Page 19 - SAMENA Trends - January-February 2025

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Vodafone Expands IoT Connectivity in Middle East

with Mobily

Vodafone has a new deal with Saudi tech consistently well in analyst reviews for (2024). Its move to spin-off its IoT business,
and telecoms outfit Mobily to expand its managed IoT services. It claims over 175 one of the few carrier-led IoT operations
IoT coverage in Saudi Arabia. The deal is million IoT connections in 175 countries, with proper global scale, was part of a kind-
between the UK-headquartered operator’s and the largest low-power wide-area of mysterious double deal with Microsoft
enterprise IoT arm (Vodafone Business (LPWA) network footprint of any operator to dichotomize and nebulise its airtime
IoT / Vodafone IoT) and the Saudi firm, – supporting NB-IoT and LTE-M coverage service operations, so its ancillary IoT unit
and sees its customers able to roam onto in 92 countries, via its own network existed separately of a national telecoms
the latter’s national cellular IoT network infrastructure in markets where it operates, business remade in the cloud with the US
in the kingdom on their embedded SIMs and via roaming deals with the likes of firm’s help. Its corporate nomenclature
(eSIMs; sold under the branding ‘Vodafone Mobily elsewhere. Vodafone IoT has been is a little confusing; the company swaps
Global SIM’). Vodafone Business ranks a standalone company since April last year between Vodafone Business IoT and
straight Vodafone IoT in business functions
and job titles in press announcements.
But the separation means Vodafone IoT
manages sundry global IoT services for
enterprise, and Vodafone Business, its
global enterprise division, sells them –
alongside private networks, edge/cloud
solutions, and software-defined wide-area
network (SD-WAN) services.

Omantel Wins 2 Awards at the Oman CSR Summit
& Awards for Innovative Social Responsibility
Initiatives

Omantel, the Sultanate's leading provider
of integrated telecommunications and
ICT services, has been honored with two
prestigious awards at the Oman CSR
Summit & Awards 2024. The company
was recognized under the categories of
“Trailblazing CSR Initiative of the Year” for
its innovative initiative “Maqroo” – the First
Arabic Dyslexic-Friendly Font, and “Best
Use of Technology in CSR” for its efforts in
leveraging advanced technologies for social
impact. For the "Best Use of Technology
in CSR" award, Omantel was recognized
for its contributions to the healthcare
sector, particularly its collaboration with
the Oman Cancer Association. Omantel
supported the deployment of a cutting-
edge, AI-powered medical tool designed
for the early detection of cancer. This
state-of-the-art solution significantly
enhances diagnostic accuracy, accelerates
the detection process, and reduces
treatment costs associated with late-

19 JAN-FEB 2025