In an exclusive interview with Telecom Review, Kamal Nagpal, Head of Sales, Middle East & Africa, Cloud & Network Services (CNS) at Nokia, discussed the business group’s journey through 2024 in detail, and expanded on the strategic areas it will be pursuing in 2025, among other insights.
We’re in the last quarter of 2024. What are some of your key observations from 2024 so far?
2024, for me, has been a year of innovation in the Cloud & Network Services business group at Nokia. AI and the telco cloud have played a big part in our innovation journey. We have infused AI into a variety of our products—cybersecurity, customer experience management and overall network management—which brings a higher level of automation and efficiency to CSPs. And there has been considerable interest and discussions with our customers in the Middle East to incorporate such solutions. That’s the first one.
The second one is monetization. Our customers are challenged with newer ways to monetize their networks, particularly 5G, in which they have invested significant CapEx. One of the shifts in the year has revolved around migrating from a 5G Non-Standalone network to a 5G Standalone Core network, which brings a lot of new features (like network slicing) that enable new use cases… Think cloud gaming enthusiasts that want better latency, which can be provided through network slicing.
To put the growth of 5G SA Core into perspective, at the end of Q2 2024, Nokia had the most 5G Standalone Core operator customers, with a total of 116, and the most live deployments at 34, according to industry data. Furthermore, Nokia was named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for CSP 5G Core Infrastructure Network Solutions. And the reason for being highly rated is because our portfolio offers a fully automated and scalable software model, with near zero-touch automation and ultra-low latency capabilities. In the Middle East, I’ve had multiple discussions with CSPs to begin this transition, which makes for an exciting 2025 and beyond.
And I’d say the last one is energy efficiency. The importance of sustainability is at the forefront of agendas for countries and companies, particularly for CSPs, given the rising costs of energy and the need to reduce their CO2 emissions. Many of my discussions with customers end with: ‘How big will the impact of my carbon footprint be?’. I’m glad that everyone is thinking about our impact on the planet. In fact, our AVA Energy Efficiency portfolio helps our customers reduce their energy consumption by using AI to monitor the different network elements and suggest an alternative path forward.
There are many other moments, but these are the key ones so far!
The Open Innovation Lab in Dubai was opened during Q2 2024. How will Nokia utilize this facility to drive innovation in the region?
One of my favorite reasons for being a part of a global company (Nokia) is our ability to bring learnings from across the globe and apply them to the MEA region. Bringing newer technologies is the first step, but the next one is the most important. The next step involves adapting these technologies to local requirements and addressing local use cases. One of the initiatives undertaken by Nokia is the Open Innovation Lab.
There are three important areas of the lab that benefit operators and enterprises. The first area aims to drive further innovation in the Cloud RAN space with Nokia’s technology partners, such as Dell and HPE, as well as market-leading hyperscalers and other ecosystem players. The second area focuses on private wireless and industrial networks, where the lab will showcase innovative Industry 4.0 use cases and industrial edge applications on Nokia’s market-leading MX Industrial Edge (MXIE) platform to help enterprises accelerate their transition to Industry 4.0 in the region. The third area focuses on network intelligence. Nokia aims to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions for network automation and optimization.
WATCH: Nokia MEA Open Innovation Lab Inauguration
Could you compare the overall performance of networks in the region with the top-performing networks across the world? What must countries in the Middle East do to get better?
If you take a look at the latest Ookla reports, which is the go-to for network KPIs, you will find that the top three best performing networks primarily come from the Middle East region. Surprised? I am not! The general performance and availability of networks in the Middle East is quite strong, however, networks are really tested, or taken to the limit, when there are high congregations of people that are densely concentrated in small areas. For example, the Expo in Dubai, FIFA world cup in Qatar or Hajj in Saudi Arabia place a lot of pressure on networks and there needs to be 100% availability. I would even say that our success in the region is being replicated in other parts of the world, which makes me proud to be in this region.
However, there are some areas where more attention and focus is needed. The primary one is cybersecurity. The number of cyberattacks being witnessed across the world is alarming. Every day, people, enterprises and governments are being targeted. The attacks are also getting more sophisticated. Nokia is working with partners like Microsoft to offer a telco-specific solution—such as the Netguard Cybersecurity Dome—that is infused with AI and automation and is integrated into multiple pre-built 5G security use cases for the core, RAN and transport domains. The platform offers Extended Detection and Response (XDR) capabilities that collect, aggregate, analyze, and correlate security data from a variety of sources, enriching it with telco specificity to help security operations teams assess business risks, improve decision making, and control costs.
And secondly, the Middle East needs to get more bullish on automation. Everyone’s talking about it; but there is a sense of reluctance. They first think about its impact on cost structure and then the actual benefits. While there is a cultural connotation to it, the benefits of automation, especially when combined with AI and machine learning, are undeniable.
Additionally, AI should be used ethically and responsibly. Nokia maintains the strong stance that AI systems should be fair and reliable; it should be environmentally and socially sustainable; and it must protect privacy. In fact, Nokia has defined principles to guide all our AI research and development in the future. Keeping these principles in mind, our Digital Operations Centre enables CSPs to manage the entire lifecycle of their services from design to deployment on a large scale.
A lot of your solutions can be deployed in the cloud. Have you seen a lot of demand from the region for your solutions as a service?
Software as a Service, or simply, SaaS, has been a part of the IT world for a while now. The telco world was in catch-up mode, but not anymore. Today, a large number of solutions are being delivered through the SaaS model and our customers are realizing its benefits. These include faster time-to-value, better cost-effectiveness when switching to a subscription service, better agility to scale up or scale down quickly depending on the business requirements, and a more secure environment.
Being based on a fully cloud-native environment, we employ an anyCloud strategy, which means our software can operate on a public cloud of big hyperscalers, or a private cloud built by CSPs, or a hybrid cloud that combines public and private. In fact, Nokia offers analytics, cybersecurity, charging and even 5G Core as a Service to customers, and there has been strong interest across the MEA region and particularly in the Middle East.
The biggest challenge is the regulation and storage of information. Considering that the data linked to a software that is offered as a service may not be stored in the country where the service is offered, there is great concern regarding data privacy and security. We still have some way to go before SaaS becomes mainstream in the telco world, but I am confident that we will demystify the concerns of policy makers and companies can then take full advantage of SaaS business models.
Related: Nokia's SaaS Service, ‘AVA Charging,’ Fosters 5G and IoT Monetization
Where do you forsee the Middle East region heading as we enter 2025? What are some of the key strategic areas that will drive telco growth in the region?
I think the Middle East region is a mix of countries at various maturity levels in their technology journey. There are countries, like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, that are far ahead in their 5G journey and there are others that are still investing. Irrespective of the journey, all CSPs are realizing that investing in 5G is not enough; they need to have a clear path to monetization. As many are planning their modernization strategies, they are also thinking about ways to monetize their investments.
Heading into 2025, one of the most promising monetization strategies in the Middle East lies in network APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). These APIs enable application developers to seamlessly integrate advanced 5G network capabilities into their applications. APIs are essentially standardized interfaces that allow developers’ applications to communicate with and leverage features within telecom networks. Imagine the possibilities of new digital experiences!
Nokia has developed a platform, called Network as Code (NaC), that is the heart of this system and is the interface between the application developers and CSPs’ APIs. We’ve drawn inspiration from industry efforts—like the GSMA Open Gateway and the Linux Foundation's CAMARA project—to create a two-way ecosystem that simplifies network complexities, providing developer-friendly access to powerful network functionalities, monetizable opportunities to telcos, and fresh product and service possibilities for enterprises.
Let me give a recent example. In Antwerp, our Network as Code platform was used to provide the captains of shipping vessels passing through the narrow channels with high-definition video, particularly on tricky turns, or when loading and unloading cargo—essentially, when it was needed. This situational awareness enabled quicker journey times and better safety.
While there are many more areas where I believe we will see growth in the Middle East, I believe this is going to be the most interesting area that’s leading engaging discussions with customers.
Read More:
Nokia: Leveraging the Power of 5G to its Fullest Through APIs
Bridging the Digital Divide: Nokia's Commitment to Neutral Hosting in the Middle East and Africa
Nokia: Collaboratively Driving Technological Advancements
