Exclusive Interviews

Omantel – the first and leading provider of integrated telecommunication services in the Sultanate of Oman – is gaining recognition for its fast-paced transformation from a regional wholesale hub to a global provider. It has significantly invested in technology, networks, and subsea cable deployments to transform its ecosystem. Recently, Omantel has rolled out its commercial 5G network after 2-3 years of active preparations. A third mobile operator is expected to enter the market soon, Omantel expressed their belief that competition strengths the market and aligns with their mission to provide the best service to their customers as they strive to lead the way into the digital future. In an exclusive interview, Telecom Review spoke with Omantel’s CEO Talal Said Al Mamari, where he highlights the efforts undertaken to position the Sultanate as a global technology hub of the future.

NXN, a major thought leader in smart cities and digital services, reveals that it has joined forces with Microsoft Asia. NXN’s digital platform, DNX, and all of its services will be ported on to Azure for Microsoft customers to enjoy. As an integral part of enabling technologies and driving the digital transformation in multiple industries, NXN has recently formed other partnerships in order to deliver the best solution to the market, namely in the health sector. Telecom Review managed to secure an exclusive interview with Ghazi Atallah, CEO, where he shared his excitement at the opportunity to scale NXN on a regional and international level. 

Iraq-based mobile operator, Korek Telecom, offers network coverage to the entire country through the use of its cutting-edge technology and is currently the country’s fastest growing operator which serves the 18 provinces of Iraq. The operator has, time and time again, overcome tremendous challenges over the years as Iraq has been subject to political unrest.

Providing telecommunications services can be challenging in countries going through civil unrest. In Iraq, Korek Telecom was able to overcome the challenge and rebuild its network to offer the best service to its subscribers. In an exclusive interview with Telecom Review, Ahmed Diwan, chief commercial and marketing officer, Korek Telecom, explained how the operator was able to keep abreast of digitalization in spite of the challenges.  

5G will bring a new level of complexity which can be faced with the adoption AI to augment human capabilities together with automation in order to act in digital time, according to Henrique Vale, head of Nokia software for MEA. Telecom Review discussed 5G complexity with Vale in an exclusive interview and tackled Nokia’s role in the new digital era.

In order to know more about PCCW Global’s  latest projects, namely the trilateral agreement related to the Pakistan & East Africa Connecting Europe (PEACE) cable system’s development, Telecom Review spoke to Sameh Sobhy, vice president, Middle East, Turkey, Africa, PCCW Global, who explained in depth the progress achieved thus far in the project. We were also eager to know how PCCW Global can intervene when natural disasters hit a certain country, just like it did in Mozambique not so long ago. Sobhy wrapped up the discussion by highlighting his aspirations for the remainder of 2019 and what the company aims to achieve next.

B-Yond is helping CSPs become customer-centric through its strong portfolio that offers products based on AI and machine learning technologies. Telecom Review spoke to Rahul Chandra, EVP, partnerships & marketing at B-Yond to know more about how B-Yond, which first launched in 2017 as a startup, and turned into a global AI company. 

Infovista, leader in modern network performance, announced the launch of its service assurance solution at MEF19. VistaInsight is dedicated to increasing business agility and interoperability in hybrid networks, while leading organizations through digital transformation. In an exclusive interview, Andy Asava, EVP Global Networks spoke with Telecom Review about the importance of knowing your business model, creating a solution that adds value to the customer and creating monetization.

Mavenir, the telecom industry's only end-to-end cloud-native network software provider for Communication Service Providers, has done a lot of work in the MENA region with regards to transforming and redefining network economics. The company offers everything from 5G application to packet core and RAN and has been leading the way in cloud-native networking solutions and enabling innovation throughout the region, namely amongst the region’s most renowned telecom operators.

It is an interesting time for open source solution providers. The technology is gaining more and more momentum as the world gets a better understanding of how it actually functions and how secure it is. In an interview with Telecom Review, Adrian Pickering, regional GM, MENA, Red Hat, highlighted Red Hat’s large experience in terms of open source solutions and gave us insight into how such solutions can help achieve digital transformation.