Interviews

Nokia is one of the world’s leading telecommunication vendors and it has adopted a progressive approach to a new industry vertical that has emerged in the last number of years, which is the development of smart cities on a global scale.

The Finnish ICT leader has formulated a cohesive and coherent plan in relation to smart cities in an effort to position itself as a major player in the smart cities ecosystem.

At the 11th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit, we managed to secure an exclusive interview with Head of Global Smart City Solutions at Nokia, Dr. Muneer Zuhdi.

In a brilliant interview, the Nokia executive predicted which technologies he feels will propel the entire smart city movement on a global scale, highlighted his own roles and responsibilities at the Finnish vendor, explained what differentiated Nokia from its competitors and outlined his objectives and goals for 2019.

The world of ICT was once a male-dominated environment, but the landscape has changed significantly over the years. Telecom Review aims to celebrate that diversity and the shifting of demographics in the telecommunications and technology industry by conducting a special series of interviews every month which are entitled ‘Women in ICT’.

In this month’s feature, we managed to secure an exclusive interview with Wassan Athamina, Head of Alliance Management, ME, Africa & Balkans at PCCW Global. We spoke to her at the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit 2018, where she was a moderator for a panel discussion that focused on the challenges emerging in the cybersecurity space.

In a brilliant interview, the PCCW Global executive conceded that whilst the ICT industry had made great strides in terms of gender equality and fairness, it still had a lot of work to do. In addition to this, she spoke of her gratitude to PCCW Global for being afforded such a senior position within the organization, and outlined her objectives and goals within her role over the next twelve months.

MATRIXX has enjoyed phenomenal growth in the Middle East market over the last number of years, since entering the region in 2015. Its success in the Middle East is largely down to the role played by Ali Harfouche, Vice President, & Head of Sales, MEA. 

Dr. Ahmed Bin Ali, SVP, Corporate Communications, Etisalat Group highlighted the focus this year at the GITEX Technology Week, ‘Driving the Digital Future to Empower Societies’, built on a vision to provide futuristic solutions and services that will have a fundamental impact on people’s lives.

The UAE leadership wants 25percent of all transportation in the country to be autonomous by 2030 - and according to Dr. Bin Ali, Etisalat will be a key enabler in helping the government execute its ambitious objectives.

In an exclusive interview Dr. Bin Ali also disclosed the operator’s plans for 5G rollout next year

Telecom Review managed to secure an exclusive interview with Farid Faraidooni, Deputy CEO – Enterprise Solutions at EITC – and under his dynamic and innovative leadership the telco has become the go-to company for businesses and government entities seeking digitalization.

In a compelling and forthright interview, the Deputy CEO outlined the importance of some of the major announcements and solutions unveiled by du during GITEX, its strategic vision for the future and how its increased focus on emerging technologies such as AI, Machine Learning and Blockchain will ensure it remains the main driver of the digital future in the UAE.

CommScope is a global leader in providing wireless solutions and innovations to the telecommunications industry. During GITEX Technology Week, Telecom Review managed to secure an exclusive interview with Femi Oshiga, Vice President of Service Providers in the Middle East & Africa.

Oshiga is without doubt one of the company’s most visionary and dynamic figures and played a huge role in solidifying CommScope as a leading player in the wireless market. In a brilliantly forthright interview, the VP for Service Providers in the MENA region highlighted some of the latest innovations that CommScope was exhibiting at GITEX and outlined why it’s One-Cell (C-RAN) solution would help operators provide connectivity to thousands of homes when 5G is commercially deployed.

Oracle has been providing leading edge capabilities in software as a service, platform as a service, infrastructure as a service, and data as a service for hundred thousands of customers all over the world, which has placed it as a leader in the ICT field. Senior vice president – Technology, Middle East and Africa at Oracle, Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban told Telecom Review in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of GITEX Technology Week 2018, how he sees the company’s role in the Middle East. He also explained the process of shifting to the hybrid cloud, which something many companies are considering.

Huawei is accelerating digital transformation in the Middle East through the development of 5G technologies, its AI portfolio and smart cities strategy. Telecom Review spoke with Safder Nazir, Regional Vice President - Digital Industries Strategy, Huawei during GITEX 2018 to know more about Huawei 5G Ecosystem Conference that was organized in the framework of the Huawei Middle East 3rd Innovation Day. He also highlighted Huawei’s contribution at