Page 51 - SAMENA Trends - January 2021

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Ooredoo Group Inks Five-Year 5G Strategic Agreement

Qatar’s Ooredoo Group has signed a global and enterprises. Commenting, Sheikh Ericsson is bringing state-of-the-art
frame agreement for the supply of 5G radio, Mohammed Bin Abdulla Al Thani, Deputy global technologies to the countries we
core and transport products and solutions, Group Chief Executive Officer, Ooredoo operate in, which enables us to provide the
as well as related implementation and Group, said: ‘The agreement represents latest digital solutions for communities
integration services. In a press release another step in the longstanding to enjoy the best of the internet, including
announcing the development it was and successful partnership between connecting the most remote areas,
confirmed that the agreement covers Ericsson and Ooredoo, which enables our supporting start-ups digitally and providing
all ten of Ooredoo Group’s operating company to continue network expansion, immersive experiences for sports fans at
companies, those being in Qatar, enhancement and digital transformation. upcoming mega-sporting events.’
Indonesia, Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, the
Palestinian Territory, Tunisia, Myanmar
and Maldives. With the deal including
the provision of Ericsson Radio System,
including MINI-LINK 6000 products that
are capable of 10Gbps, Ericsson Cloud
Core, Cloud Infrastructure and Ericsson
Cloud Communication solutions, the
vendor claimed it will ‘enable end-to-end
5G support to digitally transform and
modernize Ooredoo’s existing mobile
networks across its operating companies’.
Further, it has been suggested that the
solutions will also significantly shorten
time-to-market for new services and
improve network performance to meet
the growing expectations of consumers

Telecom Revenue Surges 129 Percent in Pakistan Amid Lockdown

Contribution of the telecom sector to the million in the country by the end of 2020, the economy due to global lockdowns,
national exchequer increased by 129 showing a growth of around 8pc against the share of telecom sector was 25pc or
per cent in the fiscal year ending in June 2019. Total broadband penetration across $623m in the total FDI made in the country
2020 compared to a year ago owing to the country reached 42.2pc. Telecom during the fiscal year ending on June
Covid-19 lockdown, the Pakistan Telecom networks are currently available for 87pc 2020. Total investment made by the local
Authority (PTA) said. Sharing its Annual of the population. The report said that PTA operators were $734m with a growth of
Report 2020, PTA highlighted that the was working with operators to increase 14.25pc in FY20 against the previous fiscal
surge in demand for telecom services their network coverage for remaining year. Total revenues of the sector reached
due to lockdown resulted in significant 13pc unserved people of the country. Rs537bn in FY20, mainly generated by
growth not only in the subscriber base Total teledensity in the country currently mobile sector. The report claims that
but also in the usage of telecom services. stands at 82pc, the report added. Due to financial gains have been equally enjoyed
Data usage by the end of December 2020 higher business volumes, telecom sector by telecom consumers. “The affordability
was 4,498 petabytes (PB) compared to emerged as a prominent contributor to of telecom services in Pakistan have
2,545PB in December 2019 — a growth of Pakistan’s economy in FY20 compared to improved over the years and currently
more than 77 per cent, the report noted. FY19 despite the economy being under the per “GB broadband” prices are as low
One PB is equal to 1,000 terabytes (TB). pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. as $0.20 which is amongst the lowest in
“This substantial growth would not have The sector contributed Rs278 billion in the region,” it added. The regulator said
been possible if the networks were not FY20 against Rs121bn in the previous fiscal government revenues increased manifold
upgraded,” PTA said, adding that currently year. The PTA annual report highlighted with tax collection on handset imports
the country has international bandwidth that in the last five years, total broadband due to Device Identification & Registration
connectivity of 3.1TB and with 47,000 subscription in the country grew by System.
cell sites, of which 90pc are 4G-enabled 175pc. Despite the negative impact of
sites. Broadband subscribers crossed 90 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) across

51 JANUARY 2021