< PreviousWe sat down with Saad Ouchkir, head of customer engineering META at Google Cloud to discuss how the conversation around cloud security has shifted towards data encryption and to understand how regional privacy regulations apply to an organisation’s compliance requirements WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF AC- CELERATED CLOUD ADOPTION? HOW CAN IT IMPACT AN ORGANISATION’S EXISTING SECURITY STRATEGY? Saad Ouchkir: While organisations have been turning to public cloud for cost saving and the agility offered by managed services on public cloud platforms, we see more or- ganisations considering public cloud for its security capabilities. In fact these organi- sations are realising that the economies of scale allow cloud providers to invest more in people and processes to help deliver a secure infrastructure. Organisations can build a robust secu- rity posture by leveraging security capa- bilities that are available natively on their cloud platform of choice and building their own security processes on top of it to make sure that they offer the best security for their customers. HOW CAN ORGANISATIONS AVOID COMMON SECURITY MISTAKES WHEN THEY MOVE TO THE CLOUD? SO: It’s very important to understand the shared responsibility model that’s offered by cloud providers. While these providers offer state of the art security for the under- lying infrastructure that their customers are using, it’s the customer’s responsibility to use security features and best practices offered by their cloud providers to secure their data. To give you an example: Cloud providers offer identity and access management capa- bilities as well as multi-factor authentica- tion to secure access to the data stored on their infrastructure and allow their custom- ers to control who has access to what, but if the customer doesn’t use these capabilities they might put their data at risk. With working from home becoming the new norm and the ubiquity of SaaS applica- tions, it’s very important to educate both security administrators and end users on the importance of security. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT WAYS TO ENHANCE CLOUD SECURITY FOR MISSION CRITICAL BUSINESS APPLICATIONS? SO: When using public cloud for your mis- sion critical business applications you ben- efit from a robust infrastructure and relia- ble SLAs that boost the performance. When it comes to security, there are things that you need to pay attention to: Your data must be encrypted all the 20www.commsmea.com INTERVIEW GOOGLE CLOUD CommsMEA December 2020 CLOUDS ARE SECURE: ARE YOU USING THEM SECURELY?time, at rest when the data is stored on the disks and in transit when data is trans- ferred. At Google Cloud we have introduced Confidential Computing which allows our customers to encrypt the data even while it’s being processed. As more business applications are hosted in the cloud, it’s very important to shift access controls from the network perimeter to indi- vidual users and devices using the zero trust security model. We’ve been using that model for years internally at Google and we recently made our implementation of zero trust avail- able to our customers allowing their employ- ees and contractors to access mission critical business applications remotely without the need for a traditional VPN. PLEASE HIGHLIGHT THE KEY COMPLIANCE CHALLENGES WHEN OPERATING IN THE CLOUD. SO: When moving to the cloud organi- sations have the double challenge of protecting sensitive applications while achieving and maintaining compliance with regulatory and industrial require- ments. For this reason, it’s important to choose a cloud vendor that undergoes sev- eral independent third-party audits on a regular basis to provide compliance with key international standards. Regulations such as GDPR place signifi- cant emphasis on enterprises knowing how their data is being processed, who has ac- cess to data, and how security incidents will be managed. For this reason we have dedi- cated teams of engineers and compliance experts at Google Cloud who support our customers in meeting their regulatory com- pliance and risk management obligations. One of the requirements that some regulated companies in our region have to comply with is the requirement to host cus- tomer data in-country. At Google Cloud we have designed a hybrid cloud technology called Anthos that allows our customers to benefit from the agility of cloud native technology while storing customer data on premise. We’ve partnered with Moro Hub, fast growing cloud service provider and one of Digital DEWA companies, to host work- loads in their Tier-III Green Data Centre in Dubai using Anthos. SECURING CLOUD IS A PRIORITY FOR BOTH CLOUD-NATIVES AND THOSE EMBARKING ON THEIR CLOUD JOURNEY. HOW WILL THEIR CLOUD SECURITY STRATEGY BE SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT? FURTHER, WHAT DOES THIS STRATEGY LOOK LIKE? SO: Cloud native companies have the advantage of starting with a clean slate. They don’t have legacy systems that they need to maintain. This allows them to use cloud native technologies with built-in security features. This doesn’t mean that other compa- nies can’t make use of the cloud in a se- cure way. At Google Cloud we make sure to meet our customers where they are. We run assessments to understand their cur- rent state and we help them throughout their cloud journey. We designed a Cloud Adoption Frame- work to help our customers move to the cloud with confidence. It articulates around three components: People, Pro- cesses and Technology and focuses on key capabilities that organisations need to develop in order to succeed in their cloud adoption. Two of these capabilities that I find essential are upskilling IT staff and building a secure landing zone for their applications in the cloud. ARE THERE SECURITY GAPS IN CLOUD PLATFORMS THAT CYBER ATTACKERS MAY LEVERAGE? SO: Cloud providers put a lot of effort into building state-of-the-art data centres and the most sophisticated security systems and processes. At Google, security is part of our culture, all employees receive on- going security training throughout their Google careers. Our dedicated security team includes some of the world’s foremost experts in information, application and network security. We specifically built a full-time team, known as Project Zero that aims to prevent targeted attacks by report- ing bugs to software vendors. The shift to remote work has created an opportunity for cyber attackers to target users through increasingly sophisticated phishing attacks that try to steal their pass- words. For this reason we encourage our customers to use phishing-resistant physi- cal two-factor authentication devices like security keys that use public key cryptogra- phy to verify a user’s identity. HOW CAN ORGANISATIONS EN- SURE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RIGHT SECURITY ARCHITECTURE TO WITHSTAND SUCH ATTACKS? SO: An organisation’s security posture is only as strong as its weakest link. As we work with our customers, we help them tailor a security solution that covers mul- tiple aspects: Technology of course, but also their processes and people, increas- ing awareness of phishing, and helping the users to identify such attacks is impor- tant. We also encourage our customers to make the use of anti-phishing two-factor authentication devices compulsory for all their users. And when designing their re- mote applications access, we encourage them to shift their access controls from the network perimeter to the use of “zero- trust” paradigm where no network device is trusted by default, even if it’s connected to the corporate network. Follow us on Twitter: @GoogleCloud_ME Learn more about Google Cloud’s security solutions: cloud.google.com/security Saad Ouchkir, head of customer engineering META, at Google Cloud. 21www.commsmea.com GOOGLE CLOUD INTERVIEW CommsMEA December 2020HOW HAVE OPERATORS IN THE MIDDLE EAST FAIRED ON 5G IN 2020? The spread of Covid 19 during the first part of 2020 has impacted all parts of society, including the telecommunications sector. While 5G subscription growth in some markets has slowed as a result of the pandemic, this is outweighed by other markets where it is accelerating. Commercial 5G deployments launched in the region in 2019, mainly in the Gulf countries. As 5G offers greater throughput and lower latency, it will bring more use cases CommsMEA spoke to Chafic Traboulsi, head of networks for Ericsson in the Middle East and Africa, to find out how operators in the region are progressing with their 5G rollout plans, despite the impact of the global Covid 19 pandemic to Internet of Things (IoT), enabling massive connectivity and allowing new applications for consumers and enterprises such as smart vehicles and transport architecture, remote healthcare and new levels of human-IoT interaction. In times of crisis, when connectivity is important for consumers to carry out work- and leisure-related activities, expectations for better network experiences become higher. A study conducted by Ericsson Consumer Lab found that six in 10 smartphone users have a clear positive attitude towards the role 5G could have played during the crisis, and about half of them strongly agree that 5G could have offered both better network capacity and higher speeds compared to 4G. They also believe that society overall could have benefited from 5G. There was a similar level of agreement related to 5G’s role from a medical perspective. For example, medical specialists could have used 5G to control medical equipment via remote centers or 5G-enabled robots could have carried out tests, reducing the time medical staff need to spend in infectious spaces. INTERVIEW ERICSSON 22www.itp.netCommsMEA December 2020 Traboulsi predicts that there will be around 80 million 5G subscribers in the region by 2025. HOW CAN TELCOS PREPARE FOR THE STEP UP TO SA 5G? As we prepare to exit the crisis caused by Covid-19, there is a need to restart economies and make strategic, forward looking investments which we suggest must include the future digital infrastructure. As critical national infrastructure, ICT and next generation mobile technologies will be key determinants for long-term competitiveness of the general economy, and act as a stimulant to accelerate economic growth, attract future investments and speed up technology innovation. We believe countries must prioritise actions to incentivise investments in the digital infrastructure, to include lowering the cost and speeding up the availability of spectrum. In addition, the impact of the current broadband realities on the scale of communications requires regulatory assessment as well as policy and regulatory attention. In the Middle East, most of the regulators in the GCC have responded positively and well to this call of action and we currently see that the GCC area is one of the 3 global 5G coverage hotspots. In Africa, major policy challenges remain; for the region to create the conditions for large-scale digitalisation investments. HOW WILL 5G TAKE UP LEVELS REACT TO THE PANDEMIC? IS IT INHIBITING ROLLOUT? Despite the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, service providers continued to switch on 5G, and more than 65 of them have now announced commercial live 5G service launches. We have increased our estimate for the number of 5G subscriptions globally, and now forecast about 190 million by the end of 2020. This is mainly due to a faster uptake in China than previously expected. For other parts of the world, slight downward adjustments have been made due to the effects of the pandemic. For example, several spectrum auctions in Europe have been delayed, with a slower uptake of 5G subscriptions in the near term expected as a result. In the Middle East and North Africa region, significant volumes are expected in 2021 and the region is likely to reach around 80 million 5G subscriptions by 2025, representing around 10 percent of total mobile subscriptions. ERICSSON INTERVIEW 23www.itp.netCommsMEA December 2020Commercial availability of 5G not only offers great potential to transform cities and industries, but it enables connectivity as a basic human right; fostering inclusion and making a positive, sustainable economic impact. HOW CAN DYNAMIC SPECTRUM SHARING HELP OPERATORS IN AFRICA GET A FOOT IN THE DOOR AND LAUNCH THEIR FLEDGLING 5G SERVICES NEXT YEAR? In Africa, the evolution of 4G into 5G could be a powerful economic growth engine, particularly as this advanced mobile technology is deployed looking into improving productivity in key vertical industrial sectors. As an augmentation of current mobile technologies, 5G could consequently ensure significant economic advantages for Africa’s citizens. If leveraged for good, the introduction of 5G and expansion of LTE networks across Africa can accelerate this process exponentially. DSS with Ericsson is the quickest and most cost- effective way to ensure 5G launch and coverage. As you might already know, Ericsson radios that are from 2016 and newer support 5G with DSS. Ericsson is working with key service providers across the continent, helping them create new services, new customer bases and new digital ecosystems. At the forefront of the digital transformation, MTN selected Ericsson as a 5G vendor for the deployment of a live 5G network in Africa. As a partner, Ericsson is deploying next-generation technology with built-in customisations and innovations to deliver rich consumer experience while building a robust, future-proof network. The 5G-ready solutions in the Ericsson Radio System portfolio will help boost the capacity of MTN’s LTE network and broaden the availability of high-quality mobile broadband services for its subscribers. In a related development, Telma Madagascar switched on their 5G commercial network to offer subscribers high-speed services enabled by the new generation of mobile connectivity. Powered by Ericsson, the 5G network is now live in parts of Madagascar. With the ambition of supporting the acceleration of Africa’s digitisation journey, we are working jointly with our customers - the service providers - and other stakeholders across the continent to enable #AfricaInMotion. Ericsson is working with key service providers across the continent, helping them create new services, new customer bases and new digital ecosystems. Ericsson is proud to contribute to Africa’s journey to building communication capabilities of the future and complement its efforts towards a vibrant digital economy. Our solutions help African service providers to automate, manage, and orchestrate hybrid networks in real time, while they engage digitally with customers and monetise improved customer experiences. In the Middle East and North Africa region, significant volumes are expected in 2021 and the region is likely to reach around 80 million 5G subscriptions by 2025, representing around 10 per cent of total mobile subscriptions.” Chafic Traboulsi, head of networks for Ericsson in the Middle East and Africa. Ericsson is working with operators across the region to help roll out 5G at scale. INTERVIEW ERICSSON 24www.itp.netCommsMEA December 2020ALLOW AUDIO TO TRULY CONNECT Next floor. Next city. Next continent. When the audio between conference callers works the way it should, distances become irrelevant. But when it fails, those distances are really felt. With a choice of solutions from Shure, you’ll be able to offer your users reliable audio technology that supports seamless collaboration. As if everyone’s in the same room. The way it should be. Finally, users will feel truly connected. © 2020 Shure Incorporated. See shure.com/trademarks. Discover our range of conferencing audio solutions at effortless.shure.com26www.itp.netCommsMEA December 2020 COVER STORY VIRGIN MOBILES27www.itp.netCommsMEA December 2020 VIRGIN MOBILES COVER STORY CommsMEA spoke with Virgin Mobile MEA’s group CEO, Erik Dudman Nielsen, to find out how his company plans to expand its operations across the GCC and help other businesses to go digital VIRGIN MOBILE LEADS THE MEA REGION’S DIGITAL CHARGE WITH MVNO LAUNCH IN KUWAIT Since launching the region’s first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) via its FRiENDi brand in Oman, Virgin Mobile has racked up a wealth of experience. The company also has a sizable presence in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, building a com- bined customer base of more than 3 mil- lion customers across the three markets. In an exclusive interview with Comms- MEA, Erik Dudman Nielsen, group CEO for Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa, reveals that Virgin Mobile is set to launch services to customers in Kuwait, further consolidating its reputation as the region’s biggest MVNO. Now, Virgin Mobile is keen to share its digital expertise with MNOs across the region, sharing best practice and valuable insights with prospective operators and service providers. “Since launching in Oman in 2009 with our FRiENDi Mobile brand, Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa has become the fast- est growing MVNO player in the Middle East & Africa region, now serving over 3 million customers with our own opera- tions in the KSA and Oman and including our B-Brand arrangement in the UAE through Emirates Integrated Telecommu- nications Company (EITC). “We believe the secret behind this suc- cess lies with our dedication to driving two core focuses in our business – segmentation and digitalisation: dedicated target seg- mentation to drive customer insights and create propositions to address the needs of specific market segments, delivered with an unwavering focus on customer experience through our unique digital platforms. “Our ability to develop marketing strat- egies and service offerings that target sub- segments of the telecom market, thereby reaching out to a wide scale of different customer segments, has been proven by our own dual brand strategy with FRiENDi Mo- bile and Virgin Mobile, which allows Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa to deliver a be- spoke experience targeted at different cus- tomer groups, thereby meeting the specific needs of those audiences to create high cus- tomer satisfaction,” he explained. It is this ability to deliver targeted, bespoke services through its individual brands which has allowed Virgin Mobile to grow at such an impressive rate. Its array of targeted offerings allows it to appeal to the specific needs of the Middle East’s various demographic groups. “Our FRiENDi brand was created for the region to provide an affordable mobile ser- vice targeted at key Asian and sub-continent ethnic groups. It was designed specifically to target their basic international commu- nications needs, with a focus on price lead- ership on ‘home country’ destinations and flexible basic data packages. This dedicated mobile service is designed to meet not only their core communication needs, but also to provide a customer service journey dedi- cated to delivering a superior experience to this often-under-served segment. “Our Virgin Mobile brand on the other hand, is design to attract more data-centric consumers who are catered to with excit- ing offers, new value-added services, data packs, and excellent customer service. It appeals more to western and Arab expats and locals and is becoming more and more focused on digital disruption to deliver a service that fits seamlessly into the lives of this digitally savvy population,” he said. INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF MVNOS With its extensive experience in the region, Virgin Mobile is now turning its attention to helping other operators develop their own portfolio of digital services across the region. “As an MVNO operating in multiple countries, we are expert in systems in- tegration and have the agility to move quickly to address consumer trends. By connecting with existing mobile networks, we bring new innovations and features to the market much faster than traditional telcos, enabling us to complement operator offerings by developing marketing strate- gies and service offerings that target sub- segments of the telecom market,” Dudman Nielsen explained. “For example, the business model for Virgin Mobile in the UAE, established in partnership with EITC, has been resolute from day one. With consumers choosing to spend more and more of their lives on digi- tal platforms, we wanted to build customer relationships, and therefore experiences, digitally, with the objective to elevate the customer experience to a new level and create a compelling new brand experience. With digitisation at the heart of our offer, the cost of onboarding new customers drops dramatically and the average rev-28www.itp.netCommsMEA December 2020 COVER STORY VIRGIN MOBILES enue per user (ARPU) has risen to twice the market average. The value the Virgin Mobile brand adds to EITC’s success is not measured only in increased revenue but also in providing a service complemen- tary to du’s value proposition, positioning the company as a significant leader in the UAE’s telecommunications and broader economic landscape. “The success behind these digital plat- forms comes from our ability and exper- tise to commercially deploy our digital platform – not only have we built a digital platform to deliver a world class digital experience that can be quickly and easily replicated for other markets, but we also have the experience and learnings too, which translates into a knowledge of run- ning a digital commercial operation, re- ducing the risk for MNOs looking to going digital, and allowing us to deliver a digital platform with speed and efficiency. The cost of building a digital proposition from scratch is not insignificant, and often such programmes can face major challenges both in securing resources and in integrat- ing these platforms with inflexible legacy systems. These are some of the headaches we are trying to remove,” he added. Virgin Mobile provides a range of off- the-shelf solutions to help companies fast track their own digitalisation ini- tiatives, by leveraging its own in-house Digital Factory. “At the heart of our award-winning fully digital proposition is our in-house Digital Factory, established to bring together the best-in-breed digital talent. This dedicated team has developed Virgin Mobile’s pro- prietary digital platform, which comprises all the core elements of running a mobile operation with a fully functional digital customer experience – i.e. not only the cus- tomer-facing application, but also all the back-end underlying technology too. “As an MVNO, we have always had to focus on our internal efficiencies to man- age costs and improve speed to market. So when we built a digital platform to deliver a world class digital experience, we built it with the intention of having it quickly and easily replicable for other markets, with the ability to deploy within a few months depending on the level of integration com- plexity,” he explained. EXPANDING ACROSS THE GCC Without doubt, Virgin Mobile’s decision to launch full MVNO services in Kuwait will be one of the biggest developments in the telecoms sector, in a year that has not been short of big stories. The move will see Virgin Mobile launch services in Ku- wait through both its Virgin Mobile and FRiENDi brands. “Following a few delays due to Covid, we are very excited to announce that, following a call for application in November 2019, we have been awarded a preliminary licence to launch both our Virgin Mobile and FRiEN- Di mobile brands in Kuwait. We were the first successful MVNO to obtain the pre- liminary telecommunications licence and this will be the first new MVNO license to be granted to any operator in the Middle East region since our own game changing entry into the UAE, with our innovative B-Brand partnership with EITC, in 2017 and we are thrilled to be bringing our unique offer- ing and exceptional customer experience to the country, making it the third mar- ket in the GCC to experience our amazing digital proposition. “Our presence in Kuwait, following oth- er successful launches in the GCC, is part of our ongoing commitment to always pro- vide more choices for consumers as well as to push the boundaries of traditional telco with our innovative propositions. We be- lieve Virgin Mobile’s launch in Kuwait will usher in a new era in connectivity and cus- tomer-led service never seen before and we cannot wait to bring our brands to market in the first part of 2021,” he added. Virgin Mobile also has one eye on Bah- rain as it looks to expand its reach across the GCC still further. “The GCC region has some of the top countries in the world for digital adoption, with more than 100 per cent smartphone penetration and more than 70 per cent so- cial media adoption—even higher than the United States – so there is a definite demand for more digital propositions in the region, which is only increasing as the global pan- demic continues. Virgin Mobile fills this space perfectly, so we are excited to strength- en our strategic expansion in the region and are looking at the rest of the GCC markets, in [In Kuwait] we were the first successful MVNO to obtain a preliminary licence and this will be the first new MVNO license to be granted to any operator in the Middle East since our own game changing entry into the UAE, with our innovative B-Brand partnership with EITC.” 29www.itp.netCommsMEA December 2020 VIRGIN MOBILES COVER STORY particular Bahrain, with interest. “We have also been approached by some interested parties from North Af- rica, which is another area of interest and huge potential for us, especially with our B-Brand model.” BOOSTING USER EXPERIENCE THROUGH DIGITALISATION IN A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD Undoubtedly, the Covid 19 pandemic has sharpened consumers appetites for digi- tal services. Likewise, it has highlighted the importance of telcos continuing with their own digitalisation efforts. Connec- tivity has been the very lifeblood that has enabled people to live full, remote, digital lives during the pandemic. Consumers will continue to demand similar interactions in the post-pandemic world and, as a result, telcos across the region are looking to fast track their own digitalisation initiatives. “With the coronavirus pandemic push- ing the world to adopt new norms in con- ducting business as well as providing ser- vices, the telecommunications sector too has had to redesign its ways. While telcos have historically been more resilient to economic uncertainties, the current pan- demic is unprecedented in the affect it is having on consumer behaviours, as the world looks more and more to digital so- lutions, reshaping consumer demand at a rapid pace,” Dudman Nielsen explained. “Operators clearly understand the need to deliver superior digital experience. However, they also acknowledge the chal- lenges of legacy systems & lack of relevant skills, besides any innovation & culture limitations, which is where B-Brand mod- els and Virgin Mobile’s digital expertise come into play. “We have seen across all sectors that customers rate digital experience. Digital experience drives higher NPS over a tradi- tional experience, resulting in higher rec- ommendation and revenues – indeed digi- tal service NPS scores are on average four times higher than standard mobile opera- tor NPS scores. "This is especially true in the telco sec- tor where our Virgin Mobile digital propo- sition in the UAE has helped us achieve the highest Net Promoter Score for a mobile telecommunications brand in the UAE for the past two years. "We can see a similar story in Saudi Arabia where, following the roll out of our fully-digital proposition in the Kingdom in 2019, customer satisfaction has improved dramatically with almost zero customer complaints reported by CITC. “This increase in customer satisfaction stems from giving customers genuine con- venience, genuine simplicity. As an exam- ple, you can get a new SIM in Dubai within one hour of ordering it, delivered to your door. And it is the same process if you lose your SIM and need a new one. So, compare this customer journey with the personal overhead of getting in your car to a store, queuing and going through the heavy activation or SIM replacement processes in the traditional bricks and mortar environment. "It is transformatory. And we extend this into the full customer interaction – choosing your plan, making payments, ac- cessing great content, such as Netflix. "We strive to make it all as straightforward as possible for the cus- tomer, who can avoid the low levels of customer satisfaction experienced with traditional telcos. “This is what we can share with other operators who want to open these lead- ing digital experiences with their digitally craving customers,” he added. 2020 – A TRUE TURNING POINT FOR THE TELECOMS SECTOR Dudman Nielsen believes that the legacy of 2020 will be an increased focussed on digi- talisation that will long outlive the shadow of the pandemic. In short, the Covid 19 has radically altered the way telcos will do business, for good. “Overall, telecoms as an industry has experienced limited reduction in 2020 compared some of the other heavily im- pacted industries, so I think the key impact will be around the way telcos – as most oth- er sectors - have had to become increasing- ly more digital both in the ways in which we work and how we provide our services. “While the outlook of the telco indus- try remains fairly positive, 2020 will be a true turning point for the telco industry as it chooses to seize the unlimited oppor- tunities presented by the shift towards digitalisation. Going forward, a critical success factor for mobile operators will be in the way in which they embrace the new digital world and adapt from tradi- tional model and instead move towards an agile, digital business model. At Virgin Mobile, digital has always been the core of our business proposition and we are proud to carry out our day-to-day processes through our digital infrastructure and offerings, putting us in a perfect place to expand our presence in the MENA region through new launches and partnerships in the post-Covid world,” he concluded. Next >