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The 10th annual Capacity Middle East was held on 10 – 12 March 2015 at the Grand Hyatt Dubai. Proudly supported by the largest wholesale carriers in the Middle East, the event was the largest yet with over 1,200 senior telecoms executives from across the globe in attendance.

Attendees benefited from over 20 hours of networking opportunities across the three days as well as the chance to learn from 33 industry experts during the packed conference agenda. As well as meetings conducted in the exhibition and meeting rooms, the hosted functions offered an alternate informal environment for senior representatives to make new business connections.

Capacity Middle East 2015 began with a pre-event evening reception sponsored by MENA SUBMARINE CABLE SYSTEMS. The reception offered delegates the chance to reconnect and establish new relationships before the official opening of the conference in a relaxed and sociable environment.

Middle East 2015 A N N I V E R S A R Y

1227SENIOR-LEVEL EXECUTIVES

76COUNTRIES REPRESENTED

404COMPANIES IN ATTENDANCE

10 – 12 March 2015, Dubai

P O S T E V E N T N E W S L E T T E RCAPACITY MIDDLE EAST 2015 IN NUMBERS

PRE-EVENT RECEPTION: MONDAY 9 MARCH

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Prior to the morning networking break sponsored by BISTALK, Nader Henein, Regional Director, Advanced Security Solutions – Advisory Division, BLACKBERRY took to the stage to enlighten the audience with a vision on the future of telecommunications and technology. Nader highlighted the impact of connected devices, and the rise in cyber security. During his speech, Nader claimed the next big investment will be in vehicles. Following the networking break, Ali Amiri, EVP Carrier & Wholesale Services, ETISALAT, delivered a presentation on the future of the wholesale carrier business in the Middle East. Mr Amiri touched upon HD voice, the threat of WebRTC, and roaming business models.

A panel discussion on OTT and carrier relationships in the Middle East was then held featuring Sabine Sitterli, Senior Director, Networks, AKAMAI, Ali Amiri, EVP, Carrier & Wholesale Services, ETISALAT and Mahesh Jaishankar, VP Datamena & Broadcast, DU. A centrepiece of the conversation was finding a way for carriers and OTTs to co-exist. The panellists questioned whether carriers need to change or recreate services, or merge with services that didn’t exist yesterday. An outcome was that the key to carriers surviving is driving business through new innovations and joining forces in solving problems for consumers. RCS was highlighted as an important tool in creating an ‘OTT type of experience’.

The next panel discussion focused on smart cities and joined together Massimo Migliuolo, CEO, INTELSEC & VADS BERHAD, Alexandre Pébereau, EVP International Carriers, ORANGE and Paul Berriman, Group CTO, PCCW GLOBAL. The panellists examined how to remain relevant and addressed whether carriers needed to partner with start-ups. Furthermore, the discussion highlighted the need to have an aim when dealing with smart cities and looked at how this aim differentiates from rural/urban, countries and region. A key question raised by the panellists was: ‘does the data collected make the smart city a commercially viable investment plan?’.

Once the conference sessions were concluded, lunch was hosted by DATAMENA and held in the Grand Hyatt’s beautiful gardens enabling delegates to enjoy the outdoor scenery. Lunch was followed by an afternoon coffee and networking break in the exhibition area sponsored by TAWASUL TELECOM. The afternoon networking was fundamental for delegates who coordinated back-to-back meetings and allowed time for delegates to explore the exhibition which showcased some of the newest services for the wholesale telecoms market. The evening reception followed which was sponsored by PCCW GLOBAL. Once the evening reception came to a close, delegates were invited to a number of private functions and excursions taking place around the city.

DAY ONE: TUESDAY 10 MARCH

Following the networking breakfast sponsored by OOREDOO GLOBAL SERVICES, the conference was opened by CAPACITY MEDIA, who introduced Hany Aly, Executive Vice President, Enterprise, DU, as the opening guest speaker. During his speech, Hany stressed that demand for data and cloud services will continue and questioned whether the industry were compromising their long term goals for short term ambitions. The keynote presentation was then delivered through a video recording from Jean-Pierre (JP) Mondalek, U.A.E General Manager, UBER. The presentation highlighted Uber’s global expansion, the reasons behind the app’s growth and their evolving partnerships with carriers, including AT&T. JP led the audience through Uber’s strategy in the UAE and highlighted the innovative ways the company has taken the region by storm, including a McLaren test drive for everyday passengers.

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An interview Q&A on new revenue streams and the MVNO market was then held featuring Mazen Al Dawod, Director Carrier Marketing/MVNO/3rd Party, MOBILY, Yasser Alobaidan, CEO, JAWRAA and Global Director, THE IMVNOX ASSOCIATION and Gurkan Ozturk, CEO, TEO. The session addressed the growth of MVNOs internationally and in the Middle East and highlighted the importance of driving revenue through MVNO businesses, with panellists stressing the value of offering a service that is innovative for today’s end users.

Prior to the networking break, Staffan Göjeryd, Vice President Data & Infra, TELIASONERA INTERNATIONAL CARRIER took to the stage to deliver a presentation on managed services and meeting customer demands. Highlighted in his presentation were trends and demands, which included a shift to mobile devices, a continued rise of video, more ‘in-region’ traffic, and new ‘mega’ data centres.

Following the morning coffee break sponsored by BICS, the Day Two conference sessions concluded with a ‘NEWS OF

THE HOUR AND CEO INTERVIEW’ featuring Adnan Nawaz, News Anchor, BBC World as the interviewer and Alessandro Talotta, CEO, TELECOM ITALIA SPARKLE and Brendan Ives, CEO, TELIASONERA INTERNATIONAL CARRIER. The interview disclosed Telecom Italia Sparkle’s announcement on the Sicily Hub as a new tele-house in the Mediterranean, and gave a recap of Teliasonera International Carrier’s expansion in the US and internationally.

The CEOs also commented on the OTT relationship, the evolution of voice services, new revenue streams and technical innovations. The interview touched upon the Middle East in particular, looking at ways foreign companies can tap into this region.

Lunch, sponsored by STC, was then held followed by continued networking opportunities for all attendees. Day Two finished with an evening reception, sponsored by CAPACITY MEDIA which took place in the gardens of the Grand Hyatt.

DAY TWO: WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH

The conference sessions resumed on Day Two with an introduction by Adnan Nawaz, News Anchor, BBC WORLD who chaired the day’s sessions. Adnan’s introduction gave our audience a re-cap of the trends and announcements that emerged from Mobile World Congress, which included Facebook’s ambition of rolling out the internet to all parts of the globe.

The following keynote panel discussion, focused on the cable market, was moderated by Andrew Grenville, CEO, ORIXCOM and featured Georges Jaber, VP Enterprise & Cloud Services, GBI, Sohail Qadir, VP Wholesale Business Unit, OMANTEL, Radwan Moussali, Senior Vice President- Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, TATA COMMUNICATIONS, Beshr Chamssi, CCO, MENA CABLE, Chris Bayly, SVP of Middle East and Africa, GLOBAL CLOUD XCHANGE and George Nikoloudis, COO, OTEGLOBE. The panellists highlighted the fact that $2 billion was invested in the UAE in 2014, and stressed the need to make systems smarter. When panellists were asked how they would stimulate demand, partnerships remained the core solution.

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DAY THREE: THURSDAY 12 MARCHThe third and final day of Capacity Middle East 2015 began with a networking breakfast sponsored by BATELCO.

The conference sessions opened with a keynote panel discussion on the future of voice. The panel featured Andrew Dodsworth, VP, Global Telecom Markets, BT GLOBAL, Willem Offerhaus, CEO, IBASIS, Peter Hobbs, Head of Global Wholesale, Global Enterprise & Services, TELSTRA and Gagun Gahir, Director, Carrier Services Middle East and Africa, IDT. Considered one of the most popular sessions of the three conference days, the panellists discussed whether voice was still in the process of evolution but agreed that carriers need to innovate the services. On the topic of HD voice, the panellists questioned whether this was changing the consumer. They pointed out that customers still relied on high quality of service and applications such as Skype and Whatsapp are unable to provide the necessary high quality of experience. Customers remained fundamental throughout the discussion, in terms of understanding the service they really need and making voice valuable again to the end user. When addressing VoLTE, the panellists questioned what customers expected from VoLTE and the outcome of domestic roll-

out. Wholesale carriers also addressed whether they should be the ones to lead VoLTE development.

The final panel discussion was a regional spotlight on Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq, moderated by TRA LEBANON and featured Stuart Evers, CSO, TURK TELEKOM INTERNATIONAL, Ali Nosary, CEO, TELEYEMEN and Mahdi Yahya, MD, SAMA. Turkey was highlighted as a potential next hub, with international growth, increasing connectivity and multiple landing routes. The panellists highlighted a growing interest in Iran, with many claiming they hoped to have terrestrial routes in Iran in the future. When it came to discussing different networks and regional and international connectivity, Mahdi pointed out that ‘when connectivity is lost, business is lost’ and stressed the importance of carriers to improve their networks and services, and that the demand for social media and broadband will continue to grow.

The panel discussion and conference sessions concluded with closing remarks by CAPACITY MEDIA, with delegates invited to join one final networking lunch, sponsored by GBI.

Diamond sponsor: Platinum sponsors:

Gold sponsors:

Associate sponsors:

Silver sponsors:

The region’s first Internet Exchange & terrestrial cable system

Thank you to all of our sponsors, exhibitors and delegates for joining us in not on only our 10th anniversary year but also the biggest ever Capacity Middle East which continues to be the largest carrier event in the region.

We look forward to welcoming you and your organisation to Capacity Middle East 2016.

Kind regards,

Capacity Conferences

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