Presented by: Mr. Thomas W. WilsonCEO & Managing Executive Director, SAMENACEO & Founder, Teralight Ltd The 8th Arab Telecom & Internet Forum - 2006May 24 25, 2006 Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah, Muscat, Oman

Presentation AgendaSAMENA Regional Industry CharacteristicsRegulatory, Governmental & Market ConditionsSAMENA Introduction & DescriptionValues, Issues & BenefitsThe Road to SAMENAThe Omantel ExampleSAMENA Road MapShort, Medium & Long Term Objectives

SAMENA Region CharacteristicsExceptionally Aggressive Market GrowthImproving Telecom RegulationPrivatization of Incumbent Telecom OperatorsImprovement of public governance policies

Very Aggressive GrowthThe SAMENA region is the world fastest growing zone for telecommunication services deployment Tremendous Inter and Intra-regional InvestmentsThe telecom sector acts as a catalyst for the economical growth in the region

Telecom Regulatory LiberalizationTelecommunication Regulatory Authorities exist in almost all the countries of the SAMENA regions which are today grouped into bodies known as Arab Network of Regulators (ARN) & African Network of RegulatorsThe fact that these bodies have been set up few years only after the creation of the 1st regulator is a tremendous achievement which has been made possible by:The involvement of these regulators in the work conducted by the ITU through the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR), and by The awareness within these regulators that a regional coordination is not only useful but essential for a better comprehension of their common problems and for a greater capability to define common strategy and adopt comparable practices Changes in actual Telecommunications Regulation

Incumbent Telecom Operator Privatization(s)Recognition of the predominance of market rulesThe acceptance by governments of the role and the importance of the private sector with respect to investments, job creation and strategy making

Improvement of public governance policies and regulationsAdoption of governance practices in line with the highest international standardsThe adoption of regulations that attracts foreign investment Regulations which build consumer and market confidence

SAMENA IntroductionMission StatementValues & BenefitsAdvocacyTechnologiesIssuesEvents

Unifying a Consensus Message and Voice!!!!Serving South Asian, Middle Eastern & Northern African Facilities Based Operators and Service Providers, both Fixed & Mobile Networks!!!

Mission StatementMission Statement - The Mission of SAMENA is to provide a unified, consensus-based platform and voice for leading operators and service providers in the South Asia/ Middle East/ North Africa region, in order to interact, network and collaborate with each other and with ministries, manufacturers and suppliers in an unbiased working environment. SAMENA offers a non-profit, objective organizational structure to facilitate such consensus-building and cooperation, through the free flow and interchange of ideas and information among the multi-faceted, diverse interests of telecom operators throughout the region. SAMENA, as the ultimate regionally-oriented and operator-driven forum, clearinghouse and advocate, will communicate the common viewpoints and recommendations of its Members to the established national, regional and international organizations and institutions on important issues regarding telecommunications development, policy and economic values.

Mission Statement cont.By providing a forum to foster economic growth and creative collaboration on technical projects and business, legal and regulatory issues, SAMENA allows all Members to benefit from the fruits of mutual cooperation and resolve. To this end, SAMENA will convene conferences, educational and technical seminars and membership meetings to promote Member networking, the unbiased exchange of information and discussion of shared goals and views of its Members. SAMENA seeks to serve as the incubator for next-generation telecommunications concepts and technologies in the region, and to forge common solutions which can then be implemented for the benefit of all of its Members.

SAMENA ValuesThe Advantage of Unity Governmental Bodies pay attention to Organized Groups.A Single Voice and Single MessageEasier to Comprehend and AdoptStrength in NumbersMuch Stronger Lobbying CredibilityConsensus ObjectivesOpen Markets, Competition, Consumer Choice

SAMENA Values Cont.Advocacy of Critical Issues and ElementsGreater Information SharingDevelopment of Educational ProgramsExceptional Networking & PartneringGreatly Magnified Buying PowerMerger & Acquisition Support and InformationCreation of Favorable Investment Environment

SAMENA Values & BenefitsInitially 15 Different CommitteesAdvocacy at the Regulator / Operator LevelConferences & Trade ExhibitsDedicated to Operator IssuesAdvocacy Meetings, Forums & TeleconferencesWebinars & Technology based SeminarsWeb-Based Media: Newsletters, White Papers, Product Announcements, Corp. Branding, etc.SAMENA Web Based Career Center Postings

AdvocacyPromotion of Operator & Service Provider Issues with Regulatory & Governmental Bodies. Generally, the three pillars of advocacy are Policy, Legal and Governmental AffairsConsensus on Standards, Practices and ProceduresAbility to provide Mediation and Dispute Resolution

TechnologiesWLL - CDMA versus GSM versus 802.16 2004Mobile Broadband 802.16e versus 3GMVNO Deployment Virtual or notWCDMA via Edge and UMTS NetworksTrue Triple Play Networks and Soft switchesMany more that have to be Parsed

IssuesRegulatory Issues and DecisionsSpectrum Management Frequency IssuesMergers and Acquisitions - ConsolidationAffordable Ex-Pat Network Revenue GenerationBypass Fraud causing Huge negative ImpactMobile Snatching Effective SIM chip mngmntCompetition in the New Competitive EnvironmentMVNO and Incumbent Operators

EVENTS in Next 12 MonthsCasablanca, Morocco September 18th and 19th, Hyatt Hotel Beyond ConnectivityDubai, UAE January 29th, 30th and 31st, 2007 Emirates Towers Hotel, DubaiIslamabad, Pakistan April, 2007, Marriott HotelCollaboration Meeting in Dubai for IRR to be announced Position Paper Aggregation Final!Bringing together the industry under one roof. Other specific meetings to be announced!

The Road to SAMENAThe consistent absence of a body grouping South Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African (SAMENA) telecommunications operators clearly appeared as an incomprehensible anomaly especially in consideration of the fact that within the SAMENA region, independent telecom operators have existed years before telecom regulators.The SAMENA region is presently the fastest growing telecom market in the world.

The Road to SAMENA cont.Indeed, the issue of creating an association grouping Public Incumbent Telecom Operators from the MENA region has been raised since years and discussed at many occasions, in particular within the ITU Arab Regional Working Party in which these operators are active members.

The Road to SAMENA cont.The fact is that such an association has never been established and many of the telecom operators have conducted difficult transformation processes, migrating from administration entities towards privatized companies without enjoying the possibility of sharing regional experiences or the benefit and the support of an inter-regional association

The Omantel Example OMANTEL, for instance accomplished between 2003 and 2006 a long process of transformation: Creation of the company as an independent operator subject to market rules after the old GTO which was directly managed by the Ministry Adoption of a new management structure in line with best international standards in particular with respect to the activities of the Board of Directors, The training and recruitment of Omani personnel selected for their skills and competence Creation of Oman Mobile as an independent subsidiary to manage the provisioning of mobile services and be able to compete freely in the mobile market. Launching of an initial IPO allowing private sector entities or individuals to invest capital into the company Due to the absence of such inter-regional association as SAMENA, all of these major steps have been completed without the possibility for OMANTEL to share with or learn from other operators any kind of experience over similar processes.

SAMENA Road MapShort Term ObjectivesBuilding Membership and Building a Consensus ObjectiveMedium Term ObjectivesAccomplishing SuccessLong Term ObjectivesProviding Consistent Advocacy for Transparency in a newly formed competitive environmentMoving ForwardGetting it done with a Unified and Single Message

Short Term ObjectivesFor any new association, the most important task is to work on enlarging its membership. Objective 1: Attract to SAMENA all of the Public Incumbent Telecom Operators and all the Mobile Telecom Operators.Objective 2: Complete the formation of the board of directors and the governing bylaws.Objective 2: Attract to SAMENA a max number of existing or future telecom operators such as ISPs, Wireless Data providers, Data-center operators, Call-Centers operators, CCTV Operators, & IP-TV operators.

Short Term Objectives cont.In order to reach these objectives, many actions shall be necessary. Allow me to mention some of the actions that I have already been planning to conduct once they would have been approved by our Board:

Sending Letters to all the Chairs or CEOs of Public Telcos inviting them to join SAMENA on a continual basis.

Beginning Regional Advocacy Representation of Member Issues as Invited.

Sending letters to all the Ministers of Telecommunication and Information Technologies within the SAMENA region informing them of the creation of SAMENA

Registering SAMENA as an ITU-D Sector Member allowing the association working within the Regional Working Parties (i.e ARWP, ASRWP)

Proposing to the sign an affiliation agreement with other International and regional associations such as COMPTEL and the Arab League led Arab Business Forum for ICT (ABF-ICT).

Mid Term ObjectivesSAMENA acts as a highly-visible forum and a relevant body for regional or international bodies or institutes working in the field of telecommunications and there are many such as: GSM association, Wimax Forum, 3GPP + 3GPP2, Standardization Institutes, UMTS Forum, ITU, World Bank-IFC & etc.

SAMENA will be looking at establishing a list of best standards with respect to relationship between regulators and operators and at participating as far as possible as observer in the work of the Associations of Regulators in a spirit of partnership but with the objective to always deliver the operators point of view about licensing, competition, spectrum allocation, tariff policy, marketing policy, standardization, project definition and implementation

Long Term ObjectivesBring Regional Solutions to Regional NeedsMarket LiberalizationElevate the SAMENA Region to Global StandardsCreate and foster a working environment that brings new jobs, strong incremental growth and the best in consumer choice to all in the SAMENA region

How to Join!!!To join SAMENA Telecommunications Council, go to www.samenacouncil.org and download the application form for membership. You may also complete the form online. You may also email us at membership@samenacouncil.org or call us at 971 (0)4 348 7473.

Thank You!We at SAMENA would like to thank the Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Management for inviting us to present SAMENA here at the ATIF 2006 event. I thank you all and hopefully will see you soon in Casablanca, Morocco on September 18th and 19th, 2006 for SAMENA 2006.