Dubai, UAE – May 26, 2025 – The SAMENA Telecommunications Council and the World Broadband Association (WBBA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), marking the beginning of a strategic collaboration aimed at advancing broadband access, supporting innovation, and strengthening policy alignment across the South Asia, Middle East, and North Africa (SA-ME-NA) region, and beyond.
The MoU sets forth a framework of mutual cooperation between the two non-profit organizations, both of which play critical roles in shaping the telecommunications and ICT landscape. Through this partnership, the SAMENA Council and WBBA will work together to foster knowledge exchange, support standardization, promote best practices, and amplify policy advocacy efforts to accelerate digital transformation across emerging markets.
"Today’s MoU marks a shared commitment between the SAMENA Council and the WEBBA to fostering a digitally inclusive region," said Bocar BA, CEO of SAMENA Council. "By joining forces with the WBBA, we aim to bring our regional expertise and multi-stakeholder engagement to the global broadband conversation—promoting collaborative approaches that advance connectivity, innovation, sustainability in investments for broadband development, greener deployment of broadband technology, and policy alignment, in general."
Key areas of cooperation under the MoU between the SAMENA Council and the WBBA include: Expanding broadband access across underserved regions; supporting standardization efforts, particularly in broadband customer premise equipment (CPE); harmonizing efforts to promote broadband-related policies and regulatory frameworks across the SA-ME-NA region; advocating for greater awareness of broadband development issues; and collaborating on global and regional industry events and information sharing.
“The WBBA is delighted to formalize this collaboration with the SAMENA Council,” said Martin Creaner, Director General, WBBA. “We see tremendous potential in working together to empower regional stakeholders, accelerate innovation, and support digital ecosystem partners in our efforts to materialize globally harmonized broadband development. This partnership is an important step toward unlocking scalable impact across emerging digital economies.”
The MoU was signed by the WBBA’s Chairman of the Board, Dr. Li Zhengmao, and SAMENA Council’s CEO & Board Member, Bocar BA, during the SAMENA Council Leaders’ Summit 2025. The MoU represents a statement of shared intent, reflecting the Parties' commitment to long-term engagement and coordinated action, while acknowledging its non-binding nature. As part of the agreement, the two organizations will also promote each other’s initiatives through mutual visibility in publications, digital platforms, and participation in industry activities. The MoU allows for future expansion of the partnership through supplementary agreements for specific joint projects or events. The MoU signing was followed by both trade associations co-chairing a broadband roundtable during the SAMENA Council Leaders’ Summit 2025, titled “Smarter Broadband: Investment. Innovation. Intelligence.”
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About SAMENA Council
SAMENA Telecommunications Council is a tri-regional industry association representing telecom operators and ICT stakeholders in South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, dedicated to facilitating dialogue, digital growth, and industry collaboration with the larger aim of building digital economies.
About WBBA
The World Broadband Association is a global non-profit organization committed to accelerating broadband innovation and deployment by representing the interests of stakeholders across the broadband value- chain.
Source: SAMENA Council Press release
