Page 15 - SAMENA Trends - June-July 2020

SAMENA COUNCIL ACTIVITY SAMENA TRENDS

As its integral part, the Leaders' Summit 2020 also included diverse discussion panels and
a dedicated Huawei 5G Ecosystem Conference, held for the third consecutive year during the Insights from Discussion Tracks
Summit under the theme “Unleash 5G potential, build a better world”. Participants reviewed • All sectors can benefit from 5G in crisis
situations
5G ecosystem cooperation in the Middle East, and how 5G paired with complementary • Regulatory Sandboxes are needed to
technologies such as cloud, AI, and AI-driven autonomous and BVLOS commercial drone allow new technologies to flourish
• Democratization of data is important:
need to enable new ways of living with
New and Big Data
• Need for responsible AI, AI for good,
to ensure that the digital revolution
contributes to all mankind
• Need collaborative management
• At this point in time not everyone is
at the same level and benefits equally
from the digital revolution and the
technologies it brings. We need to
enable catch up and for that the most
important thing is Internet Connectivity
for all
• Better, more efficient processes of
approval for network deployment are
needed
• There is no 5G without fiber backhaul,
access to public infrastructure,
and dark fiber; we need to foster a
regulatory environment that enables
5G roll-out
• 5G won’t solve our issues – it is not
a crisis solver at all! We need to move
from 2G-3G-4G to connect the rest of
the world first
• In the MENA region: Data Privacy
obligations on operators are restricted
to country borders
• End-to-end encryption may not
be the right answer to address all
cybersecurity concerns, as it fosters
and enables criminal behavior such as
child pornography and arms deals, etc.
• There is still a large discrepancy with
regards to OTT and operator treatment
• Bringing meaningful connectivity to
the world is paramount, and it needs to
be relevant, inclusive, accessible and
affordable
• We need to rethink ways to achieve the
SDGs, as current approaches and ways
have not been progressive enough
• The Covid crisis has brought some
challenges on the networks – but
challenges were mastered through
prioritization of certain important
content over other content
• Need predictions and predictive
models
• Telcos were less affected by the crisis
• Infrastructure sharing is an important
approach, and we need to ensure that
we have sufficient bylaws that address
site and tower and other infrastructure
sharing matters
• Free provision of spectrum is required
• Need adequate local ecosystem for
5G to flourish, and we must allow for
sufficient space to innovate

15 JUNE-JULY 2020