Speakers at Broadband MEA to focus on the customer experience

In pre-conference interviews, Broadband MEA speakers focus on the challenges of catering to areas of high demand, developments in the area of 3G and LTE and the need for FTTH, among other critical issues.

The conference, which takes place from 19 – 20 March, has a speaker line-up, that includes Khalid ElKouly, CMO at Etisalat, UAE; Jon French, Vice President Middle East and Africa, HTC; Rashid Abdulla, CEO, Batelco – Bahrain (in pic), Ahmed Al-Sulaiti, CTO, Qatar National Broadband Network, Qatar; and Souhail Haddaji, VP – Marketing Commercial, du.

Celebrating its fifth year, the conference and industry leading exhibition will take place at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, Dubai, UAE. Bringing together key decision makers, Broadband MEA will provide a platform for networking with peers, developing business opportunities and discussions about how to move the industry forward in the region

In areas of high demand high contention ratios can affect performance. What steps have you put in to ensure that you have enough capacity to deal with this?

Using compression tools for data is useful on the access part, while caching engines help save on international bandwidth. We also have policies in place to throttle the connection of customers that might be abusing the service

Yousef Abu Mutawe, CTO, Zain, Jordan is delivering the opening keynote on Day Two of the Broadband MEA conference

What major developments have there been for the broadband industry in your region over the past year?

In Oman, the main development has been the release of spectrum to enhance current mobile broadband services (3G based) and allow for introduction of LTE. Nawras has quickly taken advantage of this new spectrum and is turbocharging its entire mobile network and will launch LTE very soon.

The government has developed a national broadband strategy which will, during the coming years, enhance the ability to increase the reach and speed of broadband to a larger portion of the Omani population and business sector.

Ross Cormack, CEO of Nawras is delivering the opening day keynote address at the Broadband MEA 2013 conference

Is FTTH really necessary for businesses and consumers and what are the stumbling blocks to rolling it out?

FTTH is necessary and very important for businesses and consumers in the UAE, especially since the country ranks the highest in terms of internet penetration in the region. At the same time, the stumbling blocks to FTTH blocks have been:

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• The customer’s availability and willingness to install Optical Network Terminal (ONT) in his/her home.

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• Putting fibre in the relevant areas where it is needed.

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• The ability to monetise from an early stage.

Maen Haddad, Director/Product Marketing, Etisalat

For more interviews, click here.

The region’s most senior executives from leading companies including Etisalat, STC, Zain, Mobily, Google, Batelco and many more will gather at Broadband MEA to discuss the successes, challenges and future opportunities with providing broadband services in their respective markets.

The event this year will particularly throw a spotlight on improving the customer experience, exploring the business models, strategies and innovative services required to maintain customer happiness and loyalty.

The conference, which takes place from 19 – 20 March, has a speaker line-up, that includes Khalid ElKouly, CMO at Etisalat, UAE; Jon French, Vice President Middle East and Africa, HTC; Ahmed Al-Sulaiti, CTO, Qatar National Broadband Network, Qatar; and Souhail Haddaji, VP – Marketing Commercial, du.

Broadband MEA’s programme also features The Executive Summit, an invitation only event which allows C-level decision makers to network and participate in highly valuable discussions about the issues facing the industry today. 2013’s agenda also includes the first Interactive Broadband Expert Bar, which invites visitors to sit down with the region’s leading analysts and business experts to gain a greater understanding of the latest trends and technologies, future predictions and analysis of different markets.

Gavin Whitechurch, Executive Director at Informa Telecoms & Media, says: “Broadband MEA is evolving every year which echoes the forward-moving industry throughout the region. With the return of the Executive Summit, the fantastic quality of the speakers and its co-location with Cloud World Forum MENA, 2013 looks to be the best Broadband MEA yet.”

For the first time the event will also be co-located with the Cloud World Forum MENA event, giving attendees access to a wider and more diverse network of companies showcasing their products and services.

To view the full event programme and register for Broadband MEA, visit http://mea.broadbandworldforum.com/