Pierre François Dubois, VP product development, Technocentre, Orange, France

Pierre François Dubois, VP product development, Technocentre, Orange, France is speaking on ‘Maximising the benefits of LTE with RCS’ on Day One of the LTE World Summit, the premier 4G event for the telecoms industry, is taking place on the 24th-26th June 2013, at the Amsterdam RAI, Netherlands. Ahead of the show we speak to him about how RCS will both benefit consumers and help to maximise operator revenue.

Your talk is on maximising the benefits of RCS and VoLTE for the customer. However, consumers already have effective voice and OTT apps. Can you highlight what the benefits of using these will be?

There are three key benefits for customers. Firstly, RCS will be adopted by all mobile operators, which means that everyone’s friends will have access to a rich and reliable set of services. They will not need to be invited and then download an app – it will just be there. Secondly, RCS also provides a fantastic eco-system for app developers, as well as providing them a massive audience for their apps and services. Customers will therefore be able to enhance their lives with all sorts of fun and productivity applications with real-time sharing. Thirdly, VoLTE completes the picture by transferring voice communications to IP thus ensuring that all the RCS sharing and communications features can be done simultaneously with voice and video calls, and all at Telco quality. The combination of RCS, LTE and VoLTE means that customers will have no reason to go elsewhere for the social or business communications.

How can operators make best use of RCS services to increase revenues?

Market research tells us that customers are happy to buy extra data bundles for services which add value to their lives. This is what we already do with specific applications like Deezer or Orange consumer cloud. Mobile data usage will therefore drive revenues in the future. With this objective in mind, RCS provides a core set of IP based communication services and APIs that are designed to stimulate data usage and this is why RCS APIs are important for our future. For example, video applications can leverage these APIs for the benefits of both parties. Social networks can also contribute to this objective, but I believe MNOs must have their own growth engine to better control their business model.

Will VoLTE be an upsell to consumers or will it just be a transparent service for consumers with a transition that occurs in the background.

VoLTE will simply replace circuit switched voice and, whilst it certainly brings a better experience, I don’t believe it will be an upsell to consumers. VoIP and RCS over LTE together will provide a great customer experience with many added-value applications and together drive data usage and revenues.

What do you think will be the most critical development in LTE over the next six to 12 months?

I think that until recently, most MNOs have worked on RCS, LTE and VoLTE projects with different timelines. Nevertheless we need to anticipate, not only technically, the fact that we are migrating to IP communications. I foresee two important challenges:

• RCS over LTE with seamless switching  and continuity of sessions when switching between 4G/3G/Wifi/2G
• Convergence between RCS and VoLTE as a consistent service platform. Orange strongly supports the initiative launched recently by the GSMA to address this point.

Please tell me why coming to the LTE World Summit is so important for yourself and for Orange and why it’s a great event.

LTE is a true revolution for our industry. It is always difficult to guess what will come out of a revolution and in our case a lot of uncertainties remain for the future of our business model. I think this event is a unique opportunity to share possible scenarios both on technical and marketing aspects with experts in our industry. As it takes place in Europe, where competition is very fierce, I expect the presentation and the debates to help us better shape the future.

Broadband speeds continue to soar in the UAE

Du, one of the two major telcos in the United Arab Emirates, has awarded a contract to Alcatel-Lucent to build the second phase of its high-speed 100G coherent optical transport network throughout the country.

The new optical transport network is expected to dramatically boost the speed and capacity of Du’s existing network, and support surging demand for cloud, video and other data-intensive applications.

The solutions being supplied to Du include Alca-Lu’s soft decision forward error correction technology, described as capable of extending the reach of 100G signals to much longer, more usable distances.

There were just over 1 million broadband subscribers in the UAE by the end of September 2012, with Du accounting for 136,000 of them and rival Etisalat taking the rest, according to Informa Telecoms & Media.

Vivendi has revealed that it has received two binding offers for its 53 per cent stake in Moroccan operator Maroc Telecom

French conglomerate Vivendi has revealed that  it has received two binding offers for its 53 per cent stake in Moroccan operator Maroc Telecom.

Although the firm did not divulge who made the offers, UAE-based Etisalat and Qatari operator Ooredoo have both independently stated that they have made bids for the stake.

Vivendi said that it will examine the proposals during the coming weeks to determine which is in the best interests of both Vivendi and Maroc Telecom shareholders.

Etisalat said in a regulatory statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, that its offer takes into consideration the outcomes of a due diligence exercise that the group recently completed. The offer will be binding until the end of the second business day following the approval of Etisalat extraordinary general meeting.

Qatar incumbent Ooredoo, formerly known as QTel, said that “certainty of funding has been arranged with a consortium of banks.” The operator added that further updates will be announced in due course.

Du has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chinese infrastructure Huawei

UAE operator Du has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chinese infrastructure Huawei. Under the terms of the agreement, the two firms will and exchange project management experiences, knowledge and research, according to the operator.

They will exchange best practice industry methodology, concepts, tools and techniques and work together to better define best practice portfolio and project management concepts, processes and techniques, said Du.

“By signing this agreement with Huawei, we are fulfilling our commitment to the pursuit of best practices in all that we do,” commented Ananda Bose, chief corporate affairs officer at Du.

Wang Haitun, director at Huawei, added: “[The MoU] will facilitate a stronger relationship between our two companies as we work together to develop best practices that will be implemented in our respective project management offices for the benefit of the telecommunications industry.”

Huawei is already working with Du’s rival, Etisalat, after it signed a global consultancy services deal last month with the UAE-based operator group.

Huawei’s business consulting team is partnering with Etisalat to assist in developing the operator’s mobile broadband services and its digital services portfolio.

Ooredoo has announced the launch of its LTE network

Qatari consumers can now begin enjoying 4G services, as the country’s incumbent operator Ooredoo announced the launch of its LTE network. Ooredoo’s 4G service will initially be available via mifi and dongle devices, and the operator is currently working on making 4G available on smartphones in Qatar.

The carrier, formerly known as Qtel, has used 800 MHz and 2,600 MHz spectrum bands for its LTE network and said its LTE speeds are “three-to-six times faster” than the speeds offered to customers on its existing 3G network.

The LTE launch follows a year of trials, in which hundreds of customers have been testing the network, the firm said. It added that it has used their feedback to optimise the user experience.

Ooredoo plans to roll out the service gradually, and the network will initially be switched on in the capital city Doha, and in the Sealine district. The operator plans to add more towers and increase coverage each month. By the end of 2014, Ooredoo expects all inhabited areas of Qatar to be covered by its LTE network, and the firm is even making sure that highways and major road connections are on the network, to allow Qatari’s to use internet services while driving.

The Qatari government has lofty ambitions for its telecoms sector has outlined its intent to become one of the best-connected countries in the world by 2030. Ooredoo said the launch of its 4G service is an important step to reaching that national target.

The LTE MENA conference is taking place on the 13^th-14^th May 2013 at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, UAE. Click here to find out more about the event.

Ismail Patel, Informa Telecoms & Media

“I note there is a disproportionate emphasis on the quality of the networks being deployed, in comparison with the discussion on how they can actually be monetized. The regional apps and content market is far from mature and – away from the glitz of the large regional incumbents’ physical networks – there is a danger of a large number of operators becoming dumb pipes; fattening these pipes up with FTTH and LTE will not guarantee any significant increase in ROI.”

I made this statement 12 months ago, soon after Broadband MEA 2012. And how cruelly true has it turned out to be. Here are some of the main themes of this year’s conference summarised.

Return on NGA investments is a tough job no matter where you are

Assessing the opportunities and threats to broadband in the MEA region was put into the limelight at Broadband MEA 2013. There was no significant buzz surrounding LTE as there was 12 months ago. Nor was FTTH – which was the theme at the same occasion two years back– fondly looked at as the protector of broadband growth and ROI.

I noticed that, in the context of the Middle East specifically, as promising next-generation access deployments age into the distance of the past, discussions on the prospects and realities of broadband in the region become starker, more sober and more mature. The feeling was that operators with the latest NGAs in fixed and mobile have been subject to a fast-track reality check and are letting go of any lingering hopes of fast returns.

The consensus is on data being the savior of revenue, rather than NGAs per se

Broadband MEA 2013 came at a critical time when incumbents’ local markets are dwindling in traditional voice and SMS revenues. They are increasingly looking towards mobile data – not for maintaining growth, but just to break even and protect themselves from competition. There was a tacit realization that fattening the physical and wireless pipes via deploying NGA will barely assist operators. The best of FTTH speeds and 4G LTE are beyond the reach of most customers, and even those who can afford them do not simply adopt these tariffs. Nobody was heard boasting of 100Mbps, 200Mbps or 300Mbps over fiber (which has been deployed in the region). FTTH subscriptions are mainly in proportion to households that actually want the service, yet 80% are in the <20Mbps bracket.

In 4G mobile, the issue of spectrum fragmentation was revisited. The high entry-price barrier in 4G smartphones and their scarcity was touched upon and the issue of compatibility in the latest devices with current regional 4G operating frequencies was raised.

The challenges facing Q.NBN

Moving to a more specific case, an industry insider in Qatar who wished not to be named told me that he would be surprised if there is real competition over fiber in 12 months time. For all the talk of the government-appointed institution steering the two operators to real competition (which means customers are able to choose which operator they would want to take for fixed services), the fact that Ooredoo – no business cards yet – owns, operates and is still migrating its legacy copper network to fiber is proving to be a sticking point.

Getting an incumbent to divest control over its own infrastructure is not an easy job, and it might require intense negotiations and even legislation for Vodafone Qatar to ever operate fixed broadband off what is currently Ooredoo network territory. As it stands, Vodafone Qatar is providing services in Barwa City, south of Doha, where the Q.NBN did deploy FTTH; the problem is the same though as customers there cannot choose Ooredoo services, simply because it has not signed up to providing services there. Network sharing will remain a challenge until it actually arrives.

The UAE is also witnessing incessant technical issues in the realization of fiber bitstream, which was touted for launch way back in 2011.

The emerging Middle Eastern and African countries

The four ME countries of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Palestine were well represented at the event while African players also had the chance to showcase their latest developments.

Roshan and Wasel, as well as the Afghan regulator, gave presentations in what promises to be one of the fastest-growing major telecoms market globally. Afghanistan has almost completed shoring up international connectivity and deploying a national fiber ring, and 3G is expected to boost the mobile sector even further. Physical infrastructure remains weak, but three fixed WiMAX licenses and a satellite operator are set to enter the fixed broadband market.

Iran spelled out its FTTH/B plans for the next decade – to connect 10,000,000 homes to fiber by 2020 in an ambitious NBN project. In fact, it is so ambitious that those present looked on in polite amusement. With a burgeoning population, bandwidth remains an issue in Iran. Yet with demand always ahead of supply, Iran promises to be one of the most promising telecoms markets in the world, which is quite a feat given the ongoing externally-influenced economic problems.

Conclusion

Despite their challenges, there is great hope in emerging MEA markets. Conversely, there is a degree of fear on the part of the regional major incumbents in developed markets about revenues drying up. Many are now looking beyond their borders for new licenses and M&A opportunities. The group looking at M&A is showing signs of stimulation in innovations for end users, but nowhere near the levels of their Western European or North American counterparts. They will have to work to forge meaningful partnerships and dig out services that are relevant to their customers’ respective markets and that the customers would want to pay for.

But for now, in local markets, broadband or, more precisely, mobile content and data are turning out to be the savior of revenues for the foreseeable future. Whether LTE will have a significant and influential role to play in it or not (in the way that 3G and HSPA were in relation to 2G and 2G+) is the million-dollar question. Exploiting assets, both old and new, will have an influence on how the data field is mined, but it’s going to take much more than simply deploying a fat pipe for operators to make any consequential return on investment. It will be interesting to see how developments in mobile data and digital media are coming along in the African and Middle Eastern regions at Broadband MEA 2014.

Altimo has made a bid to own all shares in Egyptian counterpart Orascom Telecom Holding

Russian operator group Altimo has made a bid to acquire all shares in Egyptian counterpart Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH). The firm made an offer via the Egyptian Stock Exchange, and OTH said it learned about the offer through a notice published by Egypt’s Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA).

Altimo has submitted an offer to purchase Orascom Telecom Holding outright – all 5.25 billion shares – through wholly owned subsidiary Baskindale Limited, which is based in Cyprus. It has bid at a price of $0.70 per share.

The potential acquisition has numerous implications.  Altimo already owns a 48 per cent stake in Amsterdam-headquartered operator group VimpelCom. VimpelCom, in turn, owns operator group Wind Telecom, which is the parent company of Orascom Telecom Holding.

VimpelCom acquired Orascom Telecom Holding from Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris.

“Based on the EFSA Letter, OTH understands that EFSA is currently reviewing the tender offer application and has instructed the Egyptian Stock Exchange,” Orascom Telecom Holding said in a statement.

Doran Davies

Doran Davies, Director of Products, HTC, Middle East and Africa is speaking on the subject of evolving data consumption habits at the Broadband MEA conference, which took place on the 19th-20^th, March 2013 at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, Dubai, UAE. We caught up with him to find out more about his thoughts regarding the handset market.

How would you summarize the ways the handset market has evolved over the past five years?

The mobile phone market has evolved drastically over the last five years in ways we would never have imagined; smartphones now out-sell traditional feature phones. People are using their smartphones as their primary entry point to the internet and social networks, as Mark Zuckerberg confirmed when he said “In 2012, we connected over a billion people and became a mobile company.”

The proliferation of mobile broadband has certainly supported this growth. However, sometimes we tend to put too much emphasis on the importance of social networks as the only consumer need. For years, mobile manufacturers have developed smartphones to cater to all needs, from music players to cameras and navigation devices. The primary focus has been on adding features as opposed to delivering relevant and meaningful experiences to consumers. This race to satisfy needs by implementing more features has resulted in far too many compromises. At HTC, we recognise the importance of developing relevant and simple experiences that deliver something that is truly useful, as opposed to merely adding another feature tickbox.

For example, cameras have been integrated into mobile phones since 2002, but the focus has been on megapixels rather than quality. With the new HTC One, we have broken this mould to deliver a camera that really focuses on what really matters – image quality.

For years content has been shared and accessed on smartphones and it’s becoming more varied, more personal and of higher quality. Approximately one trillion pieces of content were generated last year, which means that the mobile industry needs to rethink the notion of user experience in order to adapt to this. This challenge is solved by radically re-thinking the traditional application-centric view of a mobile phone.

How can you best differentiate yourself from the competition also running a licensed OS?

HTC has some of the best engineers in the world with over 16 years of experience in delivering breakthrough form factors and industrial designs and we can now craft phones out of blocks of metal.

In terms of software we push the boundaries of innovation. An open OS gives HTC a unique platform to innovate. We’ve added our very own touch to the entire user experience through HTC Sense.  It’s an interface that delivers an intuitive user experience; a layer on top of existing operating systems such as Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows. So while Google and Microsoft concentrate on creating services and APIs that enable things such as email and web browsing, it lets us focus on the top layer of the user experience. This is where we can bring the most value.

Our experience in working with Microsoft and Google means that we are able to deliver some truly unique experiences that match what consumers actually want.  For example, take HTC BlinkFeed. Our research shows that on average consumers look at their mobile phone screen 120 times a day, which led us to design a feed that curates information and content from over 1,500+ content partners globally into a live, customised stream of information.

This ensures that the intrinsic consumer need of wanting to be connected, up-to-date and entertained is satisfied, right on the home-screen. No-one else is doing this; we are the mobile industry’s trailblazers in this regard.

Does LTE provide you with new opportunities to boost handset sales?

I don’t think one can do without the other. The elements of the ecosystem need to work cohesively in order to deliver a product or service. The smartphone market in 2013 will be more competitive than ever. Players will look to boost their smartphone shipments this year, focusing on high-end phones that run on fourth-generation, Long Term Evolution networks. As the first manufacturer to bring the first 4G-enabled smartphone, the HTC EVO 4G, to the global market, we see this as a positive development.

Consumers and their behaviour toward smartphone usage is becoming more sophisticated and we’ve also seen Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) ramping up their infrastructure to accommodate the on-demand services of consumers.

LTE is a difficult value proposition to communicate to consumers. For years the industry has been talking about mobile broadband; since 2001 and first commercial launch of 3G services the industry has been talking about ‘speed’. This needs to change and translate into something of value to consumers.

At HTC, we’ve been working with mobile operators to deliver 4G/LTE smartphones and services since 2010. Given our experience and expertise, we are keen on sharing and imparting our knowledge to various industry players through a collaborative approach that delivers real, tangible consumer benefits. The need of the hour is to look beyond the inherent benefits of speed, to deliver a superlative experience through innovative products and services.

What differences do you see in what customers are looking for in their handsets in different regions?

Irrespective of where you go, there are some very interesting smartphone behaviour trends. The smartphone consumer is sophisticated and adventurous, while at the same time pragmatic and keen to make informed choices. He looks to his smartphone as a window to the world that enables him to be connected what goes on around him.

Smartphones have gone beyond the realms of a mere enabler; they are no longer just about keeping in touch or being a source of passive entertainment. The smartphone today is a wallet, or a source of information and entertainment. This is just a taste of what the smartphone has become, and as we move ahead, consumers will find increasingly innovative ways of using their phones. To complement this, manufacturers such as HTC will continue to delve deeper into customer behaviour, to provide features that complement their lifestyles.

Having interactions that are local, personalised and relevant is important, which is why we have developed BlinkFeed. This pushes content to the consumer as and when they want it, on a real time basis.

A few years ago HTC flew the flag for Android handsets but recently has seen other manufacturers take the sales lead. Is it important to be number one for that OS and what’s your strategy for regaining consumer mindshare?

If you ask Peter Chou what defines HTC best, he’ll tell you that we are an innovative company. Innovation has always been our hallmark; it has and will continue to define us, and it resonates well with our customers.

We have internal measures that map customer loyalty and the propensity of customers to recommend an HTC product, which for me is reflective of HTC’s health. Having seen these scores, I’m encouraged by the loyal base of customers we’ve garnered in the Middle East. Given our renewed focus on the MEA region as a whole, we are optimistic that we will continue to acquire more HTC customers by providing them with a differentiated experience.

You’ve got a positive reputation for doing better supporting your phones with updates than your competition. Will you be continuing this strategy?

Of course. We always listen to our customers, they love our innovations and new developments, and we take delight in making them available to as many of our customers as possible.

Aside from the latest HTC handset, what tech do you never leave home without?

This sounds like a cliché, but my smartphone is an irreplaceable bit of tech; my smartphone is deeply ingrained in everything I do regardless of where I am. I’m one of the two out of three people who use their smartphones while watching television, and I use my HTC smartphone to surf the internet, check and reply to e-mail, and even more.

The Broadband MEA conference is taking place on the 19th-20^th March 2013 at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, Dubai, UAE. Click here to find out more about the event

Yousef Abu Mutawe, CTO, Zain

Yousef Mutawe, CTO, Zain, Jordan, is delivering a keynote on Day One of the LTE MENA conference, taking place on 13th-14th May 2013 at the JW Marriott Marquis, Dubai. Ahead of the show we speak to him about the challenge of meeting the data demands of Zain’s customers.

What major developments have there been with regards to the LTE industry in your region this past year?

The increased adoption of an internet life-style combined with the immaturity of fixed and wireless broadband networks in the region makes it challenging for the operators to fulfil the increasing demand for bandwidth. In the past few years fixed and wireless broadband has become extremely demanding in terms of infrastructure and spectrum.  HSPA+ created the appetite, but it no longer can sustain and support the increased demand for throughput. Just two years after launching HSPA in Jordan the need for more bandwidth became apparent and in response to this the regulator tendered 1800MHz and 2.6GHz as possible frequency bands for LTE. Some trials are currently taking place at 1.8GHz.

What are the chief challenges you are facing?

Meeting the demand for data is one challenge. The other big challenge is justifying the massive investment needed in RAN and TX infrastructure. With the drop in prices and the cannibalisation of international and roaming revenues into the [OTT] data network, monetising data networks has become more challenging. Additionally, regulators are not easing the cost of introducing new technologies due to the high cost of spectrum.

What are the key techniques for network optimisation in LTE and what effect can it have on the customer experience?

Deployment and optimisation of data wireless networks is a very complicated and challenging engineering task that requires a comprehensive systematic approach. As such, the need to have software tools and optimisation algorithms becomes a necessity for wireless networks. The self-organising capability of a wireless network is a key feature required to achieve optimal system capacity and service coverage, in order to deliver a better user experience.

Do you believe that RCS services can help the industry compete with OTT?

I don’t believe that RCS is the way forward to compete with OTT. On the contrary, the OTT market has exploded and RCS could become a burden and a cost and expense hog rather being an effective tool to fight against OTT applications. The OTT market is an open market with a variety of flavours that increases and changes at every moment. We as operators don’t need to copy or to compete with OTT applications. Rather we should work smartly to find out how to monetise what’s in the cloud. If we price it well and fill it well we can find satisfaction in being a data pipe.

Pricing for LTE is a controversial subject. Are operators getting it right?

When it comes to correctly pricing wireless internet operators invariably fail. Operators always think of volume and forget the most important dimensions of data networks, which are speed and quality. Moreover, some operators fail to factor in the cost elements into the pricing equation correctly.

Former Saudi Telecom Group CEO Khaled Al-Ghoneim

The CEO of Saudi Telecom Group Khaled Al-Ghoneim has resigned from his role, citing “special circumstances” as his reasons.

Having taken on the position in June 2012, Al-Ghoneim leaves after leading the group for less than a year. He replaced former group CEO, Saud Al-Darwish.

His resignation follows last month’s departure of the CEO of Saudi Telecom’s domestic operations, Jameel Abdullah al-Molhem. Former chief of international operations Ghassan Hasbani has also resigned from his role within the past year.

In January 2013, the group announced that its profit for 4Q12 dropped 79 per cent year on year to SAR468m ($124.8m).

The announcement of Al-Ghoneim ‘s resignation was made to the local stock exchange and a replacement has not yet been named. It led to the group’s share price falling 2.5 per cent, according to Bloomberg.