Page 37 - SAMENA Trends - May-June 2023

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

e& On Track to Hit 2030 Net-Zero Targets

UAE operator e& claimed to have made significant progress optimize power consumption based on traffic loads. The update
towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2030, stating it had comes as the country prepares to host the United Nations COP28
begun to accelerate the implementation of climate action climate change conference later this year, with 2023 declared
projects in the country. It stated it has deployed up-to-date radio the year of sustainability in the UAE. One of e&’s deployments
equipment which is more energy-efficient and employing AI to of the equipment reduced energy consumption by 52 per cent
compared with its previous kit. This is equivalent to 7.6 tonnes of
CO2 emissions per site per year for high-level sites. e& also said it
invested heavily in converting indoor sites to outdoor free cooling
systems, reducing the Global Warming Potential of refrigerants by
recovering, recycling and reusing gases. It also now uses on-site
renewable energy through solar panels and hybrid power systems
to replace diesel generators at off-grid sites. In March, e& struck a
partnership with IBM to deploy software focused on sustainability,
adding to a separate partnership with Ericsson. Ahead of COP28,
e& International CTO Sabri Ali Albreiki said it is “accelerating the
pace of decarbonization of its network infrastructure business to
enable a low carbon society, reduce environmental impact and
promote sustainability”.

e& and Vodafone Form Strategic Relationship Across Europe, the Middle
East, and Africa

e& and Vodafone Group Plc (“Vodafone”) announced that they
have agreed to a strategic relationship that will bring the two
operators closer together in certain aspects of their businesses.
As part of this strategic relationship, e& and Vodafone have
entered into a relationship agreement that establishes e& as
a cornerstone shareholder of Vodafone (the “Relationship
Agreement”). This is the next phase in a strategic relationship
that began in May 2022, when e& made its original investment in nominate a second non-executive Director (the “Independent
Vodafone. The strategic relationship also enables collaboration Nominee”), independent of e&, if its shareholding exceeds 20%
across a broad range of growth areas, as e& and Vodafone may be (subject to certain adjustments while regulatory approvals are
able to benefit from each other’s respective operational scale and outstanding). These appointments are subject to receipt by e&
complementary geographic footprint. The key areas of commercial of the required regulatory approvals. Other terms of the Relation-
collaboration that e& and Vodafone will initially pursue include: ship Agreement are summarized below. Hatem Dowidar, Group
• In Enterprise, e& and Vodafone will explore jointly offering Chief Executive Officer of e&, said: “Our investment in Vodafone
cross-border digital services and solutions to multi-national is anchored by Vodafone Group's established position and world-
customers and public sector organizations. Services wide reputation as a prominent industry player that provides cut-
will include fixed and mobile connectivity, Mobile Private ting-edge connectivity and digital services. This aligns with e&'s
Networks, IoT, cybersecurity, and cloud-based services. vision of becoming a global telecom and technology player.” “We
• In Procurement, e& and Vodafone will seek to share extend a warm welcome to Margherita Della Valle as Vodafone's
best practices and may adopt joint procurement. newly appointed Group Chief Executive Officer, and we have full
• In Carrier, Wholesale & Roaming, the two operators confidence in her leadership abilities to steer the company toward
will work together to become the partner of choice in growth. We are convinced that our strategic relationship will un-
providing access to high-quality digital infrastructure. lock opportunities for both companies to explore the swiftly ex-
• In Technology, both teams will seek to work together on a technology panding global telecom market and next-generation technologies.”
roadmap, including the evolution and adoption of OpenRAN. Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group Chief Executive, said: “We
Under the terms of the Relationship Agreement, the Group Chief know e& well, and I’m delighted we will strengthen our existing
Executive Officer of e&, will join the Vodafone Board as a non-ex- relationship through this strategic relationship. This will allow us
ecutive Director (the “e& Nominee”), for as long as e& maintains to capture efficiency-enhancing opportunities in our respective
its current shareholding of 14.6%. e& will also have the ability to markets and brings additional telecoms experience to our Board.”

37 MAY-JUNE 2023