SAMENA ACCELERATOR Policy Roundtable during Huawei UBBF 2021 in Dubai

SAMENA (South Asia Middle East North Africa) Telecommunications Council has announced that its SAMENA Accelerator policy-level roundtable will be organized as a part of the Huawei UBB Forum (Ultrabroadband Forum) 2021, in Dubai from October 19-20 at Skyview, The Address, Downtown Dubai. The forum will address Rural Fiber Broadband Development & IPv6/IPv6+ Transition Issues. It takes place during Gitex 2021 so that it includes the Digital Communication Industry’s leading decision-makers from all around the SA-ME-NA region and beyond. The primary objectives of the UBBF-collaborated and Huawei-hosted SAMENA Accelerator is to address policy, regulatory, and business enablement issues relating to fiber deployment and industrial digitalization.

Bocar BA, CEO & Board Member of SAMENA Council, said, “The October UBBF-collaborated SAMENA Accelerator will address the need to achieve universal broadband access and create new business growth opportunities for Telecom Operators by accelerating fiber broadband deployment in the SA-ME-NA region to foster digital transformation while also taking the 5G and IoT era telecom networks to the next level by deploying IPv6 enhanced innovations (IPv6+). As the demand for the Internet of Things increases and the amount of HD content including videos and a large amount of data generated and transmitted rises, it has become increasingly evident that governments and standard bodies requiring transitioning to IPv6 and to IPv6 enhanced innovations (namely, IPv6+).”

”The Huawei-hosted SAMENA Accelerator during the UBBF 2021 will cover key policy and planning areas, including Policy Visions for Inclusive Gigabit Connectivity, Innovative Policy Steps in the Provision of Ultra-fast Broadband Connections, OSP/ISP Fiber Deployment Experiences & Best Practices for the Private Sector. The role of IPv6 & IPV6 Enhanced Innovation in Regional Digital Economic Transformation, and the Role of Industry Value-chains and the Pace of IPv6 Adoption to Foster Industrial Digitalization, will be discussed among other areas of industry interest.” He added.

Advanced ICT infrastructure and other Digital Technologies are now vital as key elements of Sustainable Development, and next-generation networks and cloud communications are the new enablers. We are now seeing "inclusion" and "economic well-being" in the new "digital light” and are learning to readjust our priorities to drive socio-economic growth and fill key gaps -- whether such gaps are at the policy or regulatory level, investment level, on the cooperation level, or at the level of incubating new ideas. Building the Digital Economy is the new major global imperative, which can be fully supported and propelled to fulfillment through Fiber and IPv6 based networks. New approaches in building infrastructure would greatly benefit by being aligned with changed characteristics of broadband, which is no longer a luxury.

This strategic industry event, to be held as a collaboration between Huawei and SAMENA Council, is in continuation of the SAMENA Accelerators held last year, with special focus placed this year to correlate fiber deployment with socio-economic growth, especially in the rural areas of the region. The Council expects to build the case for accelerated fiber deployment as an essential ICT pillar, which can dramatically add to and support sustainable national GDP growth by engaging rural communities. However, as a costly effort for investors, key incentives must be given, and key issue areas and challenges need to mitigated at an unprecedented pace to achieve universal access.

Furthermore, accelerating Industrial Digitalization in the era of Industry 4.0 and IoT, with the aim of accommodating complex and distributed network applications, and allowing for Telecom Operators’ search for new streams of business growth, including through intelligent cloud network capabilities, demands creating the rationale for speeding up the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 and also to the enhanced evolutions version of IPv6 (IPv6+).

SA ME NA Council’s lead in addressing this economic issue is appreciated by the ICT community. Voicing the opinion of members, Eng. Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Badran, CEO, Mobily, said, “SAMENA is an excellent platform for the Telecom leaders in the region to share their experiences in order to increase their competitive edge and achieve further growth and success. I believe that SAMENA’s energetic events and gatherings prepare concerned key persons in facing different challenges in the industry.”

About SAMENA Council: SAMENA Telecommunications Council (SAMENA Council) is South Asia - Middle East - North Africa (SA-ME-NA) region’s premier industry association of telecom operators and service providers from the terrestrial and satellite domains. SAMENA Council voices telecom operators’ issues and needs to regulators, policymakers, and international institutions, and specifically focuses its advocacy efforts on materializing multi-stakeholder collaboration for driving digital growth and to assist in realizing good governance, transparency, and market predictability within the Industry. The region’s renowned communications service providers, among other leading technology companies and digital ecosystem players, are a part of the Council’s membership.