Qatar: Samena Renews Emphasis on ICT to Drive Region’s Economic Growth

The South Asia, Middle East and North Africa (Samena) Telecommunications Council has appointed Gulf Bridge International (GBI) as the inaugural Subsea Working Group chair and the David Ross Group as the co-chair at this week’s conference: “The Role of ICT in Driving Economic Growth.”

The working group will focus on the region’s submarine cable networks, addressing a broad range of commercial, technical, regulatory and environmental issues. Ahmed Mekky, Board Member and CEO of GBI, plans to use the role to promote industry consensus around social and economic issues relevant to Samena’s broader ICT infrastructure – speeding broadband connectivity, enhancing service to underserved regions and bringing greater resiliency to critical networks.

GBI has already demonstrated a commitment to these issues, developing the region’s first carrier-neutral fiber optic network with industry-leading technology. In the UAE, GBI has partnered with DU to provide access the region’s only network fully enabled to 40G with sections of 100G capacity, roughly 10 times faster than current connection speeds.

“We recognize the critical role subsea cable infrastructure plays in the region’s development and take our responsibility as chair of this committee very seriously,” said Ahmed Mekky. “As the Middle East’s only carrier-neutral cable operator, GBI is uniquely positioned to drive consensus amongst industry leaders. We will utilize this opportunity to focus industry action on the key issues facing the region, placing a strong emphasis on increasing bandwidth, reliability and reach, while incentivizing overall market investment.”

In their new role, GBI and committee Co-Chair The David Ross Group seek to support the broader mission of the Samena Telecommunications Council in providing a unified, consensus-based platform and voice for leading operators in the region. Samena offers a non-profit, multi-objective structure to facilitate such consensus-building and cooperation, and strives to address diversified interests of telecom operators throughout the region by allowing for free exchange of information and ideas. By providing this forum, the organization allows the broader region to benefit from the mutual cooperation and resolve of its member operators.

[mappress]
Source: AME info, November 04, 2011;  Image: GBI