Page 6 - SAMENA Trends - October-December 2024

SAMENA COUNCIL ADVOCACY SAMENA TRENDS

GSMA’s M360 MENA 2024 in Doha, Qatar: SAMENA Council CEO Leads
Thought-Provoking Session on Super-bundling, Monetization, Smart-City

Projects, and Unique Opportunities for 5G & IoT Growth

During the GSMA’s Mobile 360 MENA
2024, held on November 18-19 in Doha,
SAMENA Council’s CEO, Bocar BA, led a
key fire-side chat and panel discussion
session, drawing expert insights on super-
bundling, monetization strategies in the
5G environment, smart-city projects,
and unique opportunities that await to
be harnessed through 5G and IoT. Bocar
BA steered the conversation around
key trends that are poised to shape the
region's digital landscape. The session
delved into the role of Telecom Operators
and Technology Providers in creating and
sustaining digital ecosystems that drive
innovation and economic growth, with
particular emphasis on digital services
and technology applications in smart-city
environments. Titled, Smart Projects driven
by Digital Innovations, the discussion public services. A key point of discussion experiences, and open up new business
session delved into how show Telecom was the MENA region's unique position models. After the successful discussion,
Operators are evolving beyond traditional in terms of 5G and IoT deployment. Bocar BA stated: “Current times are critical
mobile plans to offer “super-bundles” — Unlike other global markets, the MENA as we launch new technologies, recalibrate
comprehensive packages that combine region, particularly the GCC region, is approaches on how 5G, 5G-Advanced,
tens of services together, including experiencing accelerated adoption of Fixed 5G-Advanced, IoT, Cloud computing,
internet access, entertainment, finance, these technologies due to a combination AI, should be best deployed, and how their
content, and IoT, and other digital services of well-defined digital transformation role in socio-economic and business
of interest. Experts highlighted how this visions, favorable regulatory frameworks, transformation and both end-user level
model is reshaping the telecom business, strategic government investments, and and enterprise-level expectations can
providing operators with new revenue growing demand for high-speed, low- be enhanced. Our goals are to increase
streams while offering consumers greater latency connectivity. Panelists pointed out productivity, reduce costs, generate
value, thus boosting customer confidence that MENA's young, tech-savvy population, capital, and redirect it where it is most
and retention. The role of innovators, such along with the region's increasing focus needed. However, our larger goal, at least
as Bango, which enables content providers on digital transformation, positions it for the next few years remain our main
to reach more paying customers through as a prime market for innovation in 5G target: meet the objectives set forth under
global partnerships, having revolutionized and IoT. The session highlighted specific the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
the monetization of digital content and opportunities in sectors such as healthcare, despite numerous digital challenges
services through online payments, was agriculture, and urban mobility, where 5G and risks lurking all around us. It was a
clearly highlighted. In addition to insights and IoT could radically improve efficiencies pleasure to steer this discussion on digital
exchanged on Qatar’s broader goals of and create new economic opportunities, innovations, especially including super-
sustainability, efficiency, and economic and where AI, cloud computing, and IoT bundling, and to re-align on service delivery
diversification, the discussion focused on will have a direct impact on the pace of the choices, end-user expectations, and
the collaboration between government region’s digital transformation. Panelists government enablement of innovations –
agencies, telecom operators, and shared insights on the importance of a all of which require collaboration between
technology providers to deploy advanced holistic approach to innovation, stressing governments, private-sector players, and
infrastructure that supports smart city the need for businesses to integrate these technology providers to create robust
applications — from autonomous transport technologies across their operations digital infrastructure, which will support
to intelligent energy grids and enhanced to drive efficiency, enhance customer innovation and create new opportunities.”

6 OCT-DEC 2024