The 15th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit, one of the most anticipated and largest ICT events in the industry, was successfully held in a hybrid format, welcoming hundreds of distinguished guests physically and virtually at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City on December 8, 2021.
C-level executives within the ICT industry and a broad range of professionals including telecom operators, telecom vendors/suppliers, industry regulators, government officials, content providers, cybersecurity experts, consultants, and smart city innovators were present during the full-day gathering.
Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit
Reunited again – physically and virtually – this year’s Summit was bigger than ever before, thanks to the participation of the most influential figures in the ICT industry from the Middle East, Africa, North America, and Asia Pacific. His Excellency Eng. Majed Al Mesmar, director-general, TDRA also graced his presence and officially delivered the opening keynote speech for the event.
Commenting on the success of the event, Toni Eid, founder of Telecom Review and CEO of Trace Media, said, “This year, we are back together in the city of Expo 2020, coinciding with the celebration of UAE’s jubilee year. Being the first one to hold a hybrid event during the pandemic, we have done it again with ensured safety and quality for the 15th edition of Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit. I am definitely proud that we are heading towards the 18th year of our business and recognizing the 10th year of the Telecom Review Excellence Awards ceremony. I would like to thank every partner for their support and congratulate all the winners. See you again next year!“
Raising the bar higher with distinctive and top-notch speakers, Telecom Review organized a one-day conference filled with insightful keynotes and panels to share and gain knowledge about what is being done to pave the way for the Industry 4.0 era.
Exclusive panels are arranged to cover the topics of reshaping the telcos’ model, digitizing wholesale, seizing 5G opportunities, ongoing evolution of network infrastructure, emerging technologies, and managing cybersecurity threats.
Diving deeper, the first panel entitled “The Telecom Leaders’ Panel – The New Telcos,” discussed how the pandemic impacted the telcos’ strategies, what are the new investment opportunities, and how did the overall sector’s efforts been during this challenging time.
The second panel entitled “Digitizing the Wholesale Industry,” tackled about the latest developments in the wholesale industry, how the world is getting connected through digital infrastructure, how on-demand services like data, cloud, connectivity, and data centers meet the needs of the new era, and what does the future hold for the wholesale industry in terms of data traffic increase.
The third panel entitled “Seizing the Opportunities of 5G,” explored the monetized elements and ROI of 5G, how to choose the right business model, the status of 5G and IoT deployment, and global approaches to 5G spectrum auction.
The fourth panel entitled “The Evolution of Network Infrastructure,” examined the role of AI in serving telecom infrastructure, the evolution of submarine cable connectivity, the effect of hyperscaler networks on carrier networks, and the infrastructure readiness for satellites.
The fifth panel entitled “Emerging Technologies – Winners and Losers,” explained the role of emerging technologies in the fight against the pandemic and revenue generation, how cloud computing is set to push AI and IoT to the forefront in the next decade, how SD-WAN and data analytics are driving new technology and network operations, and how will technology affect our lives in 2025.
Last but not the least, the sixth panel entitled “Managing Cybersecurity Threats,” spoken of telcos being exposed to more risks during the pandemic, what are the data vulnerabilities for enterprise users in the public and private sectors, and regulation updates in the framework of the new normal.
Telecom Review Excellence Awards
One of the highlights and the most exciting part of the 15th Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit is the Telecom Review Excellence Awards ceremony that honored leading ICT brands and leaders for their achievements during this year, followed with the annual gala dinner.
The night kicked off with an exclusive fireside chat between Toni Eid and Hatem Dowidar, CEO, Etisalat Group. Opening the floor for the winners, Jeff Seal, chief awards officer, managing partner, and editor-in-chief, Telecom Review North America, said, “This year the Telecom Review Award program had a very high interest level from the industry, with a record number of nominations from around the world. The Awards continue to be the “standard” for which the industry judges its peers. The Telecom Review panel of judges are leading experts from around the world and spent quite a bit of time deliberating on the winners.”
Among this year’s award winners are Best Digital Transformation Provider, Best 5G User Growth, Best Customer Service Provider, Best Loyalty and Rewards Program, Best Cloud Provider, Most Innovative Product/Service, Best Satellite Operator, Best Wholesale Operator, Best Operator, Best Industry Vendor, Best 5G Innovation, Best Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Best 5G/Fiber Infrastructure Deployment, Best Carrier Enterprise Services, Most Creative Enhanced Service Provider, Fastest Corporate Growth, Most Innovative Employer, Fastest Broadband Deployment, and Best Telecom Brand.
For the Leaders’ Merit Awards, five innovators were acknowledged and received trophies as CEOs and Executive of the Year. The list of award winners can be viewed here:
https://www.telecomreview.com/summit/index.php/excellence-awards/winners
On December 7, prior to the 15th Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) CxO meeting was also hosted by Telecom Review in a hybrid format, with du as co-host. The conclusions of the invitation-only CxO meeting will be encapsulated in the communiqué agreed upon by the meeting participants.
About Telecom Review
Telecom Review was founded in 2005 and is today the leading global ICT media platform. With its different editions that cover all the industry’s updates in the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Africa and North America, Telecom Review has gained a stellar reputation for guaranteeing quality content, offering reliable information and addressing the most trending topics. Telecom Review has always been a pioneer in the ICT media industry by launching e-newsletters, digital flipping magazines and most recently, organizing virtual panels and webinars.
