“Over the last ten years, the telecommunications industry has grown and begun changing from the familiar patterns of the past. These changes have been driven by customer needs, technology changes and the emergence of new business models. As the industry enters 2009, the global financial turmoil adds a new dimension to an already complicated picture and deepens the existing challenges. The ability of the operators and their partners to rapidly seize new opportunities, anticipate customer demands and be able to quickly modify strategies will determine the ongoing success of the telecommunications industry.
Emerging markets will become a major factor in industry expansion, but decreasing ARPU (average revenue per user) will act as stimulation for creative solutions. Uncovering these opportunities, providing products, services and support to operators as they deal with the emerging trends and successfully managing the impacts will be the key to future success.
Even in areas where economies are experiencing a slump, the telecom industry is still able to maintain and even accelerate its growth. Successful societies are going to require greater connectivity, placing the social responsibility of bridging the digital gap on the telecom industry. During the last ten years, an information world has taken shape; the rise of broadband has brought about a massive social change to the point where people who use the web a lot often wonder how they ever managed without it. This trend will continue and over the next few years, the universal spread of high-speed, low-cost, anywhere connectivity will be the driving force for the telecom industry’s development.
In this process, innovation and transformation is an everlasting topic. Working together, we will create a truly connected Arab world where people can have equal access to communications.”
Ihab Ghattas is the Assistant President of Huawei Technologies for the Middle East region, and a senior telecommunications professional with over 28 years experience in the telecoms industry. Prior to joining Huawei, Ihab spent most of his career with Etisalat, a leading operator in the MENA region. Ihab graduated from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt with a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
