An ITP Media Group Publication www.commsmea.com Critical analysis for telecommunications executive JUNE-AUGUST 2020 Download the free CommsMEA app and be the fi rst to read the latest issue on your mobile devices. We speak to Red Hat’s SVP and GM for EMEA, to fi nd out why open source technology will be the bedrock of future innovation in the region SPECIAL REPORT: Is Dynamic Spectrum Sharing the key to unlocking 5G returns for operators? OPEN SOURCE: THE CRUCIAL CATALYST FOR INNOVATION & DISRUPTION REGIONAL FOCUS: Telcos and suppliers boost collaboration to provide cutting edge connectivity during the Covid 19 pandemic3www.commsmea.com CONTENTS JUNE-AUGUST 2020 CommsMEA June-August 2020 For more stories and analysis, visit commsmea.com. Twitter: @COMMSMEA 2430323440 Cover Story: We talk to Red Hat about innovation and disruption in the open source network arena Interview: We talk to Orange’s innovation director to discover how the company is evolving beyond the limits of the traditional telco Regional Focus: We look at how operators across the MEA region are meeting the challenges of the Covid 19 pandemic Feature: The experts from Her- riot Watt discuss ways in which telcos are using AI and Machine Learning to automate their networks Analysis: We speak to the experts at ECI, to discuss the challenges of scaling up 5G networks in the MEA region News: Huawei claims that statistical computing will account for 80 per cent of global computing power within five years News: Japanese tech giant, Softbank, aims to sell off its stake in newly merged US telco T-Mobile News: India’s reliance Jio bags another US based invest- ment, bringing the total investments to nearly $9bn for the month Analysis: Orange Business Services look at how cloud banking is fast becoming a reality across Africa Special Report: Is Dynamic Spectrum Sharing the key to unlocking 5G revenues? 0610111215 34 32 30 40 24 Table of contents: June-August 2020 editionso are actually better motivated, more con- tent and even more productive. A recent study, published by Airtasker, found that remote workers remain produc- tive over the course of a typical working day for 10 minutes longer than their office based counterparts. Remote workers also end up putting in an additional 1.4 days of productive work time per month – which is equivalent to an additional 3 working weeks of productive time per year. So, could working from home be a win-win for employers and employees alike? Many analysts believe that the current Covid19 pandemic could well be the acid test that validates a whole range of smarter, remote working initiatives and practices. With more than 3.9 million cases of the Covid19 Coronavirus reported around the world, the pandemic shows no sign of abating, at least in the short term. Busi- nesses therefore need to formulate con- tingency plans that cater for the mid to long term prognosis. Businesses have never had more choice in terms of finding strategic partners for their digitalisation and remote working transformations than they do today. If in- dustry players can adapt to the demands of the current global pandemic, we may well witness permanent, radical change in the way that businesses choose to op- erate, with workers utilising a plethora of remote working tools and services. While there will undoubtedly be some short term pain, it’s just possible that the Coronavirus pandemic will turn out to be the biggest enabler of remote working initiatives – and that, in itself, has to be a good thing. While the current Covid 19 pandemic represents one of the biggest challenges to the global economy in a generation, there are reasons to think that, in the mid-to-long-term at least, it could have a positive impact on global commerce and international markets. Moreover, telcos and vendors are seeing sustained demand for their products and services. Essentially, connectivity will be the life blood that will keep economies ticking over as hundreds of millions of people across the world are forced to work and study from home. Many analysts believe that enterprises and business that survive the short term Despite the huge disruption of the Covid 19 pandemic, analysts suggest that the long term prognosis for enterprises in the region is good, provided they can adapt their business practices accordingly WELCOME TO THE NEW NORMAL By: Chris Kelly Businesses have never had more choice in terms of finding strategic partners for their digitalisation and remote working transformations than they do today.” About the author Chris Kelly is editor of CommsMEA. Got a comment? E-mail at: Chris.Kelly@itp.com pain of the pandemic, will emerge as leaner, more agile beasts, who are bet- ter able to meet and service the needs of their customers. One thing that the Covid 19 pandemic has proven is that the job you were previ- ously told could not be done remotely, can in fact be done entirely remotely. Thanks to a swathe of remote working solutions currently on the market, the modern work- force has never been better equipped to work from home. And whilst the industry has been histor- ically reticent to embrace work from home initiatives, there is plenty of research to suggest that workers who are allowed to do 4www.commsmea.com COMMENT EDITOR CommsMEA June-August 2020 For more stories, check out commsmea.com. Follow CommsMEA on Twitter: @COMMSMEA 5www.commsmea.com OPERATIONS UPDATE CommsMEA June-August 2020 Microsoft acquires Metaswitch Networks as it sharpens its 5G focus The US software giant will acquire Metaswitch Networks for an undisclosed fee MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS US software giant, Microsoft, has announced that it has reached a deal to acquire telecoms tech specialists Metaswitch Networks. The deal is being interpreted as a sign of Microsoft’s desire to play a more prominent role in helping telcos rollout and scale up their fledgling 5G offerings. The convergence of cloud and commu- nication networks presents a unique op- portunity for Microsoft to serve operators globally via continued investment in Azure, adding additional depth to our hyperscale cloud infrastructure with the specialised software required to run virtualised com- munication functions, applications and net- works,” said Yousef Khalidi, corporate vice president, Azure Networking, Microsoft, in an online blog post. Microsoft has been on something of an ac- quisition spree over the last twelve months, recently acquiring Affirmed Networks to boost its exposure to the telecoms sector. The gargantuan $31 billion acquisition of Red Hat, who already has an extensive port- folio of telco clients, was a real signal of in- tent from the US giant. “Microsoft intends to leverage the talent and technology of these two organisations, extending the Azure platform to both deploy and grow these capabilities at scale in a way that is secure, efficient and creates a sustain- able ecosystem,” he added. “As the industry moves to 5G, operators will have opportunities to advance the vir- tualisation of their core networks and move forward on a path to an increasingly cloud- native future. Microsoft will continue to meet customers where they are, working together with the industry as operators and network equipment providers evolve their own operations.” The current Covid19 Coronavirus pan- demic will necessitate far closer collabora- tion between telcos, software developers and their digital enterprise customers, if all three hope to make a return on their sizable 5G investments. Public, private and hybrid cloud offer- ings, powered by next generation telecom- munications networks will help enterprises around the world to fast track their digitali- sation programmes and will allow telcos and software developers to own a bigger slice of the managed services market. The digi- talisation is a win-win for telcos, software developers and their enterprise customers, across the board. With the multi billion dollar investments that telcos have made in their next generation network infrastructure, they were already looking to make as fast a return on their in- vestment as possible. With the possibility of challenging market conditions looming large for the foreseeable future, as a result of the economic slowdown bought about by the global Covid19 pandemic, partnerships and closer working relationships with industry players become all the more important. “We have a long history of working with operators as they increasingly embrace software-based solutions and continue to support the advancement of cloud-based networking while helping create new part- nership opportunities for existing network equipment providers. Our intention over time is to create modern alternatives to net- work infrastructure, enabling operators to deliver existing and value-added services – with greater cost efficiency and lower capital investment than they’ve faced in the past,” Khalidi concluded. The deal will help Microso broaden its work with telcos around the world. For more stories, check out commsmea.com. Follow CommsMEA on Twitter: @COMMSMEA Huawei: Ubiquitous computing will usher in a new era of connected societies In a new industry report, the Chinese tech giant claims that statistical computing will account for 80 per cent of global computing power within five years COMPUTING Statistical computing will account for 80 per cent of all computing power used around the world, within five years, ushering in a new age of ubiquitous, intelligent computing, say experts at Chinese tech giant, Huawei. “The technologies behind computing and connectivity are progressing by leaps and bounds every day, and they will soon pave the way for a world where all things sense, all things are connected, and all things are intelligent. Ubiquitous comput- ing power will be the cornerstone of this future world,” said Liang Hua, chairman of Huawei’s Board of Directors. Hua claims that in order for telcos and businesses to access the computing power they need to power their next gen- eration networks, the industry’s key play- ers must work in a collaborative fashion to master three key concepts, outlined in the company’s new research paper, Statistical computing will revolutionise connectivity in the years to come, according to Huawei. Ubiquitous computing power: The corner- stone of an intelligent society. PER CAPITA COMPUTING POWER In his introduction to the report, Hua ar- gues that per capita computing power can be used as an indicator for how far a country is down the road to digitalisation. In much the same way as per capita GDP is used to measure the economic strength of a coun- try, per capita computing power can be used 6www.commsmea.com UPDATE OPERATIONS CommsMEA June-August- 2020 For more stories, check out commsmea.com. Follow CommsMEA on Twitter: @COMMSMEA Liang Hua, chairman of Huawei’s Board of Directors. to quantify a country’s commitment to their digital economy and Smart City initiatives. “Currently, per capita computing power in major countries and regions ranges from 100 to 2,500 GFLOPS. Nevertheless, places with high per capita computing power are still in the very early stages of their intelli- gent journey; they will enter the next stage of growth – the developing stage – only when their per capita computing power sur- passes 10,000 GFLOPS,” Hua said. Hua claims that ubiquitous comput- ing power will be the keystone upon which our future lives are built, underpinning The technologies behind computing and connectivity are progressing by leaps and bounds every day, and they will soon pave the way for a world where all things sense, all things are connected, and all things are intelligent. Ubiquitous computing power will be the cornerstone of this future world.” Liang Hua, chairman of Huawei’s Board of Directors. Currently, per capita computing power in major countries and regions ranges from 100 to 2,500 GFLOPS. Nevertheless, places with high per capita computing power are still in the very early stages of their intelligent journey; they will enter the next stage of growth – the developing stage – only when their per capita computing power surpasses 10,000 GFLOPS.” Liang Hua, chairman of Huawei’s Board of Directors. the connectivity that facilitates everything from the car we drive, to the smart building we work in. “Just like the wide adoption of electricity, which laid the foundation for an industrial society, ubiquitous computing power will become the cornerstone of an intelligent society,” he said. BUILDING A DIVERSIFIED COMPUT- ING POWER ECOSYSTEM The second pillar of Hua’s vision for an in- telligent connected society, is building a di- versified computing power ecosystem. The connected world of tomorrow will see a far more diverse range of application scenarios and data types than in our current digital landscape, which will call for a far more di- versified computing power architecture. “If we hope to succeed in building a pros- perous and diversified computing power ecosystem, we will need new innovation in the underlying architecture and greater collaboration between customers, industry partners, and developers. This is the only way to build out the ecosystem more rapidly and provide new momentum for the com- puting industry as a whole,” he said. Amongst others, Hua sites The European Processor Initiative (EPI) as a key example of the type of collaboration that is needed to build on the foundations for an intelligent connected society. “As of January 2020, [the EPI] has gath- ered 27 partners from 10 European coun- tries who work together across a number of domains, including R&D, production, and application scenarios for computing and chips. This has helped to promote robust development in the European computing industry through more concerted cross- sector collaboration,” he explained. INVESTING IN STATISTICAL COMPUTING It sounds obvious but if statistical comput- ing is to be the lynchpin that holds together our future connected society, it will require some pretty significant investment in the near to mid term. “Investing in computing power will pro- mote innovation, boost economic growth, and improve people’s lives, raising the overall competitiveness of many nations,” Hua said. Hua argues that investing in statisti- cal computing now will positively impact economic growth for economies around the world, by boosting the performance of local ICT industries but also by streamlin- ing operational expense in a plethora of related industries, including agriculture, energy, scientific research and healthcare. “Investments in computing power should be placed on a national strategic level, as well as planned and implemented strategically. In China, we have already begun enjoying the fruits of more read- ily available computing power. Every day, nearly 900 million people in China – from bustling cities to remote villages – can pay for anything, anywhere with a tightly inte- grated mobile payment ecosystem. From paying for meals and transportation with QR codes, to shopping online and in brick- and-mortar shops alike, each payment is completed instantly – a feat that would not be possible without widespread connec- tions and computing,” he said. 7www.commsmea.com OPERATIONS UPDATE CommsMEA June-August 2020 For more stories, check out commsmea.com. Follow CommsMEA on Twitter: @COMMSMEA Ericsson CEO: Now more than ever, connectivity is key Ericsson’s president and CEO highlighted the importance of connectivity during times of crisis and the opportunity we now have to rethink the role of networks in the future CONNECTIVITY Speaking from his home over a videocon- ference link, Ericsson’s president and CEO, Börje Ekholm, delivered a keynote speech that kicked off Ericsson’s UnBoxed Office event and heralded the dawn of a new age of ubiquitous connectivity in the post Covid 19 world. “Our absolute highest priority remains the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, our customers and our part- ners,” said Ekholm reflecting on the ongo- ing COVID-19 crisis. “We are working hard to do what we can to contribute to the efforts to contain and slow down the pandemic.” Ekholm stressed the importance of strong and reliable communications net- works in the current environment and on staying close to customers and providing them with the best possible connectivity and network quality. “Even when a country goes into lock- down, our engineers are still active in order to keep the networks up and run- ning,” he said. Ekholm provided a few examples of where Ericsson engineers have been on the front-line providing support for essential services including connectivity for hospi- tals in Wuhan, China and contributing to an AI data challenge with the US government. He also highlighted the transformative changes that have been going on in the net- works over the past 2 months. That shift has seen traffic move rapidly from business areas to residential areas over just a matter of days. In many networks, traffic has in- creased upwards of 20 percent. Börje Ekholm, Ericsson’s president and CEO, says that connectivity is the glue holding together the world’s digital economy. 8www.commsmea.com UPDATE OPERATIONS CommsMEA June-August- 2020 For more stories, check out commsmea.com. Follow CommsMEA on Twitter: @COMMSMEA Even with stay at home orders in place over much of the globe, Ericsson was able to move employees who operate customer networks from its global Network Opera- tion Centers to home with zero impact on performance levels. Ericsson made the transition to remote work globally already at the beginning of March and now has 85,000 employees routinely working from home. THE IMPORTANCE OF NETWORK QUALITY “More than ever, connectivity is key. With the spread of COVID-19, fixed and mo- bile telecommunications networks have become an even bigger part of the critical infrastructure, showing the importance of quality in the connectivity,” said Ekholm. In a recent study based on 4G life cycle data from more than thirty countries, Er- icsson analysed the correlation between network quality and financial perfor- mance. It concluded that network qual- ity is a powerful way to drive lower churn rate and increase the average revenue per user (ARPU). “When we looked across all service pro- viders, not just leaders, network quality cor- related with increased ARPU and reduced churn. Put simply, investing in network quality keeps subscribers happy.” 5G offers service providers an opportuni- ty to gain first-mover advantage and create More than ever, connectivity is key. With the spread of COVID-19, fixed and mobile telecommunications networks have become an even bigger part of the critical infrastructure, showing the importance of quality in the connectivity.” Ericsson’s president and CEO, Börje Ekholm. a significant network performance gap with the competition,” Ekholm said. “We are already seeing early signs of ser- vice providers monetizing the 5G opportu- nity, with positive ARPU trends and grow- ing revenues in pioneering 5G markets,” he added. THE FUTURE OF 5G Given the importance of connectivity, and 5G in particular as critical national infra- structure, Ekholm believes that it is in the public interest to ensure that pervasive, high quality, affordable and secure net- works are available when and wherever they may be required. “5G will unlock the potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and will be the corner- stone upon which a country’s relative com- petitiveness is built. While 4G gave us the app economy, 5G will be the greatest open innovation platform ever,” he says. Ekholm added that 5G will drive expo- nential public and private sector value including efficiencies in public services and new and more effective modes of delivery, for example in healthcare, education, trans- port and disaster control. “It is vital that public policy supports a narrowing of the digital divide. Govern- ments should ensure that every citizen and business will enjoy the benefits of the 5G era equally.” This includes, according to Ekholm, countries developing a common and ho- listic policy that maximises investment incentives for the private sector. It also includes making sufficient 5G spectrum available as soon as possible and optimising spectrum assignments to deliver expansive 5G connectivity. “In this time of crisis, we are prouder than ever of our people, the ones who are helping us connect the world. We have the best people in the industry, and I know I speak for all Ericsson employees when I say that we are, and will continue to be, a sig- nificant company on the world stage.” Ericsson currently has more than 85,000 staff working from home, according to Ekholm. 9www.commsmea.com OPERATIONS UPDATE CommsMEA June-August 2020Next >