets. We are committed to 

building the right partnerships 

with key players to deliver applied 

services that will improve 

our customers’ lives for the 

better. Our ongoing investment 

in innovations in communities 

across our footprint and the significant 

increasing demand for 

broadband and digital services 

means that Etisalat Group is well 

positioned to continue to deliver 

added value to its subscribers, 

the communities it serves 

and the Group’s shareholders, 

and will continue to set the tone 

for 2013 and beyond. 

“Part of our commitment to our 

shareholders is that through 

our continued success we aim 

to maintain similar dividend 

distribution over coming years 

of operation.” 



21

Fadwa Al-Hashimi 

Etisalat extends winning streak through innovation 

Etisalat has repeated last year’s 

success at the most important 

annual gathering of the 

telecommunications industry 

by winning a major award for 

innovation. 

The Middle East’s leading 

telecommunications operator 

won in the “Best Near 

Field Communication/Mobile 

Money Product” category at the 

GSMA’s Global Mobile Awards 

2013 during the Mobile World 

Congress being held in Barcelona, 

Spain, from February 25 to 

28, adding to three awards from 

the industry’s most prestigious 

competition last year. 

“It’s tremendous to be recognisedin 

this way at the most 

important event in the global 

telecoms calendar,” said Ahmad 

Abdulkarim Julfar, the Chief 

Executive Officer at Etisalat 

Group – who heads a delegation 

from 15 countries and three 

continents. “Giving communities 

the technology that enables 

their economies – and therefore 

societies – to progress is one of 

our core missions and winning 

this award is a sign that we’re 

on the right track.” 

The winning product, Etisalat 

Commerce Programme – Flous, 

is an application for conducting 

a variety of financial transactions 

with a mobile device. It 

was also nominated for a prize 

in the “Most Innovative Mobile 

Application” category. “Flous” 

is Arabic for “money”. 

Mr Julfar added: “This award 

will motivate us to keep to keep 

innovating and introducing 

products that give entrepreneurs 

the tools they need to 

achieve their goals anywhere in 

the world.” 

Flous brings together a wealth 

of services – varying from 

market to market – for customers 

and businessmen who like 

to take care of their finances 

on the move. The mix of services 

available includes utility, 

merchant and salary payments, 

domestic and international 

transfers, online purchasing, 

cash collection, bank transactions 

and ticketing. 

Flous was developed in partnership 

with MasterCard and 

Oberthur Technologies and 

since 2012, it has been commercially 

available across a number 

of Etisalat countries. 

“We are extremely proud 

of Etisalat’s Global Mobile 

Awards win at the Mobile 

World Congress”, said Michael 

Miebach, President, MasterCard 

Middle East and Africa. “Solid 

successful partnerships with 

leading regional telecoms 

operators in one of the fastest 

growing regions in the world 

enable us to quickly take mobile 

money applications such as 

this to higher altitudes. This 

in turn will help us achieve 

our goals of making everyday 

payments easier, safer and more 

convenient for individuals and 

merchants everywhere.” 

Etisalat has operations in 15 

international markets and over 

139 million customers. 

The judges’ criteria were that 

the product should be different 

from anything else available, 

easy to understand, reliable and 

consistent, and already on the 

market. The judges also wanted 

to see evidence that the product 

is popular with customers 

and conformity with industry 

standards. 

In 2012, US$1.8 billion of financial 

transactions were completed 

through Etisalat Commerce. 

Around $18 million of this figure 

was made up by 5.7 million 

ticket sales for parking and the 

metro. 

“Through these awards, we 

are proud to shine the light 

on the mobile industry’s many 

innovators and leaders, from all 

corners of the world,” said John 

Hoffman, CEO, GSMA Ltd. “This 

year’s new categories reflected 

the industry’s reach into many 

new sectors and we received 

more than 600 high-quality 

entries from across the mobile 

ecosystem. We would like to 

congratulate all Global Mobile 

Awards winners and thank the 

many hundreds of companies 

and organisations that support 

these awards by entering each 

year.” 

A member of the judging panel 

said the product is “a stand-out 

entry in terms of the scale of 

deployment and comprehensive 

suite of m-commerce offerings 

across so many countries 

and different verticals. The 

open-loop system also makes it 

future-proof”. 

He added that Flous is “an 

excellent mobile money product 

which has been very well tailored 

to serve local users”. 

Another Etisalat product, 

Mobile Baby, aimed at helping 

pregnant women in developing 

countries,was also nominated in 

the“Best Mobile Product, Initiative 

or Service for Emerging 

Markets” and “GSMA mWomen 

Best Mobile Product or Service 

for Women in Emerging Markets” 

categories. 

GSMA, an association for the 

world’s mobile operator community 

and broader industry 

organised the Mobile World 

Congress, the world’s biggest 

annual communications industry 

event. 



Supporting Media Partner:

Omantel to focus on brand structure to increase brand equity 

With strategies to tap the opportunities 

while facing the newer 

challenges in 2013, Omantel is 

all equipped to add figures to its 

this year’s balance sheet and has 

decided to sharpen its focus on 

brand structure as a means to increase 

its brand equity. “The implementation 

of endorsed brand 

structure, using Omantel as the 

main brand and Oman Mobile, 

Omantel Business and Omantel 

Wholesale as the sub-brands has 

greatly contributed to a substantial 

increase in our brand equity. 

In 2013 too we will continue to 

build our brand, and emphasis 

on providing enhanced customer 

experience as well as bringing innovative 

and affordable services 

to our valued customers”, Sultan 

Hamdoon al Harthy, Chairman, 

Omantel Board of Directors said 

in a statement. 

Oman’s telecom sector is all 

poised to see intense competition 

with newer players being licenced 

to operate in the current 

year. Additionally, the competition 

of the international call segment 

is likely to increase further. 

The competition will become 

further fierce with the presence 

of over-the-top-players such as 

in-voice, messaging and content. 

“We focus on further improving 

the value propositions for our 

customers as demonstrated by 

being the first operator to commercially 

launch 4GLTE in the 

Sultanate of Oman. 

Furthermore, we continue to 

enhance our ‘Carrier to Carrier’ 

business as key contributor to 

revenue growth”, he further 

said. 

Omantel recorded an increase in 

both revenues and net profit of 

1.4 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively 

for the period ending 

December 31, 2012. The Group 

customer base also grew by 8.5 

per cent year on year. 

The company’s revenue has increased 

to RO 458.9 million as of 

December 31, 2012 compared to 

RO 452.6 of the corresponding 

period of 2011 while the net profit 

has reached RO 116.2 million 

compared to R.O 111.6 million 

in 2011. Despite the challenging 

market conditions and decline 

in revenue from international 

calls and SMS, Omantel said that 

2012 was a successful year that 

saw an increase in the number of 

total subscribers reaching 3.831 

million - an increase of 8.5 per 

cent which includes subscribers 

of its subsidiary company 

Worldcall Telecommunications 

Limited (WTL). 

Omantel Mobile -- the company’s 

mobile business arm -- continued 

to see a remarkable growth of 

12.1 per cent with number of 

customers reaching 2.553 million 

making Omantel Mobile again 

the fastest growing mobile operator 

in the Sultanate for the third 

consecutive year. Including Resellers, 

Omantel Mobile network 

customers, increased by 8.5 per 

cent to a total 3.06 million at the 

end of December 2012. The total 

domestic revenues recorded a 

growth of 3.1 per cent year on 

year despite the challenging 

situation in Oman following the 

increased market liberalisation 

and the launch of fixed services 

by the other operator. All three 

business segments -- Fixed, 

Mobile and Wholesale have contributed 

to this growth. Omantel 

Mobile has achieved the highest 

retail revenue of RO 70.3 million 

in Q4’2012. 

Broadband segment both 

Mobile and Fixed Broadband services 

have been the key driver 

for the growth. 

Mobile and Fixed Broadband 

subscribers grew by 59.5 per 

cent and 36 per cent, while 

revenue also recorded a growth 

of 69 per cent and 26 per cent 

respectively. Commenting on the 

results, Omantel Chief Executive 

Officer, Dr Amer Awadh al Rawas 

said: “2012 has been yet another 

successful year for Omantel that 

saw a good growth in revenue, 

net profit and customer-base”. 

“We are delighted with the 

results the company achieved 

during 2012 that has seen our 

subscriber base growing despite 

the increased domestic competition 

as well as competition from 

over the top players and challenging 

conditions in the domestic 

market,” al Rawas added. 

“During the year, we have successfully 

launched the first 4G 

LTE network and rolled out a major 

3.5G network development 

program following the allocation 

of the required spectrums by 

TRA. These major investments 

along with the dedicated efforts 

and contribution of all our 

stakeholders have enabled us 

to increase our domestic mobile 

customer-base by 12.1 per cent 

year on year”. “Despite the major 

investments we have made 

during 2012 to enhance our 

customers’ experience, we were 

able to control our expenses and 

closed the year with a slight increase 

in the expenses by 1.3 per 

cent, thanks to the operational 

efficiency initiatives launched 

by different units of Omantel. 

Omantel Chief Executive further 

pointed out that as part of efficiency 

improvement, Omantel 

has implemented the third phase 

of the Voluntary End of Services 

(VEoS) programme in the fourth 

quarter of 2012 covering 36 

employees amounting to RO 

1.048 million. He also stated that 

the overall results have been 

impacted by the loss incurred by 

the associates and subsidiaries. 

Omantel embarked on a 

number of CSR initiatives and 

programmes during 2012 and 

extended support to various organisations 

and events. Among 

these projects were the financial 

support provided to some NGOs 

and charitable organisations 

aiming at building capacities of 

Omani youth and support youth 

projects as well as providing the 

necessities required by charitable 

organisations. Omantel 

has also renewed its partnership 

with Information Technology 

Authority (ITA) for the implementation 

of the second and 

third phases of its “National PC 

Initiative” with the objective 

to increase the ownership and 

usage of personal computers 

amongst certain segments (e.g. 

social welfare, students and 

teachers) of the Omani population. 

Omantel has provided, free 

installation, modem, monthly 

rental and included usage upto 

one year as part of this initiative. 

With an objective to improve the 

quality of local livestock and support 

farmers in the rural areas, 

Omantel partnered with Ministry 

of Agriculture and Fisheries to 

fund a mobile veterinary clinic. 

Omantel has also provided a 

financial support to Ministry 

of Health “Lets Rise” initiative 




Omantel revenue grows to R.O 459machieves 

net profit of R.O 116.2m 

Oman Telecommunications 

Company S.A.O.G (Omantel. 

MSM: OTEL), has revealed, the 

Company’s preliminary financial 

results for the period ended 

31st December 2012, recording 

an increase in both revenues 

and net profit of 1.4% and 

4.1% respectively. The Group 

customer base also grew by 8.5% 

year on year. The company’s 

revenue has increased to R.O 

459 million as of 31st December 

2012 compared to R.O 452.6 of 

the corresponding period of 2011 

while the net profit has reached 

R.O 116.2 million compared to 

R.O 111.6 million in 2011. 

Despite the challenging market 

conditions and decline in 

revenue from international calls 

and SMS, Omantel said that 2012 

was a successful year that saw 

an increase in the number of 

total subscribers reaching 3.831 

million – an increase of 8.5% 

which includes subscribers of its 

subsidiary company Worldcall 

Telecommunications Limited 

(WTL). 

Omantel Mobile – the company’s 

mobile business arm – continued 

to see a remarkable growth of 

12.1% with number of customers 

reaching 2.553 million making 

Omantel Mobile again the 

fastest growing mobile operator 

in the Sultanate for the third 

consecutive year. Including 

Resellers, Omantel Mobile 

network customers, increased 

by 8.5% to a total 3.06 million at 

the end of December 2012. 

The total domestic revenues 

recorded a growth of 3.1% year 

on year despite the challenging 

situation in Oman following the 

increased market liberalization 

and the launch of fixed services 

by the other operator. All three 

business segments - Fixed, 

Mobile and Wholesale have 

contributed to this growth. 

Omantel Mobile has achieved 

the highest retail revenue of RO 

70.3 Mn in Q4’2012. 

Broadband segment both 

Mobile and Fixed Broadband 

services have been the key driver 

for the growth. Mobile and Fixed 

Broadband subscribers grew by 

59.5% and 36%, while revenue 

also recorded a growth of 69% 

and 26% respectively. 

Commenting on the results, 

Omantel Chief Executive Officer, 

Dr. Amer Awadh Al Rawas said: 

“2012 have been yet another 

successful year for Omantel that 

saw a good growth in revenue, 

net profit and customer-base”. 

“We are delighted with the 

results the Company achieved 

during 2012 that have seen 

our subscriber base growing 

despite the increased domestic 

competition as well as 

competition from over the 

top players and challenging 

conditions in the domestic 

market” Al Rawas added. 

“During the year, we have 

successfully launched the first 

4G LTE network and rolled 

out a major 3.5G network 

development program following 

the allocation of the required 

spectrums by TRA. These 

major investments along 

with the dedicated efforts 

and contribution of all our 

stakeholders have enabled us 

to increase our domestic mobile 

customer-base by 12.1% year on 

year”. 

“Despite the major investments 

we have made during 2012 

to enhance our customers’ 

experience, we were able to 

control our expenses and closed 

the year with a slight increase 

in the expenses by 1.3%, thanks 

to the operational efficiency 

initiatives launched by different 

units of Omantel. Omantel 

Chief Executive further pointed 

out that as part of efficiency 

improvement, Omantel has 

implemented the third phase of 

Dr. Amer Awadh Al Rawas 

the Voluntary End of Services 

(VEoS) program in the fourth 

quarter of 2012 covering 36 

employees amounting to RO 

1.048 Million. He also stated that 

the overall results have been 

impacted by the loss incurred by 

the associates and subsidiaries. 

Omantel embarked on a number 

of CSR initiatives and programs 

during 2012 and extended 

support to various organizations 

and events. Among these 

projects were the financial 

support provided to some NGOs 

and charitable organizations 

aiming at building capacities of 

Omani youth and support youth 

projects as well as providing 

the necessities required by 

charitable organizations. 




25

Orange Switzerland announces 140 staff to go in redundancies 

Orange Switzerland has 

announced 140 job losses as 

the company “rebalances its 

resources”. 

The initial phase, which is 

planned for the coming 

weeks, will potentially involve 

around 70 jobs and will affect 

corporate functions. Further 

changes will be evaluated later 

this year in a second phase. 

The company added that 

customer-centric functions 

not affected by job reductions 

and at least 60 new jobs to be 

created and 18 new Orange 

Centers opened in addition to 

the ongoing investment of CHF 

700 million in the network. 

“Our objective is to simplify our 

organisation to enable us to 

focus more on our customers. 

Furthermore, we will launch a 

fully commercial 4G network 

and expand the footprint of 

our Orange Centers this year. 

Johan Andsjö 

As part of a series of measures, 

we want to rebalance our 

resources from corporate 

functions to more customercentric 

positions. These 

initiatives could result in a total 

reduction of up to 140 jobs, 

mostly in corporate functions.” 

said Johan Andsjö, CEO of 

Orange. 

The company recently 

transferred 100 staff to 

Ericsson as part of a 5-year 

managed services contract. 


Omantel revenue grows to R.O 459m- achieves net profit of R.O 116.2m 

Omantel has also renewed its 

partnership with Information 

Technology Authority (ITA) 

for the implementation of the 

second and third phases of its 

“National PC Initiative” with 

the objective to increase the 

ownership and usage of personal 

computers amongst certain 

segments (e.g. social welfare, 

students and teachers) of the 

Omani population. Omantel 

has provided, free installation, 

modem, monthly rental and 

included usage upto one year 

as part of this initiative. With an 

objective to improve the quality 

of local livestock and support 

farmers in the rural areas, 

Omantel partnered with Ministry 

of Agriculture and Fisheries to 

fund a mobile veterinary clinic. 

Omantel has also provided a 

financial support to Ministry 

of Health “Lets Rise” initiative 

aiming at fighting obesity and 

promote healthy lifestyle. 

Omantel also joined hands with 

Oman Chamber of Commerce 

to provide five scholarships 

for Omani school graduates to 

pursue their higher education. 

Omantel SME Business 

Excellence Awards was 

another major initiative from 

the Company to promote the 

entrepreneurship and support 

the government plans in 

creating more job opportunities 

for Omanis. On the social side, 

Omantel launched the fourth 

edition of Omantel Ramadhan 

Charity Campaign under the 

“Give, Share & Care” and the 

campaign has been successful 

in reaching more than 5000 

beneficiaries throughout the 

Sultanate. 

“I would like to thank our 

loyal customers, supportive 

shareholders, visionary Board 

and committed employees who 

have always been part and in 

support of Omantel’s journey to 

excellence” Al Rawas concluded. 

Omantel Board of Directors 

recommended to the Annual 

General Meeting of Omantel a 

dividend distribution of 75% of 

the nominal value of the share. 

As Omantel has already paid 

interim dividend of 40% of the 

nominal value on August 2012, 

the total dividend distribution 

for the financial year ended 31st 

December 2012 will be 115%. 

Omantel Board will recommend 

also to the Company’s Annual 

General Meeting distributing an 

interim dividend of 40% of the 

nominal value of the share to be 

paid on August 2013. 


Omantel to focus on brand structure to increase brand equity 

aiming at fighting obesity and 

promote healthy lifestyle. Omantel 

also joined hands with Oman 

Chamber of Commerce to provide 

five scholarships for Omani 

school graduates to pursue their 

higher education. 

Omantel SME Business 

Excellence Awards was 

another major initiative from 

the Company to promote the 

entrepreneurship and support 

the government plans in 

creating more job opportunities 

for Omanis. On the social side, 

Omantel launched the fourth 

edition of Omantel Ramadhan 

Charity Campaign under the 

“Give, Share & Care” and the 

campaign has been successful 

in reaching more than 5000 

beneficiaries throughout the 

Sultanate. “I would like to thank 

our loyal customers, supportive 

shareholders, visionary Board 

and committed employees 

who have always been part 

and in support of Omantel’s 

journey to excellence,” Al Rawas 

concluded. 

Omantel Board of Directors 

recommended to the Annual 

General Meeting of Omantel a 

dividend distribution of 75 per 

cent of the nominal value of the 

share. As Omantel has already 

paid interim dividend of 40 per 

cent of the nominal value on 

August 2012, the total dividend 

distribution for the financial 

year ending December 31, 2012 

will be 115 per cent. Omantel 

Board will recommend also to 

the Company’s Annual General 

Meeting distributing an interim 

dividend of 40 per cent of the 

nominal value of the share to be 

paid on August 2013. 



Qtel Group to unify under new brand 

Julie Amann 

Qtel Group, one of the world’s 

fastest-growing telecommunications 

companies, has 

announced that it will change 

its brand to Ooredoo, and that 

each of its operating companies 

in emerging markets across the 

Middle East, North Africa and 

South-East Asia will adopt the 

new brand during the course of 

2013 and 2014. These companies, 

in which Ooredoo already has 

a controlling interest, include 

brands such as Qtel in Qatar, 

Indosat in Indonesia, Wataniya 

in Kuwait, Nawras in Oman, 

Tunisiana in Tunisia, and Nedjma 

in Algeria. 

The announcement was made 

by Ooredoo Chairman His 

Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin 

Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani 

at a special launch event at 

Mobile World Congress 2013 in 

Barcelona, Spain. During the 

event, Ooredoo announced 

football star Lionel “Leo” Messi 

as its global brand ambassador, 

and agreed to support the Leo 

Messi Foundation as part of the 

company’s continued commitment 

to making a difference in 

communities across the world. 

“With Ooredoo we have chosen 

an Arabic word that means “I 

want”, to reflect the aspirations 

of our customers and our 

core belief that we can enrich 

people’s lives and stimulate human 

growth in the communities 

where we operate,” said H.E. 

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed 

Bin Saud Al-Thani,Chairman, 

Ooredoo. “We believethat 

young people should be given 

the life chances that mobile 

technology can provide; that 

under-served communities 

should be able to access the 

Internet; that every woman 

should have an equal opportunity 

to use a mobile phone; and 

that entrepreneurs and small 

businesses should be able to receive 

business services tailored 

to their needs. Our new brand 

reflects these beliefs.” 

The invitation-only launch event 

included presentations by 

Anne Bouverot, GSMA Director 

General; Cherie Blair, Chairman 

of the Cherie Blair Foundation 

for Women; and Dr Hamadoun- 

Toure, Secretary General of the 

International Telecommunication 

Union (ITU). It also featured 

the guest appearance of Qatari 

Olympic medallist Nasser al 

Attiyah. 

Ooredoo has experienced 

significant growth over the last 

six years, transforming from a 

single market operator in Qatar 

to an international communications 

company with a global 

customer base of more than 

89.2 million people (as of 30 

September 2012) and consolidated 

revenues of $6.8 billion 

for the first nine months of fiscal 

year 2012. Delivering mobile, 

fixed, broadband internet and 

corporate managed services 

tailored to the needs of consumers 

and businesses in emerging 

markets, Ooredoo has been the 

fastest-growing telecommunications 

company in the world 

by revenue since 2006 and its 

enterprise value has more than 

tripled since 2005. 

Dr Nasser, Group CEO, Ooredoo 

said: “We are very excited to 

become Ooredoo because the 

new brand signals our readiness 

to take the company to the next 

level. It is our belief that we can 

better serve our global customers 

by leveraging the combined 

resources and assets of a strong, 

unified global business under 

one brand. We also believe that 

rebranding now will help us to 

maintain our momentum in the 

face of new realities for theindustry, 

signaling our commitment 

to become a global force.” 

A number of on-going initiatives, 

built around its core strategy 

of differentiating on customer 

experience, are already taking 

Ooredooto the next level.The 

company has initiated a major 

modernisation programme 

across its core network and is investing 

for the future to deliver 

high speed broadband as new 

frequencies and new technologies 

open up. Ooredoo has been 

at the forefront of delivering 

life-enhancing mobile services, 

such as mLearning in Tunisiato 

support young people’s 

economic empowerment and 

mWomen programmes in Iraq 

and Indonesia. Ooredoo is also 

providing relevant services to 

customers who cannot afford 

smartphones and working with 

the GSMA to develop more intuitive 

devices to overcome literacy 

barriers. 



27

“Commeth the Hour, Commeth the Man” 

Naeem Zamindar 

CEO Wateen Telecom is reshaping 

the technology sphere in Pakistan 

“Each moment is an opportunity 

to be seized upon – to do 

something impactful that 

will change the outlook of 

the future.” This is a core 

belief of Mr Naeem Zamindar, 

the dynamic CEO heading 

Pakistan’s leading converged 

communication service provider, 

Wateen Telecom. Pakistan 

is currently going through a 

massive transformation as 

the country moves towards 

modernising its economy and 

embracing the digital revolution. 

Naeem boasts an outstanding 

pedigree of achievements: 

heading the strategy for 

Mobilink, Pakistan’s largest 

cellular service provider; 

working as a venture capitalist 

at Intel Capital on the 

proliferation and adoption 

of WiMAX globally; and now 

heading Wateen Telecom, an 

embattled service provider 

at the time of his joining. 

Already recognised as one of 

Pakistan’s most technology 

gurus, Naeem’s two years at 

the helm of Wateen have seen 

the beginnings of a remarkable 

turnaround for company, which 

provides broadband services 

and solutions to around 200 

leading organisations, as well as 

countless individuals, across the 

country. 

In an open conversation with 

Teletimes, Naeem tells the 

remarkable story of how he 

has made the most of the 

opportunities that have come 

his way. 

Q - How has Wateen progressed 

over the last year 

A - 2012 has been a good year 

for Wateen. We’ve worked 

very hard to stabilise the 

company over the last year and 

consolidate the gains we made 

in 2011. Our restructuring in 

the third quarter of last year 

was difficult for everyone, 

but structural changes are 

essential to any organisation 

and the Line of Business model 

has substantially increased 

our business efficiency. We’ve 

achieved significant progress 

by reducing our costs and 

improving our margins. As soon 

as I joined Wateen, we outlined 

a vision of ‘enabling the people 

of Pakistan through the most 

modern technology thereby 

transforming their lives’ and this 

is at the core of our rebranding 

and business model. 

Every department and each 

employee has been instrumental 

in our success. Some of the big 

highlights of this calendar year 

2012 were that we [Wateen 

Telecom] topped PTA’s Quality 

of Service (QoS) Award for 

Wireless Broadband Services; 

we won the Consumer Choice 

Award in the Internet Category, 

won the Pakistan Advertisers 

Society award for the Best 

Marketing Campaign in the 

internet category and won 

the Customer Satisfaction 

Excellence award from Cisco by 

ensuring the best deployment 

and integration services of 

technical solutions in the 



29

industry. 

Q - What are the major 

initiatives you have taken in 

2012 in improving the company 

performance and shareholder 

confidence 

A - We’ve had our share of major 

challenges, particularly the fire 

that destroyed our head office 

soon after we re-launched 

and gained momentum in the 

market was a huge setback 

but we have bounced back and 

continued to make progress. 

Our LDI business has moved up 

to number 2 in the country and 

overall the company is on its 

way to becoming more stable. 

Wateen is the only operator 

that was able to get Mobilink, 

Ufone, Zong, Telenor and Warid 

as its customer’s for outbound 

international traffic. In 2012, 

Wateen carried over 300 million 

minutes of traffic in September 

to set an all-time record for 

international traffic before the 

International Clearing House 

was set up. 

We also signed an agreement 

with the Punjab Government to 

digitise course textbooks, past 

papers and also deploy Wi-Fi 

hotspots in the colleges and 

universities across the province. 

This will enable our students to 

compete with any country in the 

world with the best resources 

available to them. Wateen also 

deployed Wi-Fi hotspots in all 

major restaurants, cafés and 

airports in Pakistan. We believe 

that Pakistan’s economic and 

social problems can be cured 

using technology and Wateen is 

gearing up to make this happen. 

We collectively believe that the 

internet can significantly change 

lives and because of this we’ve 

been focused on nationwide 

projects to provide connectivity 

to all areas of the country. We 

added over 1,000 km of fibre 

optic cable to our network and 

completed USF projects (underserved 

areas of the country) in 

Baluchistan and Sind, helping 

bridge the urban-rural divide. 

We also completed a very 

interesting project with the HEC, 

the Metro project, connecting 

some 43 universities nationwide 

for data sharing and resources. 

Q - Can you tell us a bit more 

about Transformation and its 

purpose in an organization like 

Wateen 

A - Transformation is basically 

unleashing the growth and 

potential ability in a person, 

a family, team, organization, 

or even a country. And that 

happens when you have a clear 

idea and direction of where you 

want to go and a fairly clear idea 

of how you want get there. But 

the most important question 

why If you don’t have the why 

then you cannot really tap into 

the real genius of people, which 

is their drive, their motivation, 

their creativity, their passion, 

all of that. And that’s the only 

place where the transformation 

comes from. 

At the time of this interview, 

organisational values are 

being introduced. Staff at the 

office can be seen wearing 

stickers of ‘Value Champions’ 

– leaders who are meant to 

ensure that the organisation 

is transformed from the inside 

out. Culturally, we’ve gone from 

being a somewhat closed and 

centralised culture to a much 

more open, relaxed and dynamic 

company where people now 

speak up, ask questions and 

expect answers, which was an 

important part of our program 

when the new management 

took over in 2011. 

I am a strong believer in 

collective responsibility 

and rewarding exemplary 

results wherever necessary. 

Therefore, in order to reward 

our employees, after a three 

year break, we re-implemented 

our annual employee appraisals 

through a Performance 

Elevation System and we also 

created the Organisational 

Development function and 

began company-wide training 

for employees. These things 

were unprecedented at Wateen 

and we are happy with how they 

are progressing. 

Q - What are the new 

opportunities for Wateen and 

the telecom sector in the New 

Year 

A - Pakistan is just starting to 

take-up broadband services. 

There is immense potential 

here. There are only 2 million 

connections in a country of 180 

million. The Government of 

Pakistan recognises the need 

for broadband proliferation and 

is making efforts to transform 

its machinery into adopting 

the most modern tools. Even 

the private sector is taking 

its early steps into adopting 

such measures. Virtualisation 

and Cloud Based Services are 

bound to take off in a big way 

as organisations are forced 

to improve performance and 

reduce costs. Applications and 

solutions for managing and 

securing networks will be one 

of the top priorities of CIOs at 

large organisations. Disaster 

management and recovery 

will also be a focus for large 

corporations, especially in the 

financial services sector, to 

ensure continuity of services 

in case of any unforeseen 

circumstances. I believe 

these growing data and 

network requirements will 

prove to be the tipping point 

for Virtualisation and Cloud 

Services. As such, 2013 will see 

these become available not only 

for companies and corporations, 

but also eventually the average 

consumer and Wateen is ideally 

positioned to enable all of this.” 

Q - What trends do you foresee 

for organizations embracing 

technology in 2013 

A - We want to make Wateen an 

efficient organisation and our 

focus has been on developing 

the best of our human resources 

to the point where the 

management and employees 

are satisfied with each other. 

Only then can we truly unleash 

our potential and put Pakistan 

well and truly on the global 

digital map. Applications and 

solutions for managing and 

securing networks will be one 

of the top priorities of CIOs at 

large organisations. Disaster 

management and recovery 

will also be a focus for large 

corporations, especially in the 

financial services sector, to 

ensure continuity of services 

in case of any unforeseen 

circumstances. I believe 

these growing data and 

network requirements will 

prove to be the tipping point 

for virtualisation and Cloud 

Services. As such, 2013 will see 

these become available not only 

for companies and corporations 

but also eventually the average 

consumer. 



Dr. Karim Taga 

Nicolai Schättgen 

Mobile NFC – The hype and the potential! 

Mobile Near Field 

Communication (NFC) is a hot 

topic today, with a variety of 

players gearing up to enter NFC 

payment, loyalty and couponing, 

and advertising markets. Mobile 

NFC widens the possibilities of 

NFC considerably, as it enables 

the mobile phone to not only 

read data, but also scan and 

share information between two 

NFC devices. Also, mobile NFC 

can manage and modify multiple 

applications at any time. 

In order to clarify the reality 

behind the hype, Arthur D. Little 

conducted a global NFC survey, 

comprising 70 interviews of 

key market players, in order to 

determine the potential winners 

and losers in mobile NFC, key 

success factors and expected 

time-to-market. The survey 

resulted in four key parameters 

that should be carefully 

considered by market players. 

1. NFC offers major potential, 

although with high risk and 

uncertainty 

Arthur D. Little believes 

that the hype around NFC is 

justified given the players’ 

sincerity and the ecosystem’s 

readiness. There are currently 

more than 200 NFC initiatives 

ongoing globally and more 

than ten solutions have been 

commercially launched. Most 

of the critical standards are 

set, more than 100 NFCenabled 

handsets are available 

and upgrades of terminal 

infrastructure are on their way 

in many markets. 

Arthur D. Little believes that 

NFC will have a major impact on 

how we shop by revolutionizing 

our shopping experiences and 

linking the physical with the 

digital world in real time. NFC 

also will lead to further industry 

convergence by forcing players 

to collaborate and will lead to 

fundamental changes in the 

payment industry. 

The market’s immaturity and the 

complexity of the ecosystem, 

however, carries a significant 

market risk and results in a 

high level of uncertainty when 

defining the future market size 

of NFC. 

2. NFC is much more than 

payment 

NFC is essentially a faster, more 

convenient, and also secure 

payment experience. Payment 

remains the key enabler of 

the NFC ecosystem, as it is 

the single most important 

service in driving scale and user 

adoption. Also, leveraging the 

payment data combined with 

targeted couponing, advertising 

or geo-location-based data is 

justification for the hype around 

NFC. 

However, limiting NFC to 

payments results in challenges 

in developing an attractive 

business case. In order to 

increase the revenue pie, NFC 

needs to be understood in 

a broader sense (see Figure 

1). The value and profitability 

of targeted couponing and 

advertising will quickly outgrow 

the value of the payment 

markets. 

3. NFC requires an ecosystem to 

be built 

The NFC ecosystem today is 

enormously crowded. Individual 

stakeholder approaches and 

strategies differ widely between 

and within stakeholder groups, 

and by country. Arthur D. 

Little has identified four key 

Figure 1: The real value of NFC comes when looking 

at it from a broader perspective 

Source: Arthur D. Little analysis 

dimensions within the scope of 

NFC services: 

● Payment dimension – Lacks 

activity from outsiders to date 

and real innovation is low. 

● NFC payment adjacent 

dimension – A hot spot with 

great opportunities, which 

consequently also has the 

highest share of outsiders 

entering the market. 

● Beyond NFC dimension – 

Currently undeveloped, but 

innovations in the areas 

of health care, business 

applications and smart city 

concepts are becoming 

increasingly visible. 

● Enabling dimension – The 

enabling of all prerequisites 

for NFC to function (standards 

and processes, software 

and hardware), including 

the role of enabling other 

players to be integrated in 




31

Broadband Asia & TV Connect Asia 2013 returns to Hong Kong 

Broadband Asia & TV Connect 

Asia 2013, Asia Pacific’s largest 

broadband and media event 

is set to attract thousands of 

decision-makers from across the 

region, as it relocates back to 

Hong Kong, on 9-10 April 2013. As 

the event’s official Host Operator 

Partners, Hong Kong’s leading 

operators PCCW and HKT are 

already strong supporters of the 

conference and exhibition. The 

event also has support from CSL, 

Pacnet and the Commerce and 

Economic Development Bureau 

for Hong Kong. 

Now in its ninth year, Broadband 

Asia & TV Connect Asia 

welcomes PCCW and HKT, as 

HKT’s Group Managing Director, 

Alex Arena, is set to provide 

the host keynote. Mr Arena 

comments: “PCCW and HKT are 

very excited to have this event 

return to Hong Kong where we 

look forward to greeting a wide 

range of delegates from across 

the region and beyond. This is 

a highly valuable opportunity 

for us all to meet new partners, 

discover new business 

opportunities, benchmark your 

own business and to gain insight 

into the hottest topics facing the 

broadband and TV industry in 

the Asia Pacific region.” 

Miss Susie Ho, Permanent Secretary 

for Commerce and Economic 

Development (Communications 

and Technology) at Hong 

Kong’s Commerce and Economic 

Development Bureau will open 

the conference and exhibition 

with a Ministerial Welcome 

Address. The organisers are 

delighted to have Miss Ho and 

Hong Kong’s entire broadband 

ecosystem on board as it further 

strengthens the event’s position 

in the region’s exploding marketplace, 

particularly at a time Asia 

tops global broadband charts. 

Co-located with TV Connect Asia, 

the conference and exhibition 

will highlight visionary new 

developments in TV and broadband, 

bringing together the two 

ecosystems and their leading 

figures from across the region. 

The event’s focus is reflected 

throughout its agenda which has 

an impressive speaker line-up 

that will give visitors exclusive 

insight into the latest advancements 

in mobile and fixed broadband, 

and the content evolution. 

The two-day event is made 

up of two programme tracks 

which complement each other 

to reflect the nature of the 

converging broadband and 

connected entertainment 

industry. Day one will address 

fixed access evolution, mobile 

and wireless opportunities, 

business models, the digital 

home, making TV multi-screen, 

and effective content delivery 

management, while day 

two will focus on leveraging 

broadband networks, capacity 

and accessibility, effective TV 

delivery and content business 

strategies. 


Mobile NFC – The hype and the potential! 

a mobile wallet. Activities 

are particularly high, as the 

enabler of the ecosystem 

has the opportunity to take a 

gatekeeper role. 

4. Positions need to be taken 

soon, even though financial 

returns are 3-5 years away 

NFC market readiness is one of 

the most discussed topics in the 

field and also one of the areas 

of the biggest misperceptions. 

There are several clarifications 

to be made: 

● Terminals – The terminal issue 

will be resolved in the short 

term in most markets, since 

a large share of terminals 

are already NFC-enabled and 

most shipments are limited 

exclusively to NFC-enabled 

terminals. 

● Handsets – NFC-enabled 

handsets will remain a 

challenge in the short term, 

but all manufacturers, except 

Apple, have committed to 

NFC. 

● Merchants – Merchants’ 

interest is high, as long 

as there is no increase in 

transaction fees or need for 

massive terminal integration. 

● Consumers – We strongly 

believe consumers will 

adopt as soon as there is 

a comprehensive solution 

as we put more weight on 

consumers’ trust in and 

dependence on mobile 

phones than on market 

surveys. 

In our survey, we asked global 

experts when they expect NFC 

will represent at least 20 percent 

of electronic payment volume. 

Thirty percent of respondents 

answered by 2015, 58 percent 

by 2016-2018 and 12 percent 

after 2018. Although significant 

NFC development may take 

several years, 20 percent 

of total electronic payment 

volume still currently represents 

billions of dollars. Adoption will 

significantly accelerate once 

20 percent of total payment 

transaction volume is reached. 

Tackling NFC 

When tackling NFC, technology 

should not be the primary 

concern. Arthur D. Little 

believes that the consumer/ 

customer should be the focus of 

all thinking (whether as part of 

a B2B or B2C relationship), and 

technology should follow. 

Solutions should be 

comprehensive. The nature of 

NFC limits its scope naturally to 

proximity payments. However, 

we believe there is a strong 

rationale in thinking beyond 

pure proximity payments and 

offering a multitude of use 

cases. 

In addition to being convenient 

and safe with a positive 

business case, according to 

our survey NFC solutions also 

need collaboration, standards, 

interoperability and aligned 

communication. This indicates 

that NFC is not a one-player 

market, but this does not mean 

that one player cannot drive the 

ecosystem. 

The future of mobile NFC is 

far from clear. There are many 

obstacles on the road to making 

the NFC ecosystem a reality. 

Nonetheless, expectations are 

set and activity is tremendously 

high. Nonetheless the 

“elephant” – the question of 

how to make a positive business 

case – is still in the room, but we 

believe it will be overcome by 

entrepreneurship, innovation 

and consumers’ demand for 

mobile services. 

Nicolai Schättgen is a Manager 

in the Vienna office of Arthur 

D. Little and member of the 

Telecommunication, Information, 

Media & Electronics Practice. 

Dr. Karim Taga is a Partner in the 

Vienna office of Arthur D. Little 

and the Global Head of Arthur 

D. Little’s Telecommunication, 

Information, Media & Electronics 

Practice. 



Operator 

Leader’s Vision 

“Technology 

alone is not the 

differentiator or 

major revenue 

enabler in a 

competitive 

market” 

Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Badran 

Chief Executive Officer 

VIVA Telecom - Kuwait 

Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al 

Badran is a Telecommunications 

professional with a proven track 

record in delivering operational 

excellence in his long career. 

He has extensive experience in 

managing large scale Telecommunication 

Projects, each with 

its own unique challenge. Mr. 

Salman joined Saudi Telecom 

Company (STC) as Director of 

GSM Network Operations and 

was promoted to General Manager, 

GSM Networks in 2004. 

During his tenure as General 

Manager, he was responsible 

for the Planning, Design, Implementation 

and Operation of the 

GSM Network in STC. 

He was appointed as the Project 

Launch Director of the third 

GSM operator, Kuwait Telecommunications 

Company, VIVA. 

With the commercial launch in 

Dec 2008, he was appointed as 

the CTO of VIVA. Since Jan 01, 

2011 Mr. Salman is the CEO of 

Kuwait Telecommunications 

Company, VIVA. He has a BS 

Electrical Engineering from 

King Fahad University in the 

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 



Below is a question answer session with Salman. 

Q. What do you think about 

the emergence of Customer 

Experience as the ultimate 

target of the Operators 

Where is VIVA at present in 

this regard 

A. Technology alone is not the 

differentiator or major revenue 

enabler in a competitive 

market. Every operator has 

recognized that their future 

is tied with the Customer 

Experience and Service 

differentiation that will be 

provided by them. 

VIVA is a new entrant in the 

highly competitive cellular 

market of Kuwait with two 

established incumbent 

Operators. 

We launched Commercial 

Operations in Dec 2008 

and were in the phase of 

Subscriber Acquisition during 

the last three years. It is not 

that VIVA neglected Customer 

satisfaction but the focus was 

more on Network Coverage, 

Technology upgrade and the 

Market share. 

At this point in time, VIVA 

has already initiated steps to 

procure Customer Experience 

Management Tools and to 

implement specific plans for 

achieving a positive Customer 

Experience. It is one of the 

major 2013 initiatives for all the 

departments concerned. 

Q. Customer Experience is 

tangible as well as intangible. 

How are you addressing it 

A. The more realistic definition 

of Customer Experience that I 

have come across is “Customer 

Experience as a narrative that 

describes the Customer’s 

journey through a complex set 

of processes in the Customer’s 

life cycle.” (Courtesy to Ovum 

Report). It starts from the 

point of Product/ Service 

Selection by the Customer 

through its Usage and the 

Support being furnished “in 

the hour of need” of the 

Customer. 

All departments, Marketing, 

Sales, IT, Network and 

Contact Centre are “jointly 

and severally” responsible 

for managing the Customer 

Expectations to provide a 

tangible feeling of comfort 



35

at every Customer “Touchpoints” 

in each phase of the 

Customer life cycle. VIVA 

plans to follow this route 

in achieving excellence in 

Customer Experience. 

Q. How important do you 

think is the role of customer 

experience management 

A. Whatever be the Service, 

the “experience” is dictated 

by its “Customer - Service 

Alignment, Ubiquitous 

Availability, Quality and 

Efficiency of its Delivery”. 

Customer Experience 

Management has to address all 

these areas at each Customer 

Touch-point in the Customer 

life cycle. 

We believe that every part of 

an Operator’s business that 

impacts the Customer can 

be considered to contribute 

towards Customer Experience, 

the difference being in 

dimensions only. 

Our future lies with the 

existing Customers. Hence 

it is logical only to “engage, 

retain and satisfy” them. 

However each Operator has 

to device its own strategy 

based on its Market Reality 

and Subscriber behavioural 

pattern. In markets like Kuwait, 

where penetration is more 

than 100%, further revenue 

growth depends on Customer 

Experience and Service 

differentiation. 

It should also be noted that it 

is not an antibiotic treatment 

but a nutritional nursing of the 

Customer, throughout his/her 

life cycle with the Operator. 

Q. Do you share the thought 

that Customer Experience has 

a direct impact on churn rate 

in today’s telecom market 

A. If Customer Experience is 

managed at each Customer 

Touch point, by providing the 

“First time Right experience” 

at the first Customer contact, 

Flawless Service fulfillment, 

Achievable Quality of Service, 

Un-interrupted Service 

Assurance, High percentage 

of First Contact Resolution 

etc the triggers for the 

probable Churns are practically 

disappearing. Hence an 

effective Customer Experience 

management has a direct 

impact on the Churn. 

However migratory churn 

which is quite prevalent in the 

Prepaid Segment, especially in 

a competitive market, cannot 

be neutralized as in the other 

Customer segments. 

Q. How is the Contact Centre 

Performance related to 

Customer Experience 

A. Whenever you talk about 

Customer Experience, Contact 

Centre performance is the first 

factor that comes into your 

vision. It is the front face of the 

Operator and it plays a pivotal 

role in building up the image of 

the Operator. 

As speaking with a CSR is 

the most common customer 

service channel, having a 

“right first time” approach to 

dealing with customers will 

lead to a significantly improved 

Customer Experience. No 

Customer likes Long Waiting 

Times, Repeated Transfers, 

Having to Repeat Information, 

and Not Being Able to Speak to 

a Person with the Right Level 

of Expertise. 

Except on the day of bill 

issuance and the subsequent 

2-3 days, the waiting time at 

VIVA contact centre is on the 

average less than 5-6 Sec. In 

addition we are focusing on 

optimizing the percentage of 

First Call Resolution to 80-85%, 

which has a significant bearing 

on Customer Experience. 

Q. What do you suggest 

for optimizing customer 

experience strategy of the 

telecom operators 

A. First of all, Customer 

Experience Strategy cannot be 

generalized as it depends on 

“In markets like Kuwait, where 

penetration is more than 100%, further 

revenue growth depends on Customer 

Experience and Service differentiation.” 

each Market, its Characteristics 

and Cultural environment 

and its Customer behavioural 

pattern. However general 

guidelines can be suggested. 

The biggest Assets of an 

Operator are its Historical 

Customer Data and the 

Realtime Customer data from 

the Network. With proper 

Analytical tools, these data 

can be analysed to get “Deep 

understanding of Customer 

Usage Pattern”. 

This information can be used 

to Refine Existing Products 

and Services, Enhance Service 

Assurance, Improve Customer 

Service all across the Customer 

Life cycle and Develop more 

flexible, differentiated services. 

This requires investment in 

relevant Information Analytical 

tools, which is essential for 

deriving the relevant input for 

effective Customer Experience 

Management. 

Q. How do you view the 

impact of Social Media on 

the Customer Experience 

management 

A. Evolution of Social Media 

will be an important factor that 

will influence the CE Strategy 

in the future. It is changing 

from being merely a grievance 

platform for exposing poor 

service to something that 

is more constructive for 

both Operators and their 

Customers. Because of the 

viral nature of social media, 

the Operators have to respond 

fast and effective. 

I have a Twitter account open 

to VIVA customers and the 

comments received have been 

greatly useful in improving our 

services. 

Q. What are some of the major 

areas where the operators 

of the SAMENA region needs 

to be more active when it 

comes to customer experience 

strategy 

A. I can recommend only based 

on what VIVA is planning/ 

implementing. VIVA has 

already initiated actions to 

procure State-of-Science 

intelligent solutions such as 

“Service Quality Management 

(SQM)” Tools for “Service 

Assurance” and “Real Time 

Decision Making Solutions 

(RTD)” for Contact Centre. 

SQM tools can enable 

restoration of service 

performance to a great extent 

before the Customer actually 

experiences a problem. 

RTD solutions combine 

historical data with realtime 

behavior to push relevant 

information to CSR and guide 

his/her interactions with the 

Customer. 

VIVA is also considering 

Online Customer Service as an 

important alternative to meet 

the impact of the fast growth 

of Smartphones and Tablets. 

(Courtesy: SAMENA) 



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Third wave of technology disruption! 

IDC investigates the effect of global technology game changers on the 

regional IT market including cloud, mobilisation, big data analytics 

and social media 

The global IT industry is now 

entering the third significant 

wave of evolution. This is 

the third wave of technology 

disruptions with the first being 

the mainframe and terminal 

era; the second involving the 

client server and the internet; 

and today’s third platform of 

technology transformation in 

reality being a combination 

of four fundamental game 

changers. Also referred to in 

many forums as the perfect 

storm, and by IDC as the third 

platform, the four fundamental 

game changers include the 

cloud, mobility, big data 

analytics and social media. The 

impact of these factors on the 

regional IT industry and the 

changing role of the CIO was 

the subject of a recent briefing 

session organised by IDC 

Middle East, Africa and Turkey. 

The briefing session was 

steered by Jyoti Lalchandani, 

Vice President and Regional 

Managing Director. A group 

of five tier one IT vendors 

were also present as part of 

the expert panel during the 

briefing session. The vendor 

panel members included 

Eyad Shihabi, Managing 

Director, HP Middle East; Dave 

Brooke, General Manager, 

Dell; Khaldoun Aboul Saoud, 

Regional Market Development 

Manager, Intel; Habib 

Mahakian, Regional General 

Manager Gulf and Pakistan, 

EMC; and Ahmed Marouf, 

Global Technology Services 

Leader, Middle East, Saudi and 

Levant region, IBM. 

As per IDC’s global forecasts 

90% of the IT industry 

growth will be driven by the 

combination of the third 

platform technologies, right 

through from 2013 to 2020. 

Today, the technologies of 

the third platform are only 

driving 22% of the current ICT 

spending, but from now till 

2020 their influence is going to 

continue to rise and rise. IDC 

is also recommending that IT 

industry players should focus 

80% of their energies around 

the influence of third platform 

technologies and focus on 

the outcomes, challenges and 

opportunities. 

While third platform 

technologies are having a 

disruptive effect on global IT 

business models, IDC’s Middle 

East and Turkey operations 

chose to investigate the 

regional impact of the four 

technology game changers. 

The survey included 111 CIOs 

with an aggregated spending 

in excess of $2 billion, across 

8 countries, with 63% of the 

organisations having over 

500 PCs, and 72% from public 

sector, finance, oil and gas, 

retail, distribution, education 

and healthcare segment – 

trend setters in information 

technology adoption. “The 

third platform or four forces 

has fundamentally changed 

the game when it comes to the 

overall landscape. How much of 

this is happening in the Middle 

East,” is how Lalchandani 

explains the objective of the 

survey. The emerging trends 

are of significant importance 

for all players in the regional 

IT industry, whether vendor, 

channel players or end users. 

As per the enterprise survey by 

IDC’s regional office, the four 

technology game changers 

dominated CIO priorities 

ranging from 57% of CIOs having 

cloud as a priority to usage 

of social media for corporate 



awareness at 37% of CIOs. 

Currently private cloud projects 

are a priority for 27% of CIOs. 

Six to twelve months from 

now enterprise applications 

on mobile devices take the 

highest priority amongst 28% 

of CIOs. Before the closure of 

2015, Big Data and analytics 

becomes a priority for 45% of 

CIOs as well as management 

of BYOD at 40% of CIOs. Post 

2015, the migration of public 

cloud becomes a priority for 

35% of CIOs. The regional 

CIO investment road map 

generated by IDC MEA and 

Turkey tells us the four forces 

are real and at various stages 

of adoption and maturity 

amongst the public and private 

enterprise segment. 

“Broadly speaking the 

enterprise survey indicates four 

forces are very much a reality 

in today’s environment. What 

this has meant is a shift from 

IT productivity to business 

productivity where the focus 

is on CIOs enabling business 

and making business more 

responsive to the needs of 

the organisation and more 

importantly better focus on 

efficiency and innovation,” says 

Lalchandani. 

Specifically for cloud adoption, 

priorities include developing 

a migration path, looking 

at extended architectures 

around the cloud and updating 

service management around 

the cloud. Platform as a 

service will continue becoming 

commoditised horizontally, 

while emergence of vertical 

market cloud platforms will be 

next big trend across the globe. 

Regional CIOs indicated they 

needed more time internally for 

migration to cloud. 

With the exponential demand 

and penetration of smart 

Jyoti Lalchandani 

VP and Regional MD, IDC MEA 

Khaldoun Aboul Saoud 

Regional Market Development 

Manager - Intel 

phones across the GCC, mobile 

data services will exceed 

fixed services in 2013 for the 

first time. According to IDC, 

mobile devices are going to 

be the new primary design 

point driven by demand from 

emerging markets. In 2013, 

33% of all new applications will 

be built for mobile platforms. 

In 2014, 40% of new mobile 

applications to be released 

will be designed for multiple 

operating systems. This is 

all part of a bigger demand 

trend where mobilisation 

– or moving beyond email – 

involves migrating enterprise 

application to mobile devices 

and includes applications like 

CRM and Salesforce.com and 

ERP. Across the region, 41% of 

CIOs believe mobilisation is a 

strategic focus; 78% of CIOs say 

business users are demanding 

BYOD friendly policies; and 51% 

Eyad Shihabi 

Managing Director, HP - ME 

Habib Mahakian 

Regional General Manager 

Gulf and Pakistan - EMC 

of CIOs are concerned about 

security risks associated with 

BYOD. 

“Big data and analytics will be 

a major game changer and a 

project like no other project 

enterprise organisations 

have ever seen,” remarks 

Lalchandani. But the road map 

to this adoption is plagued by 

more than the regular share 

of pitfalls. The technology 

for Big Data and analytics is 

expensive; the selection and 

quality of data residing and 

accessible to an enterprise 

may limit the results; and the 

process of data integration and 

accessibility bridges is complex. 

However regional CIOs rate 

the lack of skilled resources 

to manage such analytical 

projects as a major concern. 

“Focus around governance, 

risk and compliance in public 

and private sector enterprises 

Dave Brooke 

General Manager - Dell 

Ahmed Marouf 

Global Technology Services 

Leader, ME - IBM 

is forcing CIOs to take a holistic 

view of analysing data and 

alignment of IT and business. 

This is an area that will be 

a major area of investment 

2013 and beyond - CIOs have 

highlighted this to us.” 

The regional CIO survey also 

assessed the likely overall IT 

spending in 2013 and ahead. 

Saudi Arabia is expected to 

spend $10.1 billion and UAE $7.1 

billion in the year 2013, with 

total Middle East IT spending 

estimated at $32 billion growing 

at 10% year on year. “Regional 

IT spending is moving from 

building infrastructure to 

actually utilising infrastructure. 

In the next three years the GCC 

IT market is going to mature 

to almost the size of some of 

the European markets, when it 

comes to maturity of installed 

base of infrastructure,” 

explains Lalchandani. 



39

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Supporting Media Partners Supporting Associations Key Strategic Partners

Life gets faster with turbocharged broadband services 

from Nawras and even faster with the launch of 4G 

Julie Amann 

Nawras has announced the 

exciting introduction of faster 

and super fast broadband 

speeds. Ross Cormack, Chief 

Executive Officer, unveiled 

the latest news on the 

successful completion of the 

first phase of the company’s 

extensive Network Turbo 

charging programme which 

has transformed the customer 

experience of broadband from 

Al Bustan to beyond Musannah 

and includes the launch of the 

latest 4G technology in Muscat. 

Sharing the details of the 

way customers can now 

enjoy seamlessly surf the 

internet, Cormack said, “We 

are delighted to be giving this 

great news to our customers 

today. As we promised at the 

start of this programme in June 

2012, we are now offering fast 

mobile broadband speeds as 

well as increased coverage 

and capacity in most areas of 

Muscat and Al Batinah South. 

“Everyone can now enjoy 

better and faster broadband 

speeds for the same price 

and from today, those who 

want a super fast service 

can choose4G. With the 

introduction of 4G services 

Nawras becomes one of the 

earliest operators in the region 

to adopt this technology.” 

Wolfgang Wemhoff, Chief 

Technology Officer, outlined 

the huge scale of the Turbo 

charging programme which 

has led to the Nawras Network 

being upgraded from end to 

end. Starting from Al Bustan 

to beyond Musannah, Nawras 

has added 3G+ services to 

every base station, added 

new base stations and more 

than doubled the amount of 

broadband data traffic that can 

be carried at any one time. The 

launch of 4G services in Muscat 

adds an additional service with 

even faster speeds for those 

who require huge quantities of 

data. 

Musab Nasser Said Al Haddabi, 

Nawras Senior Proposition 

Manager – Mobile Broadband, 

showed the choice customers 

have with existing 3G+ prepaid 

plans giving fast download 

speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps. 

Beginning with the hugely 

popular daily 1 GB of fast 

broadband for just one Omani 

Rial, he gave other examples of 

a five Omani Rial weekly plan 

with 3GB data included and 

a 2GB monthly plan for nine 

Omani Rials. Customers using 

this service now automatically 

get faster speeds and a better 

experience without having to 

change their plans. 

Cormack concluded the 

presentation by announcing, 

“Today we are thrilled to tell 

our customers that life got 

even faster with the launch 

of our superfast 4G mobile 

broadband service which is 

available across the capital area 

with speeds of up to 15 Mbps. 

This service can either be used 

by customers with a 4G USB 

modem in a laptop or with a 

mobile WiFi which creates a 

super fast broadband hotspot 

for as many as 10 people at the 

same time. You can turn the 

whole family’s laptops, tablets 

and smart-phones into super 

fast 4G broadband devices.” 

Prepaid and postpaid price 

plans for the new super fast 4G 

service start with downloads 

speeds of up to 10 Mbps with 

7GB of data for just 24 Omani 

Rials per month or 15GB of data 

for 34 Omani Rials. Nawras 

Ajel post paid customers also 

have the option of a richer data 

plan with 30GB and a faster 

download speed of up to 15 

Mbps, for only 49 Omani Rials. 

Customers can visit any Nawras 

store to buy a 4G USB modem 

for 50 Omani Rials or a mobile 

WiFi modem for 75 Omani Rials, 

along with the data plan to suit 

their needs. The 4G SIM card is 

free for existing customers who 

are changing to this new super 

fast service. 

With these new super fast 4G 

broadband speeds, Nawras 

customers can enjoy a rich 

browsing experience giving 

high quality online gaming, 

effortless downloads of music, 

movies and documents as well 

as fast video streaming without 

buffering. 

Should a modem be moved out 

of the super fast 4G coverage 

area, it will automatically pick 

up the fast broadband signal, 

which can reach speeds of up 

to 5 Mbps, depending on the 

chosen plan. 



41

Winners and losers emerge in Europe’s race to a fibre future 

Russia sees a dramatic 42% increase in the number of FTTH subscribers, 

while more steady growth of 15% in Europe 

European fibre to the home 

(FTTH) deployment continues to 

grow steadily, but the gap between 

the leaders and laggards 

is increasing, according to the latest 

figures from the FTTH Council 

Europe, presented during a press 

conference held during the FTTH 

Conference 2013 at London’s 

ExCeL exhibition centre. 

Russia has emerged as a clear 

fibre leader in the region. The 

country added 2.2 million new 

FTTH subscribers in the second 

half of 2012 – more than all of 

the 27 Member States of the 

European Union combined – to 

reach a grand total of 7.5 million 

fibre-connected homes. This corresponds 

to a dramatic increase 

in FTTH subscribers of more than 

42%. 

Across the EU27 countries, the 

number of FTTH subscribers 

continued to grow at an accelerated 

rate of 15% in the second 

half of 2012. During this period, 

Europe added 820,000 subscribers 

in total, bringing the number 

of fibre-connected homes to 

6.24 million. Scandinavia, Baltic 

countries and the Netherlands 

contributed 26% of these new 

subscribers, Eastern European 

economies 33%, and France and 

Portugal 30%. 

The top five “dynamic” economies, 

where not only subscriber 

growth in the past year was high 

but also where new 2012 subscribers 

represented the highest 

proportion of total subscriber at 

end-2012 were Turkey, Ukraine, 

Spain, Bulgaria and Russia. In 

Turkey, subscribers more than 

doubled in the last year. Spain, 

new entrant in the FTTH ranking 

since June 2012, also confirmed 

its dynamism. 

In terms of household penetration, 

the dominant fibre nation 

remains Lithuania, which already 

has 100% coverage of FTTH and 

over 31% of homes connected to 

fibre. Sweden takes second place 

in the European FTTH Ranking, 

with 22.6% of homes having FTTH 

subscriptions. In the ranking, 

Karin Ahl 

10 nations can now claim more 

than 10% FTTH penetration, up 

from seven in June 2012. In order 

from the top they are Lithuania, 

Sweden, Bulgaria, Latvia, Norway, 

Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, 

Denmark and Portugal. 

“Eastern Europe and Scandinavian 

countries have reinforced 

their position as fibre leaders, 

and the disparity between the 

early and late adopters is becoming 

even more apparent,” said 

Karin Ahl, President of the FTTH 

Council Europe. “These FTTH 

leaders are gaining an economic 

advantage over their less wellconnected 

neighbours. Good 

communications infrastructure 

helps to retain existing businesses 

and attract new ones. 

Fibred-up nations can make a 

head start on deploying new 

services like remote health care 

and smart grid technologies. 

Countries that delay the roll out 

of FTTH are looking at a serious 

lost opportunity to prepare for 

their economic future.” 

Many of the major western 

economies are still dragging their 

feet over fibre. Italy and Spain 

remain at the bottom of the 

FTTH ranking, and once again, 

Germany and the UK failed to 

qualify. The number of fibre connected 

homes in the UK stands 

at less than 0.1%. 

The FTTH Market Panorama, 

which is updated twice a year 

by IDATE for the FTTH Council 

Europe, records the number 

of subscribers in each country 

across the continent of Europe, 

and ranks them according to the 

percentage of homes taking a 

direct fibre connection. 

Prysmian Group unveils RetractaNetxs Solution at FTTH Council Europe 

Prysmian Group, world leader 

in the energy and telecom 

cables and systems industry, 

has showcased its groundbreaking 

RetractaNetXS direct 

buried retractable cable at this 

week’s FTTH Council Europe 

Conference in London. 

RetractaNetXS is an outdoor 

underground solution ideally 

suited for FTTH deployments. 

It employs specially 

manufactured retractable 

cable from the Optical 

Distribution Point splice closure 

to the customer premises. 

The RetractaNetXS Solution 

for OSP applications employs 

a breakthrough direct buried 

RetractaCable that is filled with 

small fibre modules. These 

modules are designed to be cut 

at one point in the network and 

retracted to another where 

they can be fed or blown 

through microducts directly to 

the customer premises. 

Several successful pilot 

projects using the product 

have already been launched 

by Prysmian Group and its 

partners including Reggefiber, 

VolkerWessels Telecom, Jelcer 

Networks, Deutsche Glasfaser 

and BAM. The projects demonstrate 

that the ambitious fibre 

roll-out goals set by the EU 

Digital Agenda may be easier to 

meet than anticipated. 

Projects include the 

deployment of a fibre network 

in Noorderveld, Netherlands, 

a sewer-based solution in 

Lonneker, Netherlands and 

a further successful project 

carried out in the Bocholt Bario 

district, which is now being 

called ‘the fastest village in 

North Rhine-Westphalia’. 

With the unique physical 

properties and technical 

specifications of 

RetractaNetXS, ducts can be 

installed at a depth of 30cm 

instead of the normal 60 or 

120cm, making it possible to 

lay 600 metres of fibre a day, 

limit public inconvenience 

and significantly reduce CO2 

output. 



Change in senior management 

team at Nawras 

Nawras, has announced the 

departure of Chief Marketing 

Officer, Martin Lyne, who 

left the company to take 

up a new appointment in 

Europe. Ross Cormack, Chief 

Executive Officer will be 

taking over the role until a 

new Chief Marketing Officer 

is appointed. 

Ross Cormack said, “On 

behalf of the Nawras family, I 

would like to thank Martin for 

his valuable contribution to 

the company and we all wish 

him well in his new position. 

During his time at Nawras, 

Martin drove the introduction 

of a new range of exciting 

choices for our customers. 

His dedication to 

communicate the 

tremendous benefits of the 

Network Turbocharging 

programme is resulting 

in increasing numbers of 

customers enjoying higher 

speeds, greater capacity 

and wider coverage from 

Al Bustan to beyond Al 

Musannah.” 

Nawras family members 

will continue to work 

closely together to deliver 

a rewarding customer 

experience and remain 

dedicated to delight 

customers in every aspect 

of their communication 

experience. 

Ross Cormack 

The recruitment process 

to appoint a new Chief 

Marketing Officer is already 

underway. 

Nawras signs OMR 

20 Million bilateral 

revolving credit 

facility agreements 

Omani Telecommunications 

Company – Nawras has 

signed two additional 

bilateral revolving credit 

facility agreements totalling 

OMR 20 million with threeyear 

tenure, for capital 

expenditure and working 

capital purposes. 

The additional bilateral 

revolving credit facility 

agreements with HSBC 

Bank Oman S.A.O.G and 

Qatar National Bank S.A.Q 

Oman follow a competitive 

selection process that 

included 24 national and 

international banks. 

Huawei unveils SoftCOM - 

New vision for reshaping the future of network architecture 

Huawei, a leading global 

information and communications 

technology (ICT) solutions 

provider, has unveiled a new 

cloud-based future network 

architecture-titled Huawei Soft- 

COM-which leverages the power 

of SDN to help operators address 

challenges brought about 

by the accelerated changes in 

the industry landscape. 

At the core of the SoftCOM approach 

lies Huawei’s view that 

the network evolution must be 

guided by a desire for simplicity. 

Network architecture has become 

increasingly complex with 

networks needing to provide 

more and more functionality, necessitating 

an evolutionary overhaul 

of network architecture 

as we know it. The SoftCOM 

evolution is a move towards 

breaking down complex issues, 

optimizing resource allocation, 

and ultimately, simplification of 

the entire process. 

“Current network infrastructure 

designs have not kept pace with 

ever-growing requirements 

and in our conversations with 

telecom operators, we know 

that they are struggling to 

keep up with the rapid network 

upgrades necessary to support 

their customers’ increasing 

demand for bandwidth and 

personalized services. Most 

critically, these operators have 

been unable to reap appropriate 

returns on the investments in 

supporting this demand growth. 

The industry must recognize the 

need for changes in its approach 

to managing network architecture, 

and that these changes 

should not be made in isolation. 

SoftCOM provides a holistic 

approach to help operators 

enhance competitiveness and 

optimize their returns on investment,” 

said Prof. Sanqi Li, CTO, 

Carrier Network Business Group, 

Huawei. 

The SoftCOM strategy is underpinned 

by four key elements: 

1. Equipment-level cloudlization 

– the decoupling of hardware 

and software; 

2. Network-level cloudlization – 

the decoupling of forwarding 

and controlling; 

3. Telecom IT cloudlization – 

transforming traditional IT infrastructure 

to a cloud-based 

infrastructure; and 

4. Internet-oriented operation 

– transforming telecomoriented 

systems to Internetoriented 

systems 

In conjunction with the SoftCOM 

evolution, Huawei is proposing 

the ‘Dig In, Widen Out’ strategy 

to help operators reduce TCO 

and create innovative business 

models with open networks. 



43

3G policy finalised in Bangladesh 

The national policy for the 

Third generation (3G) mobile 

technology license was finalized 

recently by the Ministry of 

Post and Telecommunications 

assigning US $20 million per 

megahertz (MHz) wave. 

The finalised policy was 

also sent to Bangladesh 

Telecommunications Regulatory 

Commission (BTRC) said 

Telecommunications Secretary 

Abu Bakar Siddique. 

BTRC will soon organise 

auctions for 3G waves, he 

added. 

Three of the five private 

telecom operators and one 

other new operator will be 

getting the licence, Siddiqui said 

. “The decision to allow licences 

to multiple foreign operators 

was reconsidered.” 

It was not possible under 

current circumstances to allot 

more than one new foreign 

operator the mandate to allot 

2G, he said. 

State-owned Teletalk is one 

of the six mobile operators of 

Bangladesh currently providing 

experimental 3G services. 

Teletalk would not be participating 

in the auctions, but 

according to the policy draft, it 

would have to buy the license at 

the rate fixed at the auctions. 

A total of five telecom 

operators including Teletalk will 

be getting the licence, said the 

secretary. 

The licence will be valid for 15 

years. Operators had asked for 

20 years validity. Secretary said 

their decision was influenced 

by the practice in neighbouring 

countries. The auction will have 

eight blocks of 5MHz each , 

according to the finalised policy. 

The draft had talked of four 

blocks of 10MHz each. 

This would facilitate operators 

with lesser customer coverage, 

Siddiqui said. Big mobile 

operators can buy two blocks. If 

there are leftovers, companies 

can buy it at the auction rate. 

Therefore, auction of these 

blocks will bring foreign investment. 

“Foreign investment will 

be under the incumbent laws 

of Bangladesh,” said Abu Bakar 

Siddique. TRC had sent draft of 

the policy to the ministry March 

28 last year. Four companies including 

three of the five private 

mobile operators and a new 

operator were recommended 

for 3G licence in the draft. 

DoT, TRAI to look in to options to refund 

consumers’ money 

The Telecom Ministry of India 

and the sector regulator TRAI 

will look in to the possibility 

of refunding money as part of 

measures to protect interest of 

consumers on mobile networks 

that may shut shop soon. 

Telecom firms, who neither 

have spectrum nor the Supreme 

Court reprieve to continue operations, 

are to shut operations 

with immediate effect. 

“We will examine the issue and 

look at how interest of consumers 

can be saved,” a Department 

of Telecommunications 

official said. 

Similar words were echoed by 

an official at Telecom Regulatory 

Authority of India who did not 

wish to be named. 

As per December 2012 data of 

TRAI, there were over 2.41 crore 

customers on network of three 

companies, who are expected 

to lose connections following 

the apex court order. 

According to present norms, 

issues related to billing between 

telecom subscribers and operators 

can be resolved through 

arbitration between the two 

and disputes among them don’t 

fall under ambit of consumer 

courts. 

The Supreme Court directed 

that the “entire” licenses 

quashed by it for 2G spectrum 

be auctioned without “further 

delay” and those telecom firms 

which were unsuccessful and 

did not participate in the auction 

process will cease to operate 

“forthwith”. 

Post Supreme Court order of 

February 2, 2012, telecom companies 

Uninor, Sistema Shyam 

(SSTL), Videocon and Tata 

Teleservices (TTL) were continuing 

their operations. These 

companies were required to win 

spectrum through November 

2012 auction to continue their 

services beyond January 18, 

2013. 

Out of these, only Uninor and 

Videocon participated in auction 

and won spectrum in 6 circles 

each. SSTL and TTL did not participate 

in the auction. 

2G spectrum: 

Indian SC 

dismisses 

curative 

petitions of 

telecom firms 

The Supreme Court of India has 

dismissed curative petitions 

of several telecom firms for 

re-examination of its verdict 

cancelling 122 2G spectrum 

licences allocated during tenure 

of former Telecom Minister 

A Raja. The apex court also 

denied permission to Raja to 

file his curative petition. The 

companies whose petitions 

were rejected are Videocon 

Telecommunications Ltd, 

Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd 

(SSTL), Tata Teleservices Ltd 

(TTSL) and Idea Cellular Ltd. A 

bench of Chief Justice Altamas 

Kabir and justices P Sathasivam 

and G S Singhvi rejected the plea 

of the telecom firms and Raja 

saying “no case is made out”. 

“We have gone through the 

curative petitions and the 

relevant documents. In our 

opinion, no case is made out 

within the parameters indicated 

in the decision of this Court in 

Rupa Ashok Hurra vs Ashok 

Hurra & Anr. Hence, the curative 

petitions are dismissed. “As far 

as curative petition of Raja is 

concerned, permission to file 

curative petitions is rejected,” 

it said adding “Consequently, 

applications for stay and 

appropriate directions are 

rejected.” 

A curative petition is filed after 

the dismissal of review petition 

and is decided in the chambers 

of judges. 



Hala Badri presides over MENA Cristal 

Festival Advertisers Grand Jury 

Hala Badri, Executive Vice 

President, Brand and Communications, 

du has recently 

participated in the MENA Cristal 

Festival awards in Lebanon 

along with CEOs and Chairmen 

of various Middle East and North 

Africa enterprises and agencies, 

as president of the Advertisers 

Grand Jury co-chairing with Red 

Bull. Known for her expertise in 

her professional field, Hala was 

chosen to be the president and 

head the Jury panel that gave 

feedback for the improvement 

of the MENA Cristal Festival, 

at which she presented du as a 

client of Leo Burnett Dubai, and 

chaired a session in collaboration 

with representatives from 

Red Bull. 

Commenting on her 

participation, Hala said: “I would 

like to congratulate all of the 

winners at the MENA Cristal 

Festival. The level of entries 

was extremely high, which 

gives a very positive view of 

the communications industry 

in the region. It was an honour 

and a pleasure to have been 

invited to be the president of 

the Advertisers Grand Jury, and 

I would like to thank the MENA 

Cristal Festival organisers both 

for this exciting opportunity, 

and for creating such a wellorganised 

event.” 

The Advertisers Grand Jury 

consists of clients who are 

recommended by agencies 

from around the MENA region. 

It is the jury’s responsibility to 

screen the Awards’ shortlisted 

entries from all categories, 

to vote for the winner of the 

Advertisers Grand Cristal, 

based on several criteria such 

as creativity, effectiveness & 

impact. 

In 2012, Hala participated as a 

member of the MENA Cristal 

Festival Advertisers Grand Jury 

for the first time and was invited 

to return in 2013. 

As the GEMAS Marketer of 

the Year for 2012 and the 

holder of several brand and 

communications-related 

accolades, Hala was ideally 

qualified to head/ co-chair the 

Advertisers Grand Jury at the 

MENA Cristal Festival 2013. Her 

work as the head of du’s Brand 

and Communications division 

has earned several awards for 

the telecom as well as having 

gained recognition for Hala 

herself, which led to her recent 

appointment to the Board of 

Dubai Media Incorporated 

(DMI), by the royal decree of HH 

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid 

Al Maktoum, Vice President and 

Prime Minister of the UAE and 

Ruler of Dubai. 

4G mobile network to be launched in Qatar 

Qatar will see the commercial 

roll out of the ultra-fast 4G 

network over the next few 

months with the two service 

providers - Qtel and Vodafone 

reaching a crucial phase of 

the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) 

programme that will deliver the 

fourth generation network in the 

country. 

Qtel is in the “final testing stage” 

of the 4G LTE mobile broadband 

network and is expecting to 

begin commercial launch in Doha 

in the coming months. 

Vodafone, on the other hand, 

would launch a trial of LTE “in 

the very near future”. 

LTE is a wireless broadband 

technology that supports 

roaming Internet access via 

mobile phones and devices and 

which seamlessly interworks 

with 2G and 3G networks. 

Because of the significant 

improvements in download 

speeds and quality, it is called 

the “fourth generation” (4G) 

technology. 

In Qatar, the service is expected 

to provide customers with 

“universal connectivity at 

incredible downlink speeds” 

of up to 150 Mbps for a broad 

range of services, including 

high-definition (HD) video on 

demand, interactive gaming, 

cable TV and high-bandwidth 

content. 

Qtel director (Public Relations) 

Fatima Sultan al-Kuwari said: 

“We are in the final testing stage 

of the 4G LTE mobile broadband 

network, and are expecting to 

begin commercial launch in Doha 

in the coming months. Our aim 

is to deliver the best possible 

customer experience of 4G LTE, 

so we are investing all our efforts 

into the testing phase - when 

we are satisfied that our service 

will be the best in the region, we 

will formally announce a launch 

date.” 

During this testing period so 

far, Qtel said it had “gained 

tremendous positive feedback” 

from customers who have used 

its network and devices. 

The 4G LTE network provides 

speeds that are three-to-six 

times as fast as the current 3G 

network, enabling customers to 

instantaneously access highbandwidth 

content. Customers 

are able to watch high-definition 

video, transfer large files, view 

multimedia-rich websites and 

use interactive mobile apps. 

“We have delivered consistently 

fast speeds across Doha, and 

are confident the service will be 

a success when it is launched,” 

Fatima said. 

Vodafone Qatar revealed it 

would “launch a trial of LTE in 

the very near future”. 

“Vodafone Qatar will bring the 

vast experience and expertise 

of Vodafone Group in this field 

with plans to start rolling out 

state-of-the-art LTE capability in 

Qatar aiming to have commercial 

launch for the first half of 

next year,” Vodafone Qatar’s 

spokesperson said. 

“This should coincide with 

the availability of more 

mature devices and services 

that will allow customers to 

experience the full benefit of LTE 

technology. 



45

Microsoft engages youth to drive sustainable 

African economic growth 

Unemployment remains rife 

on the African continent. With 

almost 200 million people aged 

between 15 and 24 in Africa 

today, the youth community represents 

more than 60 per cent of 

the continent’s total population 

and accounts for 45 per cent of 

its growing labour force. However, 

the imbalance between the 

demands of the labour market 

and the supply of appropriately 

skilled workers in Africa is reaching 

its breaking point. In light of 

this, Microsoft has announced 

its ongoing commitment to drive 

opportunities for African youth 

through its YouthSpark initiative. 

Microsoft YouthSpark is a global 

initiative that aims to create 

opportunities for 300 million 

youth in more than 100 countries 

during the next three years. This 

companywide initiative includes 

Corporate Social Investment 

(CSI) and other company programs 

- both new and enhanced 

- empowering youth to imagine 

and realise their full potential by 

connecting them with greater 

opportunities for education, employment 

and entrepreneurship. 

“It is a sad reality that while 

young Africans are more literate 

than their parents, more of them 

remain unemployed,” says Djam 

Bakhshandegi, CSI Program Manager 

at Microsoft in Africa. “At 

the core of our YouthSpark and 

other CSI activities is our belief 

that relevant innovation holds 

the key to unlocking the answers 

to our most pressing challenges 

in the region. Through Youth- 

Spark, in sub-Saharan Africa 

alone, we have already reached 

over half a million young people 

and made $1.1 million worth of 

software donations to non- 

Government-organisations. In 

addition we have trained almost 

30, 000 teachers through our 

Partners In Learning tools as 

well as equipping hundreds of 

small & medium businesses with 

relevant start up skills. 

As part of its broader strategy, 

Microsoft views Africa as a 

critical investment market. Its 

flagship African investment and 

growth drive, 4Afrika, which 

YouthSpark falls under on the African 

continent, was launched in 

February 2013. Through 4Afrika, 

Microsoft will actively engage in 

Africa’s economic development 

to improve its global competitiveness. 

By 2016, the Microsoft 

4Afrika Initiative plans to help 

place tens of millions of smart 

devices in the hands of African 

youth, bring 1 million African 

small and medium enterprises 

(SMEs) online, up-skill 100,000 

members of Africa’s existing 

workforce, and help an additional 

100,000 recent graduates 

develop skills for employability, 

75 percent of which Microsoft 

will help place in jobs. 

“YouthSpark forms part of 

this 4Afrika vision and through 

YouthSpark, we are paying 

specific attention to the next 

generation of our ecosystem 

through our work with schools, 

students, start-ups and the 

developer community to drive 

skills and ICT integration which 

will in turn trigger growth,” says 

Bakhshandegi. “Through our 

partnerships with governments, 

non-profit organizations and 

businesses, Microsoft Youth- 

Spark aims to empower youth 

to imagine and realize their full 

potential.” 

Microsoft YouthSpark goes 

beyond philanthropy and brings 

together a range of global 

programs that empower young 

people with access to technology 

and a better education and 

inspire young people to imagine 

the opportunities they have to 

realise their potential, including 

Office 365 for education, free 

technology tools for all teachers 

and students to power learning 

and collaboration, and Skype 

in the classroom, a free global 

community for teachers to connect 

their students with others 

around the world. Other Youth- 

Spark initiatives include: 

● Partners in Learning Network. 

An online professional 

development platform for 

government officials, school 

leaders and educators to help 

them with new approaches to 

teaching and learning, using 

technology to help students 

develop 21st century skills. 

● Microsoft IT Academy. 

A career-ready education 

program available to all accredited 

academic institutions, 

providing students with 21st 

century technology. 

● DreamSpark. Free access to 

Microsoft designer and developer 

tools for students and 

educators, helping advance 

key technical skills during the 

high school and college years, 

a critical time in a student’s 

development. 

● Imagine Cup. The world’s 

premier youth technology 

competition, which challenges 

students to apply their knowledge 

and passion to develop 

technical solutions for social 

David Arkless 

impact, to develop engaging 

games, and to demonstrate 

innovation that can benefit 

others, local communities and 

the world. 

● Students to Business. 

A program that matches university 

students with jobs or 

internships in the technology 

industry. 

● BizSpark. A software startup 

program, providing young 

entrepreneurs with access to 

Microsoft software development 

tools and connections 

with key industry players, 

including investors, to help 

them start a new business. 

● Employability Portals. 

An all-inclusive platform that 

links users – who wish to plan 

their career, get career advisory, 

acquire training, build 

their capacity, apply for jobs 

and internships – with customized 

resources, counselors, 

mentors and jobs. 

Another example is Microsoft’s 

Build Your Business programme, 

a comprehensive and inter-active 

training course designed to 

support aspiring and emerging 

entrepreneurs. David Arkless, 

Manpower Group’s President 

of Corporate and Government 

Affairs, says, “Start-ups and small 

businesses are the backbone 

of Africa’s economy, and this 

learning course will encourage 

aspiring entrepreneurs to take 

the leap to set up a business 

venture. 



NEC, Fujitsu completes Asia Submarine-cable 

Express (ASE) system 

NEC Corporation and Fujitsu 

Limited have announced that 

they have completed construction 

of all initially planned segments 

of the Asia Submarinecable 

Express (ASE) system, 

a high-bandwidth optical 

submarine cable system that 

extends across approximately 

7,800 km to link Japan with 

the Philippines, Hong Kong, 

Malaysia, and Singapore. NTT 

Communications, Philippine 

Long Distance Telephone Company, 

Telekom Malaysia Berhad, 

and StarHub Limited placed an 

order for the new system in 

January 2011. 

The connection of Hong Kong 

to the system, in addition to 

Japan, the Philippines, Singapore 

and Malaysia, for which 

construction was completed 

last August and service has 

already begun, means that 

ASE now connects major cities 

in East and South-East Asia as 

a high-capacity (40Gbps per 

wave, max capacity 15Tbps) 

submarine cable system employed 

in services offered by 

NTT Communications and other 

participating carriers. 

For the new system, NEC 

provided the submarine cables, 

submersible repeaters and 

submersible OADM branching 

units, as well as subsea monitoring 

equipment and power feeding 

equipment. Fujitsu provided 

the Submarine Line Terminal 

Equipment and the Networking 

Management System. 

Employing the latest 40Gbps 

digital coherent optical transmissions 

technology, ASE will 

ensure communications capacity 

that can sufficiently accommodate 

surging Internet data 

traffic in Asian countries, as well 

as growing data traffic resulting 

from the rapid spread of smart 

devices. In addition, plans are 

in place to utilize the system to 

provide high-quality and lowlatency 

dedicated line service 

that can also be leveraged for 

the carriers’ cloud services. 

NEC Provides Wireless Systems for Odakyu Electric Railway 

NEC Corporation is providing 

wireless systems for the latest 

trains operated by Odakyu 

Electric Railway Co., Ltd. 

(Odakyu), who operates an 

extensive railway network 

starting from the largest 

train terminal in Japan, 

Shinjuku Station, which serves 

an estimated 1.95 million 

passengers every day. These 

Software-Defined Radio (SDR) 

equipped systems are scheduled 

to be fully operational by July 

2016. 

The wireless digitization of 

systems for new trains helps 

to ensure their safe operation 

within the crowded scheduling 

of the Tokyo metropolitan area. 

Traditionally, in order for trains 

from different railway operators 

to run compatibly on each 

other’s lines, each train had 

to be equipped with multiple 

wireless systems. 

This new system enables 

different railway operators to 

use a single wireless device, 

whose specifications and 

software can be easily updated 

for each train. These are 

the first systems that share 

specifications between different 

railway operators as part of 

minimizing the amount of 

equipment required for a trains 

wireless systems and ensuring 

their efficient operation. 

Furthermore, the introduction 

of this system also facilitates an 

easier transition from existing 

analog systems to digital 

systems, which support superior 

audio and data transmissions. 

As a result, instructions from 

the control center as well as 

train service information can 

be provided more accurately 

and more quickly to monitors 

positioned in locations such 

as the conductor’s cabin and 

passenger areas. 

The software-defined radio 

adopted by this system utilizes 

globally standardized Software 

Communication Architecture 

(SCA). 

Going forward, NEC aims to 

continue driving the adoption on 

“Digital Train Wireless Systems” 

as part of contributing to the 

safety of railway operations 

throughout the world. 



47

Neostratus, the internationally 

recognized cloud enabler 

company has announced the 

first new member of the global 

sales team since the company’s 

rebranding from CE On-Demand 

in January. Judit Kató, 

former EMEA Cloud Business 

Developer of NEC Corporation, 

another leading telco cloud 

enabler, has joined Neostratus 

as Regional Sales Manager 

recently. Judit has ten years 

of experience in international 

Business Development and has 

Neostratus welcomes Judit Kato 

to their sales team 

been dealing with SaaS applications 

since 2004. She will be 

responsible for the company’s 

partner channel management 

and development in Europe. 

Judit studied business and 

commerce in England, and 

holds a consultancy degree 

from Warwickshire College, 

UK. She has extensive sales 

and business development experience 

with cloud-based 3rd 

party apps and solutions, has 

a deep knowledge of services 

such as Salesforce.com CRM. 

Judit has developed an outstanding 

international network 

within the ICT sector during 

her previous work with Radix 

Technologies and NEC Corporation. 

In her most recent 

position at NEC, she has been 

promoting cloud solutions for 

telecommunication service 

providers and developing, as 

well as executing, go-to-market 

strategies for telcos. Judit also 

has experience in recruitment 

consultancy, telemarketing 

and account management. Her 

earlier workplaces include PMI 

Group and Reed Personnel 

Services. 

Paul Inman, Sales and Marketing 

Director of Neostratus 

said: “Judit has an extensive 

knowledge of cloud services 

delivery for telecom providers 

and an instinctual talent for developing 

business relationships 

across a multinational background. 

I believe she has all the 

qualities and skills we need for 

helping our existing and future 

Judit Szabó 

partners successfully monetise 

their cloud strategies. I’m 

happy to welcome her in the 

current team and confident she 

will help Neostratus achieve 

the company’s expansion 

plans.” 

Judit Kató, Regional Sales 

Manager of Neostratus added 

on her appointment: “I am 

delighted to join Neostratus as 

I have long admired the innovative 

market approach that has 

created one of the strongest 

track records of cloud service 

delivery in Europe. I look 

forward to work closely with 

the telco base to ensure that 

our partners lead their markets 

in providing high quality and 

relevant services for their customers.” 

PCCW achieved strong results across core segments 

The directors of PCCW Limited 

(the “Company”) have announced 

the audited consolidated 

results of the Company 

and its subsidiaries (collectively 

the “Group”) for the year ended 

December 31, 2012. Some 

key figures are as follows: 

●● 

Core revenue increased 

by 7% to HK$24,134 million; 

consolidated revenue (including 

PCPD) increased by 3% to 

HK$25,318 million 

●● 

Core EBITDA increased by 6% 

to HK$7,681 million; consolidated 

EBITDA (including 

PCPD) increased by 3% to 

HK$7,788 million 

●● 

Consolidated profit attributable 

to equity holders of the 

Company increased by 3% to 

HK$1,663 million; basic earnings 

per share amounted to 

22.90 HK cents 

●● 

Final dividend of 13.55 HK 

cents per ordinary share 

PCCW delivered another set of 

strong financial results for 2012 

on the back of notable growth 

across our core business segments 

– namely the Media business, 

the Solutions business 

and the Telecom business (via 

our approximate 63% interest in 

HKT Limited and the HKT Trust 

(collectively “HKT”)). 

Core revenue for the year ended 

December 31, 2012 increased 

7% to HK$24,134 million, with 

core EBITDA increasing by 6% 

to HK$7,681 million. Core profit 

attributable to equity holders, 

after accounting for the approximate 

37% non-controlling 

interest in HKT, also increased 

modestly to HK$1,603 million. 

Had the approximate 37% 

non-controlling interest in HKT 

also applied in 2011, core profit 

attributable to equity holders 

would have shown an increase 

of 78%. 

The board of directors has recommended 

the payment of a 

final dividend of 13.55 HK cents 

per ordinary share for the year 

ended December 31, 2012. 

Mr. George Chan, PCCW’s 

Group Managing Director, 

said, “Going forward, now TV 

is committed to strengthening 

its program lineup with more 

high-quality production and 

premium content acquisitions, 

which will be complemented 

by its multi-screen strategy. 

Following initial success in 

overseas distribution of our 

content, we are currently 

engaged in discussions with 

more potential partners. now 

TV will leverage PCCW Solutions’ 

IT competencies and 

HKT’s network superiority to 

reinforce its market leadership 

in Hong Kong and develop into 

a renowned player in the region 

and internationally.” 

Mr. Chan said PCCW Solutions 

had an impeccable track 

record in serving the IT 

needs of enterprises and 

the public sector where 

system reliability is of utmost 

importance. He said, “It will 

benefit from the accelerating 

pace of IT outsourcing and 

the proliferation of cloud 

applications. To meet this rising 

demand, we have significantly 

expanded our data center 

facilities. 

48 www.teletimesinternational.com March 2013

Tadiran Telecom’s Aeronix received 

VMware Certification 

This achievement highlights Tadiran Telecom’s commitment to meet current and 

future challenges of distributed organizations 

Tadiran Telecom, a leader 

in unified communications 

has announced that Aeonix, 

its pure software based 

Unified Communications & 

Collaboration solution, achieved 

VMware Certification. The 

certification allows customers 

to deploy Aeonix in a virtual 

environment on premise or 

on a private cloud, minimizing 

IT overhead and footprint, 

while enjoying the full range 

of UC&C functionality. The 

VMware Certification followed 

successful implementations of 

the new Aeonix UC&C solution 

and an in-depth evaluation 

Movirtu, an innovator in identity 

solutions for mobile operators, 

has appointed Carsten 

Brinkschulte as CEO. 

Brinkschulte, a mobile industry 

veteran and the founder 

and former CEO of mobile 

messaging pioneer Synchronica, 

is tasked with spearheading 

Movirtu’s expansion into 

new market segments and 

new geographies with the 

company’s ground-breaking, 

patented Virtual SIM platform. 

The company’s new solutions 

was demonstrated at Mobile 

World Congress. 

Movirtu’s success to date 

emanates from custom 

solutions based on Movirtu’s 

Virtual SIM platform, enabling 

mobile operators to offer 

process by VMware, This 

certification demonstrates 

Tadiran Telecom’s commitment 

to meet current and future 

challenges of distributed 

organizations. Tadiran 

Telecom’s President and 

CEO Eldad Barak said: “Many 

customers need a high degree 

of control over their data 

center or have strict security 

requirements. We have made 

deploying Aeonix simple, 

reliable and scalable. This is just 

one more example of Aeonix’s 

unique approach to reduce 

the customer’s total cost of 

ownership (TCO).” 

phone-sharing solutions 

to subscribers in emerging 

markets. Under Carsten’s 

leadership, Movirtu will extend 

the use of this core virtual 

identity technology to: 

● Enable mobile operators 

to solve the escalating 

BYOD (Bring Your Own 

Device) phone number 

problem which is stifling the 

widespread use of personal 

smartphones for corporate 

use. With Movirtu WorkLife, 

mobile operators can offer a 

service to corporates allowing 

them to assign corporate 

numbers as a second number 

to smartphones owned by 

employees; 

● Enable mobile operators 

to improve customer 

Eldad Barak 

Integrated with VMware’s 

hosted technology, Aeonix 

will enable customers to 

enhance datacenters without 

compromising control or 

governance and obtain 

maximum agility for growth 

and integration of new 

innovative solutions. 

Movirtu appoints Carsten Brinkschulte 

as CEO to spearhead expansion 

stickiness by offering them 

the convenience of multiple 

numbers on a standard 

SIM. Movirtu ManyMe also 

provides operators with an 

effective counter to the trend 

among high-ARPU users for 

using multiple SIM cards from 

competing networks. 

Facebook 

sued over 

use of ‘Like’ 

Button 

Social networking website, 

Facebook is facing a 

patent lawsuit over its use 

of the Like button on its 

webservices. 

A patent holding company, 

Rembrandt Social Media 

says that it is acting for 

the estate of a dead Dutch 

programmer, Joannes 

Jozef Everardus van Der 

Meer who secured a patent 

on the concept of a Like 

button in 1998. The patent 

predates the creation of 

Facebook by five years, 

and the lawsuit claims that 

Facebook has cited the 

patent in its own patent 

applications - implying that 

it knows it is infringing it. 

Rembrandt Social Media 

is being represented by 

the law firm, Fish and 

Richardson who put out a 

press release about their 

latest lawsuit, 

“We believe Rembrandt’s 

patents represent an 

important foundation of 

social media as we know 

it, and we expect a judge 

and jury to reach the 

same conclusion based 

on the evidence,” says 

attorney Tom Melsheimer, 

counsel for Rembrandt and 

managing principal of Fish 

& Richardson’s Dallas office. 

The lawsuit also names the 

unrelated firm, Add This as 

a defendant. 



49

Thomas Künstner 

Timo Benzin 

Sebastian Blum 

Christopher Rischard 

Create your own buzz: 

The promise and practice of digital marketing 

More and more consumers of all 

ages are actively participating in 

an increasingly digitized worldbuying 

and selling, socializing, 

seeking out information, and 

entertaining themselves online. 

In this environment, it can be 

daunting to clearly understand 

where, how, when, and through 

what media to reach your 

customers-and at what cost. 

Overwhelmed by the need to 

market products and services 

in a digital world, most companies 

end up chasing the wrong 

trends. Instead of correctly understanding 

what works best for 

them, they look over the fence 

at what everyone else is trying 

to do. But succeeding in digital 

marketing requires a bespoke 

solution-what works for one 

company may fail for another. 

Marketers must learn to create 

their own buzz. 

Expertise in digital marketing 

can no longer be viewed as an 

adjunct to traditional marketing 

efforts and so best left to 

specialized advisors. Instead, 

companies must put together 

complete programs in which 

digital channels are fully meshed 

with traditional ones, making 

the sum greater than the parts. 

This will require three key foundational 

capabilities: getting 

marketing investment priorities 

right; developing transparency 

across all marketing channels; 

and developing a truly “digitalready” 

organization, with 

the resources, expertise, and 

technologies at its disposal to 

put together a comprehensive 

marketing strategy. Companies 

that get this right can expect to 

see a 10 to 30 percent improvement 

in the efficiency of their 

marketing budgets. 

Digital Capabilities 

The digital revolution is rapidly 

changing how consumers interact 

with the world. More than 

half of the globe’s population 

can now access the Internet 

through their smartphones. 

Facebook has registered a billion 

users, 40 percent of whom 

access the social media site 

through their mobile devices. 

This degree of connectivity 

would seem to be a marketer’s 

dream come true, given the 

opportunities these new digital 

channels offer to communicate 

and interact with consumersand 

to sell to them. 

Yet this very abundance of 

opportunities, options, and 

channels-and the army of advisors 

and intermediaries willing 

to help navigate them-is what 

makes digital marketing so challenging. 

As a result, many companies 

looking to benefit quickly 

find that they have lost control 

over their digital marketing activities, 

with little understanding 

of how much time and money 

they devote to them, and no 

visibility into the return on their 

investments. 

It is essential for every marketing 

organization to take a step 

back and reassess its digital marketing 

plans in light of its overall 

marketing and sales objectives. 

It is also crucial to think more 

carefully about the foundational 

capabilities it needs to regain 

control over its digital marketing 

efforts. These capabilities can be 

divided into three primary areas 

(see Exhibit 1): 

● Investment priorities: 

Develop a market-back perspective 

on where to put your 



digital marketing investment 

budgets, taking into account 

your particular marketing 

objectives and the needs and 

online behavior of your target 

customer segments, while 

making sure to avoid overinvesting 

in the latest hype. 

● Cross-channel transparency: 

Understand how every 

marketing channel (both traditional 

and digital) performs 

and works with the others. 

This is critical in maintaining 

control over the marketing 

budget and reaping the maximum 

return on investment. 

● Digital readiness: 

Achieve the maximum benefit 

from digital marketing by 

creating a marketing and 

sales organization that can 

effectively support ongoing 

innovation in a multichannel 

world. 

Every marketing program 

involves making decisions about 

how and where to invest time 

and money, and this is especially 

critical in the digital world. 

Indeed, the ability to decide 

where not to invest is perhaps 

the most important capability 

of all. 

Setting Market-Back Investment 

Priorities 

Until recently, marketing to 

consumers involved a limited 

number of paid media channelstelevision, 

radio, print, “out of 

home,” and the like. The effort 

to plan media campaigns, buy 

time or space in these channels, 

and monitor the results was 

typically outsourced to large 

advertising and marketing agencies. 

Companies simply allocated 

budgets for these campaigns 

following the advice of their 

agencies, and measured their 

success using relatively blunt 

performance indicators like 

consumer awareness, purchase 

intent, and sales. 

Today, however, the old approach 

no longer suffices. 

New digital platforms must 

be understood and managed 

more as “owned” media, over 

which marketers can exert a 

much greater degree of control. 

Centered on marketer-created 

content, these channels are designed 

to attract, entertain, and 

educate consumers from initial 

awareness all the way through 

to the after-sales experience. 

Companies are increasingly 

acting as advertising agencies 

themselves, especially in social 

media campaigns. They view 

their customers as an audience 

with whom they interact in real 

time. Managing this relationship 

well can bring increased 

customer intimacy and insight, 

and much faster marketing cycle 

times. Such digital campaigns require 

a deep degree of involvement 

from marketers, as these 

channels demand much more 

individualized and product-specific 

approaches than traditional 

mass-media investments do. If 

they are managed poorly, the 

damage may be greater than 

any potential benefit. 

Like “owned” channels, performance-oriented 

“paid” channels 

that may require a significant 

financial investment, such as 

search adver-tising, must also be 

managed and monitored with 

more involvement.The most successful 

companies will establish 

well-structured and carefully 

coordinated in-house processes 

for search engine optimization 

and search engine marketing 

run by dedicated teams. This 

ensures that campaigns are 

coordinated across functional 

and business units, ensuring the 

selection of the most effective 

search words and precise timing 

of all activities. 

The many marketing opportunities 

available through digitization 

only multiply the risks 

companies run in trying to put 

together a success-ful program. 

There is much biased advice 

to be had from any number of 

advocates for one channel or 

another. As a result, companies 

will often initiate too many 

uncoordinated projects with no 

real control over or visibility into 

the entire effort. In addition, the 

well-known successes of digital 

marketing may lead marketers 

into benchmarking their efforts 

against top-tier players such as 

Amazon, Citi, Dell, Intuit, Target, 

Tesco, and Zalando. But that’s 

often a mistake, because few 

can match these companies’ 

decades-long experience in often 

complex environments-and 

most companies have no need 

to match these standards to succeed 

in their ecosystems. The 

result is too often a vicious cycle 

of trying harder and harder, 

with less and less to show for 

it. There is, however, a way to 

avoid these pitfalls: Take the 

customer’s point of view. 

The Customer 

The major benefit of buying 

an in-stadium advertisement 

during the 2010 World Cup final 

between Spain and the Netherlands 

was that as many as 3.2 billion 

people might have watched 

it. Of course, there was no way 

of knowing who was watching, 

how any of them reacted, or if 

they cared at all-unless the advertiser 

was willing to conduct 

lots of primary market research. 

And even then, the findings 

would have been anything but 

scientific. Something like this 

is known as a broad-gauge approach: 

Reach as many people 

as possible, on the assumption 

that your customers are somewhere 

in the crowd. 

Digital marketing requires a 

narrow-gauge approach. The 

key to success lies in making 

the right investment decisions 

to reach the right people at the 

right times. That, in turn, requires 

gaining as much insight as 

possible into who those people 

are, how they behave, and the 

specific touch points they prefer 

at each stage of the customer 

journey. 

Doing this well requires smartly 

segmenting your customers. 

But even a crude behavioral segmentation 

of “digital natives;” 

“immigrants,” who are relatively 

new to the online world; and 

“outsiders,” who have yet to 

participate online, suggests the 

degree of complexity marketers 

face. Digital natives are likely 

willing to consider just about 

any digital channel, and can 

probably be reached through 

the latest innovation. It is 

notoriously difficult, however, 

to influence their buying habits 

because they tend to think that 

they are just a click away from 

an even better deal. Meanwhile, 

there are still millions of digital 

immigrants and outsiders who 

use digital marketing or sales 

channels only selectively, for 

specific products and services, 

“Companies should take a comprehensive approach to their 

marketing efforts, based on the value of getting the right mix of 

digital and traditional marketing channels.” 



51

or not at all. Publishers of electronic 

games need to be just as 

careful about the digital channels 

they choose as marketers 

of retirement homes do. It is 

also critical to remember that 

the online audience is diverse 

and will continue to become 

more so, with older consumer 

segments entering the digital 

world in increasing numbers. 

The point is that though marketers 

traditionally segment customers 

by a product orientation 

or value perspective, marketing 

in the virtual world demands 

understanding the online touch 

points, preferences, and habits 

of particular customers. Getting 

this right is a two-step process: 

1. Identify the most important 

customer segments, given 

the company’s product and 

brand portfolio. Which segments 

currently generate the 

most value, and which offer 

the greatest potential for 

growth 

2. Conduct research to determine 

how relevant different 

digital and traditional marketing 

channels are for the 

top-priority segments at different 

stages of the customer 

journey. Do these segments 

behave consistently online, 

preferring the same channels 

and touch points, or will 

different marketing strategies 

be needed for different 

segments 

The knowledge gleaned from 

this analysis will help companies 

customize their programs to 

match the right channels to the 

right custom-ers; devise their 

investment strategies for setting 

up and expanding specific 

digital channels; and then put 

together the right mix of budget 

allocation, people, technology, 

and capabilities to reach them. 

Many telecommunications 

incumbents, for example, find 

it difficult to capture their fair 

share of the youth market even 

though this industry would 

seem to be able to connect with 

them easily. The youth segment 

does comfortably adapt to new 

digital channels, especially social 

media, but massive investments 

in a sophisticated social channel 

would not be sufficient to attract 

these consumers unless all 

the other parts of the marketing 

mix, both online and off, and 

the go-to-market strategy are 

adapted properly at the same 

time. In fact, such a move might 

end up being harmful; the failure 

to build an adequate “delivery” 

capability could generate strong 

negative reactions that would 

inevitably be multiplied on the 

very social media the operator 

was hoping to benefit from. 

In short, companies need to 

make sure that their multichannel 

strategy is coherent and 

that all the parts are working 

toward an agreed-on goal. In 

the online world, customers 

are very demanding and very 

fickle, and successful companies 

must be prepared to change 

their strategies rapidly. Some 

companies may find it helpful to 

turn to outside agencies to help 

craft and carry out flexible approaches. 

Others, however, may 

feel that they can respond more 

quickly by taking greater ownership 

of the process-subsidizing 

bloggers, building and updating 

their own Facebook pages, and 

broadcasting on Twitter. 

Whether you choose to develop 

internal capabilities or work 

with outside partners, getting 

digital media right requires 

gaining a better understanding 

of your current customers and 

using those insights to seek out 

new ones. For example, marketers 

at Intuit carefully studied 

where users of their TurboTax 

tax preparation software were 

engaging online, and assessed 

their sentiments about the 

product. Then they developed 

a range of well-managed and 

curated online and social media 

offerings on those same channels 

to help generate highly 

targeted leads. 

The Competitive Environment 

A proper analysis of your 

customer base can help set up 

the next step in digital marketing, 

which is to understand the 

company’s competi-tive environment 

and calibrate the strategy 

and investment priorities needed 

to match it. The key here is 

not to develop a strategy that is 

too sophisticated and too costly 

to implement, given the market 

and the customer base. It is 

critical to be able to distinguish 

between the “table stakes” 

required-given your particular 

industry, market, product mix, 

and even the digital maturity of 

the relevant geography-and the 

current state-of-the-art marketing 

strategy. 

Indeed, a successful digital 

marketing effort depends just 

as much on knowing where not 

to invest as it does on knowing 

where to invest. That means 

determining the level of channel 

proficiency needed to reach 

the desired customers most 

efficiently, given your industry 

and the current competitive 

environment. 

Many companies already 

understand the importance of 

reaching certain customer segments 

via dedicated brands with 

segment-specific channel mixes 

and touch-point strategies. For 

instance, KPN, one of Europe’s 

leading telecom operators, 

decided that its main mobile 

brand couldn’t be all things to 

all people. In an attempt to segment 

itself, it founded Yourfone 

in Germany, a Web-centric 

mobile brand specifically geared 

toward a younger, hipper customer 

base. These customers 

see their mobile phones as one 

of their most important lifestyle 

products. Because younger 

customers tend to be highly 

active on social media, Yourfone 

developed a brand, a look and 

feel, a portfolio of handsets, a 

mix of subscription plans, and a 

social media presence designed 

to speak directly to them, and 

it made Facebook the centerpiece 

of its sales channel mix. 

Within the first few months, 

the brand’s Facebook page 

developed into a vibrant sales 

and services community that 

KPN has also integrated into its 

new-product development. 

Creating Cross-Channel Transparency 

The virtues of digital marketing 

are leading marketers to reduce 

their budgets for traditional 

channels, especially in print-but 

to some degree in television as 

well. Attractive as new digital 

channels are, however, companies 

should continue to take 

a comprehensive approach to 

their marketing efforts, based 

on an understanding of the limitations 

of digital marketing, and 

the value of getting the right 

mix of digital and traditional 

marketing channels. And they 

must be able to generate the 

metrics needed to give them a 

complete and transparent view 

not just into the new digital 

channels but into the combined 

results from every channel they 

use. 

Companies that put too many 

of their marketing eggs into the 

digital basket run several risks. 

Despite the attractiveness of being 

able to measure and account 

for the results of online marketing, 

the data can be misleading 

if not analyzed appropriately. 

Though search-based advertising 

and other performance- 



ased advertising methods can 

be measured quite accurately, 

marketers looking to digital 

channels for general awareness 

and branding opportunities 

will likely find such media as 

online and mobile display ads 

much less compelling, given 

the lack of directly measurable 

sales impact. And while the ad 

technology industry is continuously 

developing new ways of 

measuring the effectiveness of 

individual digital channels and 

campaigns, the more channelspecific 

these metrics become, 

the less comparable they are 

from channel to channel. 

At the same time, research 

shows that trying to optimize 

spending across isolated 

channels can be a mistake. 

E-commerce companies could 

continue growing their traffic by 

increasing their search engine 

marketing budgets, but at a 

decreasing rate of return. Only 

a holistic view across different 

channels can help to find the 

most effective mix. 

Go Daddy, a leading domain 

registration and website hosting 

company, follows just such a 

broad, cross-channel strategy. 

It relies entirely on traffic to its 

websites to generate sales of its 

various Internet domain registration, 

site hosting, and e-commerce 

services. It has developed 

a rich ecosystem of cross-linked 

online properties, invests heavily 

in search engine optimization 

and management, and has fully 

developed its social network 

presence. Nevertheless, in order 

to drive brand awareness and 

massive spikes to its website, it 

airs expensive Super Bowl ads 

every year-its only television 

advertising spend. And it works: 

Go Daddy fully understands the 

spillover from TV to online traffic 

and sales, because it can actually 

quantify it. 

Most companies would do well 

to develop a marketing strategy 

that optimizes the mix across a 

variety of carefully chosen, complementary 

channels. And most 

companies appear to want to do 

this on their own-86 percent of 

marketers who responded to a 

recent Booz & Company survey 

said they were definitely planning 

or very likely to build up the 

needed capabilities internally. 

Doing so, however, requires that 

they consider both how much to 

invest in each channel in order 

to generate the desired traffic 

targets, and how the specific 

combination of digital and traditional 

channels will boost value. 

Indeed, marketers and agencies 

alike have come to see media 

mix optimization and measurement 

as critical conditions for 

success in the multichannel 

digital advertising world (see 

Exhibit 2). 

For marketers to optimize the 

mix of channels they use, they 

must establish a high degree 

of cross-channel transparency 

into the performance of both 

their digital and their traditional 

marketing channels. Companies 

can take one of two approaches 

to creating this transparency: 

a top-down approach using 

an econometric model, or a 

bottom-up approach using attribution 

(see Exhibit 3). 

The econometric approach tries 

to relate the marketing spending 

precisely to specific sales 

goals to better understand the 

“true” return on investment 

gained from each individual marketing 

channel, and how each 

of the channels used affects the 

others. 

Advanced practitioners of this 

approach typically develop a 

complete logic tree of key performance 

indicators, enabling 

marketing spend to be tracked 

to online visits, clicks, conversions, 

and order size as well 

as offline activity and sales. 

By deciphering the customer 

journey and the role and influence 

of different channels in 

the marketing mix, companies 

can allocate their budgets along 

the path to purchase in a much 

more granular way. The key is to 

understand and track the causeand-effect 

relationship between 

budgets allocated to marketing 

channels, such as TV and print, 

and sales made or action taken 

in response channels, such 

as online shops, and allocate 

budgets accordingly. That will 

ensure the most effective flow 

of traffic down the marketing 

funnel, from awareness to consideration 

to conversion. 

The attribution approach, on 

the other hand, tries to optimize 

the marketing budget along 

the path to purchase taken by 

modeling and simulating typical 

paths to purchase and by assessing 

the relevance of touch 

points for different customer 

segments. Once awareness has 

been created through a TV spot, 

a magazine ad, a billboard, or 

an online banner, for instance, 

the customer journey has just 

begun. Customers will follow 

different paths to a purchase 

and attribute different degrees 

of relevance to different 

touch points in their purchase 



53

decisions. Digital natives 

might research the product on 

comparison sites online, ask for 

opinions in their social network, 

and consider online ratings 

while physically checking out 

the product in bricks-and-mortar 

stores. A senior citizen, on the 

other hand, might prefer to 

bring a printed e-mail promotion 

into a bricks-and-mortar retailer. 

These variations in the customer 

journey, touch point preferences, 

and buying behavior of 

different kinds of consumers 

mean that attribution models 

must be built for each kind. Not 

all channels and touch points 

have the same value for all 

customer segments-or the same 

investment requirements. 

Leading marketers typically use 

a combination of these two approaches 

to gain the greatest insights, 

reconciling the results so 

that they can allocate budgets 

to different channels dynamically, 

depending on where the 

greatest return can be achieved. 

With the help of a variety of IT 

tools, marketers can: 

● Make decisions about the 

best channel mix more 

comprehensively. Better data 

transparency, “real” metrics, 

and a clear under-standing of 

spillover between channels 

enables marketers to make 

strategic budget allocation 

decisions without relying on 

agencies or other advisors 

with their own agendas. More 

objective data allows for improved 

budget negotiations 

with clients and partners, and 

a greater degree of trust. 

● Adjust dynamically to changes 

in customer behavior and 

demand and the competitive 

environment. Budgets can be 

shifted rapidly based on near 

real-time information. 

● Manage cross-channel tradeoffs 

more effectively. Scenario 

simulation based on real data 

leads to efficiency gains 

across the entire portfolio. 

● Reduce complexity in measurements. 

Fewer, more 

transparent cross-channel 

metrics (such as cost per 

thousand, cost per action, 

and ROI) allow marketers to 

follow the customer journey 

across channels and thus allocate 

and optimize budgets 

comprehensibly, while offering 

high-level, channel-specific 

performance monitoring and 

problem identification. 

Exhibit 4, below, illustrates an 

optimized channel mix based on 

a combination of econometric 

and attribution approaches, and 

demonstrates the importance 

of a holistic approach to getting 

the right balance of investments 

among channels. The bar on 

the left shows the optimized 

channel mix, while the one on 

the right indicates the media 

channel that buyers claimed was 

the most influential in their purchase 

decision. In this example, 

just 28 percent of the marketer’s 

customers claimed that the 

main trigger for their decision 

was a television ad, yet it was 

most effective for the client to 

allocate fully 69 percent of its 

budget to TV. That’s because 

TV is very effective at creating 

the high level of awareness and 



interest that can drive potential 

customers to search engines. 

A large share of the 40 percent 

of customers who said their 

purchases were triggered by the 

“paid” search link categorized 

as search engine marketing conducted 

their searches as a result 

of a TV ad they had watched. 

Though traditional media such 

as TV and print are relatively 

expensive marketing channels, 

they contribute significantly 

to the efficiency of much less 

expensive digital channels. 

Systematically considering these 

types of spillover effects helps 

marketers avoid overinvesting in 

those less expensive channels, 

and thus running the risk of getting 

decreasing returns on their 

budgets. 

Our experience shows that setting 

up the required competencies 

and processes in-house and 

rigorously applying the available 

tools can provide new perspectives 

on how to allocate and 

optimize the marketing mix. 

Companies that can develop a 

strong analytical expertise can 

expect to see a 10 to 30 percent 

improvement in the efficiency 

of their marketing budgets. The 

specific amount, of course, depends 

on where they are when 

they begin the transformation: 

their initial level of sophistication 

and the degree of data 

availability and transparency. 

Companies should take a comprehensive 

approach to their 

marketing efforts, based on the 

value of getting the right mix of 

digital and traditional marketing 

channels. 

Becoming Digital 

The benefits of moving to digital 

marketing are clear, but making 

the transition will be no easy 

task. Getting there requires that 

companies devise a completely 

new strategy that encompasses 

both offline and online marketing 

channels, together with 

a coherent set of marketing 

capabilities that can support 

the strategy. How marketing 

and sales are organized must 

be rethought as well, and all of 

it must be under-pinned by a 

corporate culture dedicated to 

being digital. The key is integration. 

Just as digital marketing 

assumes a holistic approach to 

all possible marketing channels, 

companies themselves must 

take a united view of the new 

opportunities. 

Competitive Necessities 

In addition to the capabilities 

already discussed, companies 

determined to become 

proficient in digital marketing 

must develop several additional 

critical competencies and roles, 

including the following: 

● Analytical decision making: 

Companies must be able to 

collect and analyze the large 

sets of data needed to gain 

transparency into the personalized 

needs of customers in 

every channel, and then to 

make campaigning decisions 

based on those insights. This 

capability requires expertise 

in developing the IT assets for 

fact-based data analysis. 

● Customer engagement: 

Here, companies must be able 

to design, execute, and monitor 

their customers’ digital 

experience to drive interactive 

participation. This will 

require the ability to create 

content, deliver it to consumers, 

and track the results. 

Leading marketers are setting 

up internal content teams, led 

by chief content officers, that 

operate as small media companies 

to ensure the development 

of consistent, targeted, 

and relevant content-ranging 

from product descriptions 

to ratings-along with related 

entertainment content. 

● Technology management: 

New digital channels based on 

new technologies continue to 

emerge-and with them, new 

ad technology platforms. As 

the options become more 

complex, companies serious 

about digital marketing 

should establish a permanent 

chief marketing technology 

officer. 

● Partnering: Companies should 

not expect to be able to 

put together the expertise 

needed to carry out complete 

digital marketing activities on 

their own. They must develop 

partnership capabilities in 

order to interact successfully 

with a variety of suppliers, 

including software developers 

and online ad agencies among 

others. 

Organization 

Traditionally, companies organized 

their marketing and sales 

departments into separate entities. 

It was the task of marketing 

to understand the markets for 

the company’s products and 

their price requirements, generate 

awareness and purchase 

intent, and drive traffic to the 

various sales channels. It was 

the responsibility of sales to 

convert this awareness and 

traffic into actual revenue. This 

model can still be found even 

at companies with substantial 

e-commerce channels, where 

marketing is responsible for 

generating traffic and sales is 

responsible for the online shop 

and conversion rates. 

But this model is no longer sufficient, 

because the lines that 

separate marketing and sales 

activities are blurred in the digital 

realm. It is a highly integrated 

and interactive experience that 

allows companies to follow the 

full customer adventure from 

initial online or offline contact 

all the way through to the 

placement of an order and the 

after-sales experience. 

Top marketers are already 

rethinking the boundaries 

between marketing and sales. 

For instance, some have begun 

structuring their efforts along 

key customer segments, rather 

than product lines or sales channels, 

and giving each customer 

segment group end-to-end 

responsibility for the strategies 

and methods they use to reach 

that segment, and the results 

they achieve. 

Culture 

Reaping the full benefits of the 

digital age requires a corporate 

culture that supports new ways 

of thinking about customers and 

customer behavior, and is committed 

to faster, more analytical 

decision making. It means creating 

a customer-centric marketing 

culture, where facts drive 

strategies, and to which the 

entire company, from top management 

on down, is completely 

committed. This transformation 

is critical; otherwise, to paraphrase 

Peter Drucker, traditional 

culture will eat the new digital 

marketing and sales strategy for 

lunch. 

Conclusion 

Marketing in the digital world 

is fast becoming a necessity for 

every company in every industry. 

Consumers are adopting 

new technologies with alarming 

speed, and their buying 

behavior is changing just as 

quickly. The result is a revolution 

in the way consumers interact 

with companies and brands, 

and all marketers need to get 

ahead of the curve by building 

up foundational capabilities by 

themselves. Failure to do so 

will give their marketing efforts 

about as much buzz as newspaper 

publishing has today while 

spending a lot more money on 

new channels. 



55

Setup your online business world-wide! 


Technology is transforming 

the way we do business. 

Entrepreneurs today are 

looking for home office workers 

as more businesses are starting 

at home now than ever before. 

The network of interconnected 

computer networking 

worldwide, popularly known as 

internet, is revolutionizing the 

world. 

The term global business, 

online business, e-commerce, 

making money online or other 

names refer to a new venture 

that delivers business entirely 

online. Many people who are 

new to internet marketing and 

those who are struggling to 

make money on the internet 

do not understand what online 

business means. For some 

people, online business is an 

extension of their current 

business with the internet 

being another channel to 

market. I am going to help 

you better understand what 

it actually is. There are two 

important factors involved. 

The first and foremost thing 

in setting up your global 

business is your presence on 

the web i.e. a professionally 

developed website as your 

forefront. Your web presence 

is where your customers will 

interact with your business the 

most. As such, your forefront 

needs to provide open access 

to information about your 

company, the products and 

services your company markets 

and sells, your customer 

service, and it should provide 

an easy way for customers to 

purchase from your website. 

The style of your website will 

set the tone for your online 

business – and even if you want 

to portray a casual and fun 

site, it is imperative to have a 

professionally developed site. It 

is important to be sure that you 

are its legal owner. 

Two, your online business will 

need to be able to take money 

in a secure electronic way. It 

is very important to remember 

that you must maintain 

privacy in these transactions, 

as this will not only build strong 

customer relations and increase 

sales from returning customers. 

Electronic shopping carts 

and payment gateways are 

secure systems that will allow 

payments to be taken online. 

There are a number of excellent 

shopping carts available. A 

business owner needs to be 

aware of laws that govern tax 

collection, interstate trade, 

exporting and restrictions on 

shipping and limits on what can 

be sold in individual countries. 

Last but not least, global business 

is an excellent opportunity 

for the business owner to tailor 

their business to meet their 

customer’s needs. 

Interested in setting up your 

online business 

Let us change the world together! 


Education is the process 

of learning and acquiring 

knowledge. There are two 

types of education - formal and 

informal. The world places a 

high value on educating people 

of all ages, whether formally or 

informally. It is widely believed 

that constant exposure to new 

ideas and skills makes people 

better. 

Formal Education refers to 

learning in schools. Informal 

Education is self-teaching and 

so-called “life experiences”. 

While classroom-learning is 

important, it is not the only 

form of education. Some 

people are self-taught. Bill 

Gates, founder of Microsoft, 

for example, was a college 

dropout. Most of what he 

learned he taught himself. 

Half of the world’s population 

comprises of youths below 

the age of 30. Unfortunately, 

there are over 120 million 

children who do not have the 

opportunity to go to school. 

Without the opportunity to 

access formal education a large 

amount of these children will 

face an illiterate future. 

Rehan School believes that 

education is the key to fighting 

poverty. Making free and 

quality education available 

to each and every one of the 

world’s children will enable 

poverty to be conquered once 

and for all, and will improve the 

living standards for millions. 

It helps to inspire and empower 

a new generation of creative 

and innovative thinkers by 

placing world-class creative 

knowledge in the palm of your 

hand. Rehan School is a free 

mobile-phone-based learning 

system, that works without the 

internet and Celebrities are the 

teacher, teaching the masses 

of the world, how to read basic 

things such as there own name, 

and sign boards. 

It is a comprehensive 

learning platform and offers 

unmatched self-education 

opportunities‘anywhere, 

anytime’ learning. The offerings 

are of the highest standards. 

The course content is stored 

on memory card and poses no 

hidden costs so as to ensure 

maximum reach. Its bitesized 

content provides users 

with small, simple and easily 

accessible tutorials and tips that 

educate as well as entertain. 

Rehan School is a free service 

designed to help young people 

who were not afforded an 

opportunity to pursue their 

education by expanding 

their knowledge base to 

achieve personal excellence. 

It is a manifestation of Rehan 

Foundation’s corporate 

responsibility and philanthropy 

initiatives. Its vision is one of 

an empowered world where 

knowledge is shared and 

skills imparted. It empowers 

students to get a head start 

in a highly competitive global 

environment. Rehan Foundation 

is always open to collaboration 

with organizations that share 

our philanthropic goals. Please 

contact us if you’re interested 

to find out more. Let’s teach the 

world together! 



PM inaugurates USF projects in Sindh 

Aslam Mumtaz 

Raja Pervez Ashraf, Prime Minister 

of Pakistan has said that 

the present government has 

undertaken record development 

schemes worth billion of 

rupees throughout the country. 

He was addressing a gathering 

in Sanghar at the inauguration 

of Universal Service Fund 

Projects in Sindh. He further 

said that Sanghar District suffered 

huge losses due to floods 

and unprecedented rains and 

government has left no stone 

unturned to alleviate the sufferings 

of affected people and will 

continue its efforts. 

CEO-Universal Service Fund and 

Advisor-Ministry of IT, Dr. Basit 

Riaz Sheikh briefed the Prime 

Minister about the projects being 

run by USF in Sindh. Prime 

Minister also unveiled a plaque 

to inaugurate these projects. 

It is pertinent to mention here 

that Universal Service Fund 

has been vigorously working in 

Sindh province. Through USF 

Rural Telecom Project in Mirpur 

Khas, 213 villages have been 

provided basic telephony and 

data services through a subsidy 

of Rs. 930 Million. Similarly, in 

Dadu, 426 villages have been 

provided services through a 

subsidy of Rs. 250 Million. In 

Optic Fiber Programme, 17 

un-served tehsils in Sindh have 

been connected with 1,038 kms 

of Optic Fiber Cable through 

a subsidy of Rs. 449 Million. 

In Southern Telecom Region-1 

of Broadband Programme, 

77 cities & towns have been 

connected through a subsidy 

of Rs. 549 Million along with 

establishing 82 Educational 

Broadband Centres (EBCs) 

and 43 Community Broadband 

Centres (CBCs). 

Overall, the success of USF is 

evident from the fact that it 

has provided telecom services 

to almost 3,600 previously unserved 

villages. 260 previously 

un-served towns now have 

almost 412,000 USF funded 

broadband connections. Optic 

Fiber cable of more than 

4,250 KMs has also been laid 

to connect un-served tehsils. 

New initiatives of USF include a 

Telemedicine project to provide 

health-care facilities to remote 

areas and establishment of 

Universal Tele-Centers for 

proliferation of e-services. 

Secretary IT, Dr. Zafar Iqbal 

Qadir was also present at the 

occasion.” 

3G technology to benefit mobile users 

with faster data exchange: Naveed Siraj 

The 3G technology can enable 

citizens to communicate each 

other with fast, easy and more 

clarity, said Intel Pakistan Country 

Manager Naveed Siraj. 

During an interview he said the 

introduction of 3G will benefit 

masses with better access 

to information, faster data 

interchange and multimedia 

services through mobile phones. 

Although 3G is no longer a new 

technology, Pakistan lags behind 

in terms of availability of highperformance 

mobile broadband 

services. The mobile market is 

reaching saturation point, and 

operators are keen to launch 3G 

in order to increase service revenues. 

Therefore, it’s a massive 

step forward for mobile phones 

in Pakistan, he added. The auction 

has been pending for a long 

time but with all good things. 

The new 3G spectrum will enable 

companies to tap more revenue 

from fast-growing data services 

and reduce regulatory costs 

under a new licencing regime. 

Pakistan faces significant economic, 

governance and security 

challenges to achieve durable 

development outcomes. It is 

an emerging market and challenges 

we face, offer a wealth 

of opportunities to us. We have 

huge untapped potential and 

we are determined to support 

sustainable growth in the IT 

sector. For example, there is still 

a large segment of the Pakistani 

population that doesn’t have 

access to technology. Keeping in 

mind this, I feel there is immense 

potential for Pakistan’s progress 

in these areas. There are also 

challenges in the education 

sector as do all other developing 

countries. Although, as a nation, 

potential human resources are 

available in abundance, Pakistan 

has not been able to prepare its 

workforce fully to face today’s 

knowledge about economy. 

These are areas where effective 

strategies are needed to 

integrate technology. 

The government, towards 

promoting IT and application in 

business, has definitely invested 

in the sector. The government 

with its agencies such as PTA 

and USF has been supporting 

the company wholeheartedly 

in the promotion of computer 

literacy and technology application 

in under-served and 

un-served areas. They have 

created favourable IT policies to 

encourage the industry to adopt 

the IT in a faster fashion. As far 

as infrastructure and policy is 

concerned; more needs to be 

done which could ensure that 

contd. on page 59 



57

Surge in revenues for PTCL in 1HFY13 

Aqeel Shigri 

The Pakistan Telecomm-unication 

Company Limited has announced 

its half-yearly financial 

results to its shareholders which 

indicate that the telecom giant 

not only achieved strong growth 

in revenues, but also managed 

to control its core costs and 

expenditures. 

Though PTCL did not report the 

second quarter results, and rather 

provided just the half-yearly 

accounts, the second quarter 

performance seems to be the 

driving force behind all-thingsgood 

in the 1HFY13 financials. A 

26.5 percent growth in revenues 

is significant compared to the 

relatively smaller top line gains 

PTCL has made in the last two 

years or so. 

PTCL offers services in all key 

telephony segments, including 

fixed lines, wireless local loop, 

broadband, corporate business 

solutions, carrier services 

and international telephony 

(LDI). After witnessing a secular 

decline in Voice business since 

2005-06, the Company refocused 

in recent years, away 

from Voice business, towards 

the now-growing segments of 

broadband services and corporate 

enterprise solutions. 

The LDI business still seems a 

fair bit of spark left for PTCL, 

which is the dominant player 

in this segment. The nowsuspended 

arrangement of the 

International Clearing House 

(among LDI operators) was 

operative for nearly a month in 

October, and PTCL is expected 

to have improved its revenues 

from the LDI segment during 

that time. Sources say that improved 

call termination rates in 

the aftermath of ICH suspension 

(compared to pre-ICH days) are 

helping the LDI operators earn 

more revenues. 

The top line growth was complemented 

by a checked growth in 

the cost of services, which grew 

by just under 13 percent. These 

costs exhausted 65.9 percent 

of revenue in 1HFY13, which is 

797bps less than same period 

last year. Hence, PTCL scored 

gross profits worth Rs12.65 

billion in this period, which is a 

whopping 65 percent greater 

than it earned in 1HFY12. 

The spending on both the administrative 

and selling expenses 

increased during the period, but 

proportionally less compared to 

the revenue growth. Combined, 

the two expense heads 

consumed 15.09 percent of 

the revenue in 1HFY13, which is 

154bps less than what they used 

up last year. 

A nearly six percent decline was 

seen in the Companys other operating 

income, which includes 

dividend from its subsidiary 

Ufone and investments. PTCL 

also reported a loss of Rs216.2 

million on disposal of property, 

plant and equipment, incurred 

during the period. But the allround 

operating gains begin to 

disappear when another major, 

one-time expense is taken into 

account. 

During the first quarter of this 

fiscal year, PTCL completed its 

second voluntary separation 

scheme in its bid to rationalise 

its workforce. A one-off expense 

of Rs. 9.46 billion has been 

reported by the Company, which 

blights the rest of the income 

statement. Compared to an 

operating profit of Rs. 4.5 billion 

in 1HFY12, PTCL had to contend 

with an operating loss of Rs. 1.01 

billion during the period under 

review. 

PTCL closed its half-yearly accounts 

with a net loss after tax 

of Rs. 742.6 million. The Companys 

shareholders received a loss 

of 15 paisa per share, compared 

to profit of Rs. 1.41 in 1HFY12. 

PTCL is expected to close the 

FY13 with a positive bottom line 

if the revenue growth momentum 

continues. Thanks to the 

VSS, future growth in costs may 

remain in check. As for revenues, 

PTCL is expected to leverage its 

networks & infrastructure for its 

broadband and data offerings, 

which are drivers of growth. 

Fate of the ICH would also be a 

factor in determining the extent 

of revenue growth in future. 

Contd. from page 57 3G technology ... 

Ameen Murtazai, CEO -Acer Pakisan, Zahid Mahmood and Ali Nemati 

addressing a joint press conference in Lahore. 

IT is affordable for the man on the street. We are trying 

to build awareness of ICT and the need for infrastructure 

investment by both public and private sector. There is 

tremendous scope for growth in the IT industry in Pakistan, 

together with connectivity and content especially 

for our rural population, it will greatly enhance the quality 

of peoples’ lives, he said. SMEs are the backbone of our 

economy and at Intel, we are proud to be facilitating their 

digital environment, which would not only boost their 

productivity and efficiency but also impact the economy 

on a macro level. 

Improving digital literacy in Pakistan is also critical to 

developing local commerce, enabling it to keep pace with 

the world’s ever evolving economy. In this regard, we 

launched the Intel Easy Steps programme and held Intel 

SMB Technology Days in collaboration with KCCI and LCCI 

to showcase latest technology solutions for this sector. 



Mobilink Foundation wins GSMA’s 

Global Mobile Awards 2013 

Mobilink Foundation’s ‘SMS 

Based Literacy’ program has 

won the GSMA’s Global Mobile 

Awards 2013. Mobilink Foundation 

was amongst 158 nominees 

across thirty seven (37) categories, 

selected from over 600 

high-quality entries from across 

the global mobile ecosystem. 

Mobilink Foundation’s ‘SMS 

Based Literacy’ program won 

in the inaugural ‘Connected 

Life Awards’ category, and was 

acknowledged as the ‘Best Mobile 

Education or Learning Product 

or Service’. The program, 

which is Mobilink Foundation’s 

flagship corporate responsibility 

project aimed at educating 

rural Pakistan was highlighted 

by the competition’s jury as an 

“Excellent and needed mobile 

initiative with an explicit educational 

ideology that opens up 

new learning opportunities for 

a disadvantaged, rural group.” 

Rashid Khan, President & 

CEO, Mobilink, emphasized, 

“This award by the GSMA has 

highlighted Mobilink’s dedication 

to Pakistan over the course 

of nearly two decades, and is 

a testament to our commitment 

to the country. I feel 

honored to have received this 

award on behalf of Mobilink 

and the people of Pakistan and 

am grateful for the encouraging 

feedback received from 

our peers in the global mobile 

industry. The award recognizes 

Pakistan’s capacity to innovate 

in the pursuit of education as a 

means of improving lives across 

the country.” 

John Hoffman, CEO, GSMA, 

added, “Through these awards, 

we are proud to shine the light 

on the mobile industry’s many 

innovators and leaders, from 

all corners of the world. This 

year’s new categories reflected 

the industry’s reach into many 

new sectors and we received 

more than 600 high-quality 

entries from across the mobile 

ecosystem. We would like to 

congratulate all Global Mobile 

Awards winners and thank the 

many hundreds of companies 

and organisations that support 

Teletimes Report 

these awards by entering each 

year.” ‘SMS Based Literacy’ was 

launched in May 2009 in collaboration 

with UNESCO, and is 

the first and the only service in 

Pakistan that utilizes Short Messaging 

Service (SMS) to impart 

education. 

The program is currently in 

its third phase and is being 

implemented in the provinces 

of Punjab and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa 

of Pakistan; till date, it 

has reached out to over 4,000 

learners across Pakistan. 

Mobilink launches Pakistan’s first truly unlimited Facebook bundle 

Mobilink has added on another 

exciting offer for its customers 

in Pakistan. Mobilink’s Jazz and 

Jazba customers will now be 

able to enjoy truly unlimited 

access to Facebook over their 

mobile phones, using the firstof-its-kind 

Unlimited Facebook 

Bundle! The Unlimited Facebook 

Bundle will be available to 

customers for a nominal daily 

charge of Rs. 5, and the best 

part is that there is absolutely 

No Fair Usage Policy on access 

as part of this unique package! 

That means Mobilink customers 

can enjoy an unlimited access 

to their daily dose of Facebook 

status updates, follow friends 

timelines, tagging pictures, 

sharing albums, chatting, and 

more - all via Facebook on the 

go! 

And when customers use Facebook 

on Pakistan’s fastest-ever 

mobile internet then the experience 

will be like no other! With 

such a great offer what’s not to 

‘like’ about it 

All customers have to do is dial 

*114 *5# @ Rs. 5/day to subscribe 

to the Facebook bundle. 

After offer subscription, 

customer will be able to access 

Facebook & perform all 

Facebook activities from mobile 

handset with absolutely no additional 

data charges. 

After successful bundle subscription, 

customers can access 

Facebook via m.facebook. 

com on mobile or Opera Mini 

browser. 

This service is available for 

Mobilink Prepaid customers 

only, including all Jazz & Jazba 

customers. 

This service may not work on 

Blackberry built-in web browsers. 

This is not an auto-recursive 

offer. 

For unlimited free usage, customers 

should access Facebook 

by writing m.facebook.com 

via mobile browser or selected 

versions of Opera Mini. Opera 

Mini can be downloaded from 

m.opera.com, however, standard 

data charges will apply. 



59

In a first for any corporate 

organisation in Pakistan, Wateen 

Telecom, the country’s leading 

converged communications 

service provider, recently 

launched its Core Values during 

special events organised for all 

company employees in Lahore, 

Karachi, and Islamabad. 

The events kicked off with the 

first one held at the Wateen 

Head Office at Oberoi House 

in Lahore. Over 700 Wateen 

employees were in attendance, 

ranging from office assistants 

to the Senior Management 

Team, Wateen CEO Mr Naeem 

Zamindar, and senior Board 

Member Mr Zouhair Khaliq. A 

select group of the company’s 

Enterprise customers were also 

invited to attend the explosive, 

high-energy and fun-filled event. 

The most significant aspect 

of the launches was the Value 

Champions Team, comprising 

of employees from every tier, 

segment and background. Following 

six weeks of ‘living the 

Values’, Wateen now has a total 

100 employees who’ve experienced 

the benefits of the Values 

and have become ‘commandos’ 

who will drive the new culture. 

Asad Rezzvi, Wateen Chief 

Transformation Officer, says, 

“Culture is the source of great 

strategy. It is the conglomerate 

of the beliefs of the people. 

Beliefs drive behaviour and 

thoughts. With extraordinary 

beliefs and thoughts come extraordinary 

actions. Keeping this 

in mind, we set out to sow the 

seeds for a high performance 

culture.” 

Tayyab Babar 

Wateen Telecom launches ‘Values’ to achieve strategic ambition 

The entire process of defining 

and creating the Wateen 

Values took over a year and a 

half, finally resulting in five final 

Core Values to be implemented 

within the organisation: Serve & 

Enable; Passion, Energy & Fun; 

Team work & Respect; Ownership 

& Accountability; and 

Innovation & Creativity. Each of 

these values is defined by three 

specific behaviors, allowing the 

values to be integrated easily 

into every day behavior. 

Commenting on the successful 

launch, Mr Zamindar said, “For 

Wateen this marks the dawn 

of a New Beginning and a sign 

of our commitment to build a 

workforce that exemplifies the 

right attitude, behaviour and 

mindset of Pakistan’s leading 

converged communications 

service provider.” 

Wateen utilizes social media for environmental change 

The power of connectivity 

is not a good or bad thing in 

itself but it has the power to be 

used for both. With the advent 

of social media, the power of 

connecting and sharing ideas 

which can transform societies 

and cultures is now a reality. It 

allows for cooperation between 

different people and can be used 

to move forward on ideas and 

collaborate to create societal 

and cultural change. In Pakistan, 

the internet and connectivity 

has shifted the financial, 

political and social parameters 

in previously unimagined ways. 

News and information is the 

single most important factor 

in the development of a well 

educated and aware population. 

The internet has the power to 

be a life changing technology in 

Pakistan and the applications are 

numerous. 

Recently, e.g. Wateen was 

able to apply the principles of 

connectivity and transformation 

through social media for 

environmental change. Wateen 

Scouts is a unique initiative by 

Wateen to bring together young 

people from around the country 

for a cause. We saw them as 

agents of change and, just like 

scouts; these agents would work 

to serve the community. A first 

phase of the activity was carried 

out in colleges in Karachi, Lahore 

and Islamabad where Nadeem 

Chauhan, a renowned trainer, 

asked students what social problems 

really bothered them. 

Wateen supports 

Lahore Literary 

Festival 

Wateen Telecom has supported 

for the first ever Lahore Literary 

Festival (LLF). The inaugural LLF, 

was held at the Alhamra Arts 

Complex, aims to revive the Lahore 

spirit of art and creativity. 

The annual event promises to be 

the first step in re-establishing 

Lahore as the cultural heartbeat 

of Pakistan and enriching the 

cultural experience of the city’s 

residents by creating an institutional 

platform for fostering and 

furthering Lahore’s literary traditions. 

As part of its support for 

the festival and Lahore’s revival 

as Pakistan’s cultural capital, 

Wateen Telecom provided 

guests with continuous highspeed 

wireless broadband. 



Ifran Wahab Khan replaces Aamir Ibrahim at Telenor 

Irfan Wahab Khan will be taking 

over as Chief Marketing Officer, 

Telenor Pakistan while Aamir 

Ibrahim, currently Chief Marketing 

Officer, Telenor Pakistan 

will join Telenor Group, said a 

press statement issued by the 

company. 

Both of these changes will be 

effective from 1 April 2013. 

Irfan Wahab Khan has a long association 

with Telenor Pakistan 

being the first member of the 

startup team when he joined 

the company as Executive Vice 

President in 2004. He played 

a key role in establishing and 

expanding Telenor in Pakistan. 

Since 2009 he has been on international 

positions as Group Vice 

Irfan Wahab 

president Devices and VP-Head 

of Asia Distribution within the 

Telenor group both in Norway 

and Thailand respectively. Irfan 

Wahab Khan has over 20 years 

of diverse management experience 

with leading telecommunications 

companies across North 

America, Europe and Asia. 

“I am delighted for the opportunity 

to return back to the 

company which I feel so special 

and passionate about. 

I am looking forward to work 

together with a highly talented 

and dedicated team and I am 

confident that together we can 

further enhance and build upon 

the great tradition of excellence 

and take Telenor Pakistan to 

even greater heights” said Irfan 

Wahab Khan. 

Aamir Ibrahim joined Telenor 

as Chief Strategy Officer and 

VP Corporate Affairs in 2009 to 

replace Ifran Wahab and for the 

past two years has been leading 

the commercial division as its 

CMO. “It’s been a humbling and 

rewarding experience leading 

one of the best teams in the 

world. However, it is also time 

to move on, and to contribute 

to the Telenor agenda on a 

broader Asian level. 

I will miss the great people at 

Telenor Pakistan, but am equally 

excited about the next challenge,” 

said Aamir Ibrahim. 

“We are grateful for Aamir’s 

various contributions to the 

company; he passes on a legacy 

and a solid platform that will 

allow for future growth and 

prosperity. I am very confident 

that Aamir will excel in his new 

position in Telenor Group.” 

Said Lars Christen, CEO Telenor 

Pakistan. 

Nokia launches amazing range of Windows 

Phone 8 devices 

Nokia Pakistan has introduced 

the highly anticipated Lumia 

range powered by Windows 

Phone 8. The device portfolio 

which was unveiled here 

consists of flagship device Nokia 

Lumia 920, Nokia Lumia 820 

and Nokia Lumia 620.With the 

latest range of Lumia Windows 

8 devices, Nokia Pakistan is all 

set to lead the change for the 

Windows Phone ecosystem with 

its Lumia differentiators. 

Speaking on the launch, Alessandro 

Lamanna, vice-president 

marketing - IMEA (India, Middle 

East, Africa) at Nokia said, “We 

are focused on redefining the 

future of smart devices and 

continue to invest towards 

delivering truly compelling experiences 

to consumers across 

price points. With the launch of 

Lumia Windows Phone 8 range, 

we aim to usher an era of unique 

innovations in the smart phone 

market. The announcement is 

yet another giant leap in the 

remarkable progress we have 

made against our strategy announced 

in February 2011.” He 

further added, “We are working 

with partners across the board 

to take the Lumia experience 

to more and more consumers 

faster. The roll out of not two, 

but three devices marks not 

just our intent and agility, but 

also reflects our commitment 

to our consumers in Pakistan. 

With a range of accessories and 

partnerships to bring wireless 

charging outside the home, we 

are also boosting wireless charging 

into the mainstream. All this 

innovation adds up to one thing 

(3-L) Arif Shafique, Country GM - Nokia, Pakistan, (2-L) Allesandro 

Lamanna, VP Marketing - Nokia IMEA along with (L) Salman 

Siddiqui, County Lead - Channel Sales, Microsoft Pakistan and 

(R) Salman Zia Qureshi, Head of Corporate Sales (South) Mobilink 

are seen at the launch of Nokia Lumia 920, 820 and 620. 

– it’s Time to Switch to Lumia!” 

Commenting on the occasion, 

Salman Siddiqui, country lead 

- Channel Sales, Microsoft 

Pakistan said, “With Windows 

Phone 8 we created a new way 

to think about smartphones, 

one that puts people at the 

center. With the same look 

and feel, the same technology 

core and cloud service, 

Windows Phone is built to work 

seamlessly with Windows 8, 

you can learn it once and use it 

everywhere. From Tablet to PC 

to phone, it is all there for you 

whenever and however you 

want it. 



61

March 

Global Telecom events 2013 

Telexpo Brasil 

01 - 04 Mar - Sao Paolo, Brasil 

Cable Congress 2013 

05 - 07 Mar - London, UK 

Beyond Connectivity 2013 

06 - 07 Mar - Istanbul, Turkey 

MENA ICT Forum 2013 

06 - 07 Mar - Dead Sea, Jordan 

Carriers World Asia 

08 - 09 Mar - Hong Kong China 

COMTEL 

10 - 13 Mar - Las Vegas, NV 

CEBIT 

10 - 16 Mar - Hannover, Germany 

Cards and Payments Africa 

11 - 13 Mar - Johannesburg, South Africa 

CABSAT 2013 

12 - 14 Mar - DWTC Dubai, UAE 

IT & Software Excellence Awards 2013 

13 Mar - London, UK 

IT Leaders Africa Summit 

13 - 14 Mar - Johannesburg, South Africa 

OFC/NFOEC 

17 - 21 Mar - Anaheim, CA 

Cyber Security UAE Summit 2013 

18 - 19 Mar - Dubai, UAE 

Broadband MEA 2013 

19 - 20 Mar - Marriott, Marquis - Dubai 

2nd PPP Investment Summit Egypt 

24 - 27 Mar - Cairo, Egypt 

COMEX 2013 

25 - 29 Mar - Muscat 

TV Connect 2013 

19 - 21 Mar - London, UK 

April 

2nd e@Iraq Conference 2013 

01 - 02 Apr - Baghdad, Iraq 

Western Telecom Alliance Spring Meeting 

07 - 10 Apr - Las Vegas, NV 

Broadband Asia & TV Connect Asia 2013 

09 - 10 Apr - Hong Kong, China 

International ICT Expo 

13 - 16 Apr - Hong Kong, China 

4th Telco Cloud Summit 

15 - 17 Apr - London, UK 

Big Data in Telecoms 2013 

15-17 Apr - London, UK 

Mobile Payments & NFC World Summit 2013 

18 - 19 Apr - Eaton, Hong Kong 

Caspian Telecoms 2013 

18 - 19 Apr - Intanbul, Turkey 

Broadband Wireless World 

21 - 22 Apr, Las Vegas, Usa 

The 2nd World Smart Grid Conference Middle East 

22 - 23 Apr - Abu Dhabi, UAE 

Telecom Cloud Services Summit 2013 


FTTx Summit Europe 2013 

23 – 25 Apr - Berlin, Germany 

Telecom CEM World Congress 2013 

23 - 24 Apr - Grand Connaught Rooms, London 

TMT Finance, MENA 

23 - 24 Apr - Mina Al Salam, Madina Jumeirah, Dubai 

TD-LTE Summit 

23 - 24 Apr - Singapore 

Telecoms Regulation Forum 2013 

23 - 24 Apr - Hyatt Regency, The Churchill, London 

Transport Networks for Mobile Operators 2013 

23 - 25 Apr - Hotel Russell, London 

4G World India 

25 - 26 Apr - Delhi, India 



April 

M2M World Congress 2013 


Data Center World 

28 Apr - 02 May - Las Vegas, NV 

May 

Sviaz Expocom 

10 - 14, May - Russia Moscow, Russia 

LTE MENA 2013 

13 - 14 May JW, Marriott, Marquis - Dubai 

International Telecoms Week 

13 - 15 May - Chicago, IL 

Roaming World Congress 2013 

14 - 15 May - Brussels, Belgium 

Cards & Payments Middle East 2013 

14 - 15 May - DWTC, Dubai-UAE 

The Mobile Show ME-2013 

14 - 15 May - Dubai, UAE 

QITCOM Exb. & Conference 

14 - 16 May - Qatar 

Maximising Customer Loyalty and Profitability 

20 - 23 May - Vienna, Austria 

IIR Telecoms Critical Communications World 

21 - 24 May - Paris, France 

NFC World Summit 2013 

22 - 23, May - London, UK 

FTTx Summit Middle East 

26 - 29 May - Dubai, UAE 

SatCom 2013 Africa 

27- 30 May - Johannesburg, South Africa 

KITEL 2013 

28 - 30 May - Almaty, Kazakhstan 

June - July 

10th Convergence Summit 

03 - 04 June - Four Seasons Hotel, Amman 

GISEC, (Information Security Exhibition & Conference) 

03 - 05 June - DWTC, Dubai-UAE 

Mobile Payments and NFC 

03 - 05 June - London, UK 

M2M Forum Europe 

10 - 13 June - London, UK 

Customer Experience Management In Telecom 

10 - 13 June - South America 

Arabcom 

16 - 17 June - Beirut, Lebanon 

WDM & Next Generation Optical Networking 2013 

17 - 20 June - Grimaldi Forum, Monaco 

Hosting Con 

17 - 19 June - Austin, Texas 

CommunicAsia 2013 

18 - 21 June - Singapore 

Expocom Wireless 

21 - 23 July - Tokyo, Japan 

Sep - Nov 

ITX Asia 2013 

11 - 13 Sep - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 

Middle East Com 

23 - 24 Sep - JW Marriott, Marquis - Dubai 

Critical Communications Middle East 

29 Sep - 01 Oct - Middle East 

13th ITCN Asia 

08 - 10 Oct - Karachi, Pakistan 

Carrier Ethernet World Congress 2013 

01 - 02 Oct - Clarion Congress Hotel, Prague 

GITEX 2013 

20 - 24 Oct - Dubai, UAE 

ITU Telecom World 

18 - 21 Nov - Bangkok, Thailand 



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Teletoons

Teletimes Mar 2013

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