Mobile Magazine - July 2021

A nn iv er sa ry Is su e

July 2021 | mobile-magazine.com

Smartphone Executives

EUROFIBER

Open Digital Network

Daniel Danon on the open digital network paving the way for an inclusive, dynamic, digital world

Liberty Global Ventures: Innovation and Shifting Mindsets Vodafone Ghana: Taking the DigitalFirst Approach

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The Mobile Team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

HARRY MENEAR EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

SCOTT BIRCH

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS

GEORGIA ALLEN DANIELA KIANICKOVÁ PRODUCTION MANAGERS

OWEN MARTIN PHILLINE VICENTE JENNIFER SMITH PRODUCTION EDITOR

JANET BRICE

CREATIVE TEAM

OSCAR HATHAWAY SOPHIE-ANN PINNELL HECTOR PENROSE SAM HUBBARD MIMI GUNN JUSTIN SMITH REBEKAH BIRLESON DUKE WEATHERILL JORDAN WOOD VIDEO PRODUCTION MANAGER

KIERAN WAITE

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS

SAM KEMP EVELYN HUANG MOTION DESIGNER

TYLER LIVINGSTONE MARKETING MANAGER

DAISY SLATER

MARKETING DIRECTOR

ROSS GARRIGAN

PROJECT DIRECTORS

STUART IRVING CRAIG KILLINGBACK

MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR

JASON WESTGATE RICHARD TURNER JAMES WHITE MARK CAWSTON MANAGING DIRECTOR

LEWIS VAUGHAN

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

STACY NORMAN PRESIDENT & CEO

GLEN WHITE

EDITOR'S FOREWORD

Are supersonic warplanes slowing down the UAE’s 5G? The UAE’s 5G network is among the best in the world, but a $23bn consignment of fighter jets could be about to tank the Emirates’ relationship with its biggest 5G supplier, Huawei.

“The LockheedMartin-produced fast jet has been described as the crown jewel of a US ally's arsenal, reserved for Washington's monogamous partners” Pádraig Belton, BBC

MOBILE MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY

The UAE has some of the densest, fastest, and most reliable 5G coverage in the world. Currently, 5G adoption in the UAE is second only to China. The speed of the country's rollout could be in jeopardy however, as anti-Chinese posturing from Washington threatens to break up the relationship between the UAE and Huawei, one of its key 5G partners.

Just two weeks after the Biden administration threatened to kill a $23bn deal between the UAE and Lockheed martin for up to 50 F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters, 18 MQ-9B Reaper drones, and a whole heap of advanced munitions, Etisalat announced an exclusive deal with Ericsson to deploy equipment in support of its 5G mmWave rollout.

The deal probably isn’t a direct response to Washington’s threat, but for Huawei, it might be the writing on the wall. The UAE, Washington says, has just four years to remove Huawei from its 5G network.

HARRY MENEAR

h.menear@bizclikmedia.com

© 2021 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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CONTENTS

Our Regular Upfront Section: 8

Big Picture

10 The Brief 12 Global News 14 People Moves 16 Timeline:

The Great EV Race 18 Legend:

Terry Gou 20 Five Mins With:

Kyle Okamoto

22

Eurofiber

Laying thefoundations for a digital society

40

Telecoms

Taking the pulse of 5G

52 5G

Fighting for the ROI on 5G

80

Technology

5G: Driving Automation and IoT

62

Vodafone Procurement Company

Shaping the Future of Procurement

90

Vodafone Ghana

Digital Transformation at Vodafone Ghana

SAP 5G Council:

Why 5G Matters In this very special webinar, we examine the incredible opportunity that 5G brings for network providers, their customers, and end-users.

On-Demand

WATCH NOW

Featuring Guest Speakers From:

142 104

9mobile

Working to Ensure Nigeria Stays Connected

Connected Devices IOT: Smarter Homes, Cities and Societies

154

AirtelTigo

Integration, Harmonisation, Transformation

112

Liberty Global Ventures

Innovation and Shifting Mindsets

166

Virgin Media MEA Making Mobile Better

LUMEN

130 Top 10

Smartphone Executives

180 Lumen

Network at the Pace of Compute

BIG PICTURE

Image credit Royole global.royole.com

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July 2021

Flexing on the competition

Shenzhen, China

Royole, the flexible display company that launched the world’s first folding smartphone, is once again pushing the boundaries of display technology.

The breakthrough development uses micro-LEDs, which benefit from an ultralow aperture ratio and simple encapsulation that allow them to be “woven” into stretchable pattern designs, to create the world’s first smartphone display that can be stretched, twisted, rolled up and otherwise manipulated like some sort of 1980’s educational toy. mobile-magazine.com

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THE BRIEF “When we think about the importance of 5G as a transformational technology, it's going to be in the physical industries”

BY THE NUMBERS

Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi take bite after bite out of Huawei China smartphone shipments by vendor Source: Canalys estaimates, 2021

Phil Siveter CEO, Nokia UK&I  READ MORE

“Partnership with public cloud and other growing work technologies could provide enormous revenue for CSPs in the coming years” Mark Newman Chief Analyst TM Forum  READ MORE

“The more rural we go, the harder it gets, as we have to use technology and available spectrum more creatively” Brian Daly

Assistant Vice President AT&T 

EDITOR'S CHOICE

ROYOLE UNVEILS WORLD FIRST “STRETCHABLE” SMARTPHONE DISPLAY The company behind the FlexPai (the world’s first folding smartphone) is back with another world first, unveiling the world’s first micro-LED based stretchable display.

READ MORE

AR SMARTPHONE APPS ARE RESHAPING SMALL-SCALE AGRICULTURE From American vintners to Zambian plant doctors, mobile analytics are helping small-scale agriculture to monitor, maintain and protect their crops.

READ MORE

XIAOMI PATENT SUGGESTS AN ATTEMPT AT A MODULAR SMARTPHONE It’s happening! … one day, maybe. Can Xiaomi defy over a decade of failed attempts by everyone from Google to Motorola and pull off the world’s first truly modular phone?

READ MORE READ MORE

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July 2021

HOT TOPIC

Hey Wearables! Get weird again, please.

It’s been a bumper year for wearables. Q1 of 2021 was the first quarter where shipments exceeded 100mn units… it’s a shame…

A shame?

Yeah. Wearables have been struggling to really take off for over a decade now, and it looks like that it’s finally happening.

But if it has to be at the expense of all the weird, wacky, wonderful design decisions that make wearables exciting, yes. Smart watches?

Snore…

Remember the Power Glove?! And that Xybernaut Poma wearable PC from 2002 that made you look like you’d joined the Borg?!

Wearable tech - from the 80s to 2010 was almost universally bonkers… and bad, right?

Right. But there was a real spirit of experimentation to the whole thing that feels missing from almost all modern wearable tech.

I feel like the industry found success at the cost of its soul.

So what do you want?

I want Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager for IDC Mobile Device Trackers, who says that "Wearable patches, rings, and even audio glasses are starting to differentiate themselves from the typical watches, bands, and headphones by offering tech that is hidden yet functional,” to be right on the money. And I also want a Power Glove.

 SCREEN TIME Anthropologists at University College London say our relationships with our phones have gotten even more symbiotic during the pandemic.

“We are always ‘at home’ in our smartphone,” found the report. “We have become human snails carrying our home in our pockets.”  5G PHONE SHIPMENTS Research from IDC predicts that smartphone shipments will hit a six-year high of 1.38bn units by the end of 2021, largely driven by an uptick in consumer demand for a 5G device.  US 5G SPEEDS All of the US’ major mobile network operators have been offering nationwide 5G for over a year now, but some industry analysts say that service is largely indistinguishable from 4G.  WIFI USAGE A new report from Ericsson of over 220mn 5G subscribers found that 20% of people with 5G subscriptions have decreased the amount of time they spend on WiFi at home and outside, thanks to the speed and latency that 5G offers.

W A Y U P JUN 21

W A Y D O W N

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GLOBAL NEWS 1

DENMARK

Nokia inks exclusive 5G deal with Telia-Telenor JV A joint venture between Danish telecom carriers Telia and Telenor has selected Nokia as its exclusive supplier of 5G RAN equipment. The announcement follows the Danish government’s decision to make the 3.5 GHz spectrum of the country’s 5G bandwidth available for commercial use.

4

UNITED STATES

Nokia and DISH deploy first 5G SA cloud network in the US The network will be launched on Amazon Web Services (AWS), and the news marks the first deployment of 5G in the public cloud in the United States.

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July 2021

5

UAE

Etisalat and Ericsson partner on high-band 5G in the UAE Does Etisalat's decision to use Ericsson to deploy its high-band 5G indicate that the Emirates are bowing to the US State Department's wishes?

2

JAPAN

Leica announces the Leitz Phone 1 Softbank has announced the “Leitz Phone 1” in Japan, the first smartphone by the German camera manufacturer, Leica.

3

SOUTH KOREA

Samsung integrates 5G antennas into new RAN units Samsung’s latest 5G equipment solution, which integrates both Massive MIMO radio tech and passive antennas, could be an important step towards accelerating the global 5G rollout.

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PEOPLE MOVES “In the future, we will not only provide leading smart car solutions to help partners build better intelligent vehicles, but also help them sell those vehicles through our retail network across China”

RICHARD YU FROM: HUAWEI TO: HUAWEI WAS: CEO, CONSUMER BUSINESS GROUP NOW: CEO, SMART CAR SOLUTIONS UNIT As smartphone companies increasingly turn towards the automotive sector as the next competitive frontier, beleaguered smartphone manufacturer Huawei is accelerating its push to diversify beyond its handset business.

In a recent reshuffle of its top leadership positions, the company named Richard Yu - who previously had a brief stint as the head of Huawei’s Cloud and AI business - as the CEO of its newly-created Smart Car Solutions unit. Currently, the unit makes smart car components, but Yu - who is largely credited with the success of Huawei’s smartphone business prior to its blacklisting by the US government - has more ambitious targets, starting with a goal of selling 300,000 cars in 2022.

Yu has a master's degree from Tsinghua University. He joined Huawei in 1993 and has served in a number of roles, including 3G Product Director and Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer.

NOY KUCUK FROM: NXP SEMICONDUCTORS TO: PURESOFTWARE WAS: VP, PRODUCT MARKETING FOR 5G SOLUTIONS NOW: SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT ACCOUNTS AND TELCO SALES

LI KAIXIN FROM: HUAWEI TO: ONEPLUS WAS: VICE PRESIDENT, SALES NOW: VICE PRESIDENT

With over 30 years of experience in the networking and semiconductor industries, Noy Kucuk - most recently the Vice President of Product Marketing for 5G Solutions at NXP Semiconductors - is turning his hand to accelerating the telecom products and services business at PureSoftware. According to Anil Baid, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at PureSoftware, he “is a leader and brings a wealth of experience to 5G and wireless markets with a diverse knowledge of software and hardware building blocks.”

One of Huawei’s top executives, largely credited with the sales strategy that helped the company grow its revenues - as well as those of its subsidiary brand, Honor - so quickly, Li Kaixin has officially left Huawei for a similar role at OnePlus.

In a post on Weibo, OnePlus CEO, Pete Lau, praised Li’s abilities as an “industry veteran” and added that, “In the future, I can focus more on making products with confidence and leave the work of selling mobile phones to [Li]!” mobile-magazine.com

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TIMELINE THE GREAT EV RACE According to Foxconn’s new CEO, Young Liu, “electric vehicles are the new iPhone.” With the market for EVs (particularly in China, where favourable government subsidies helped manufacturers sell more than 1.3mn electric cars last year) steadily on the rise, companies from industries ranging from real estate to consumer electronics are getting into the game. Tesla’s competition is getting fiercer every day.

Dec 22 2020

Mar 30 2021

Apr 4 2021

APPLE

XIAOMI

LG

The iPhone manufacturer has been rumoured to be working on an electric vehicle since 2014, but always remained coy about details.

That changed in December, when the tech giant revealed that its Project Titan unit aims to put an electric car on the road by 2024.

Chinese smartphone giant, Xiaomi, announced in March that it is investing $10bn into electric vehicle R&D over the next decade in order to bring its own EV to market.

The smartphone industry’s loss is the EV sector’s gain. Amid swirling rumours, LG announced in April that it would close down its smartphone business (known for weird, wacky, innovative designs and mediocre sales figures) in favour of pursuing other revenue streams. One of the new directions for the South Korean tech giant will be EV parts, which the company plans to manufacture in collaboration with Magna International.

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July 2021

“Xiaomi hopes to offer quality smart electric vehicles to let everyone in the world enjoy smart living anytime, anywhere”

Apr 19 2021

May 6 2021

HUAWEI

OPPO

As its smartphone business continues to struggle in the face of US sanctions and increased competition from other Chinese brands, Huawei raced out in front of other smartphone brands, bringing its own EV to market well ahead of the competition. The company launched its own electric car, which runs on Harmony OS, in collaboration with EV manufacturer Seres at the 19th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition.

In the wake of a banner year, BBK Electronics subsidiary Oppo is the latest major smartphone company looking to turn its manufacturing, software development and electronics design expertise to making an EV. The Chinese firm started hiring people for its car division in May, and the company’s CEO, Tony Chen, has reportedly been taking meetings with the same Chinese firm that manufactures batteries for Tesla. mobile-magazine..com

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LEGEND

Manufacturing the modern world Name: Terry Gou Job Title: Founder, Director Company: Foxconn

T

here are few people who have had as great an influence on the world of technology than Terry Gou, the founder and chairman of Hon Hai Precision, one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers. There are a good deal fewer people who have built empires from humble beginnings.

Born in Banqiao Township, Taipei, in 1950, Gou grew up in a lower middleclass family and, from graduating college to the age of 24, held a string of blue collar factory jobs. In 1974, with $7,500 (worth about $40,000 today) and an 11-strong, elderly workforce, he founded Hon Hai Precision, manufacturing a specific channel-changing knob for black and white television sets. Not an especially auspicious beginning to what would become the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, but Gou imbued with a supreme confidence that electronics "would be an integral part of everyday life" - pressed on.

Hon Hai Precision opened its first factory in mainland China in 1988, which remains the site of the

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July 2021

Terry Gou Age

70

Years as Chairman of Foxconn

45

Net Worth (2021)

$6.8 bn

company’s largest manufacturing plant today. During subsequent decades, Foxconn focused largely on building the bare bones chassis for Compaq desktop computers, an avenue which led to a series of lucrative contracts with IBM, HP and in the late 90’s - Apple.

The relationship that developed between Foxconn and Apple Inc is one of the most profitable in the history of the electronics industry. With the launch of the first iPhone in 2007, Apple catalysed the touchscreen smartphone age, and Foxconn - the company selected to manufacture the majority of Apple’s products then and since - has been the driving force behind the company’s reputation for high build quality.

Gou stepped down as the chairman of Foxconn in 2019 after 45 years at the helm. He maintains a directorship and, in addition to working with his charity, the YongLin Foundation, still makes his presence felt at the wheel of his firm.

“I never think I am successful. If I am successful, then I should be retired. If I am not retired, then that means I should still be working hard, keeping the company running”

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FIVE MINS WITH...

KYLE OKAMOTO ERICSSON’S IOT BUSINESS HAS A NEW GENERAL MANAGER. KYLE OKAMOTO STEPPED INTO THE ROLE EARLIER THIS YEAR. WE SAT DOWN WITH HIM TO SEE HOW HE’S GETTING ALONG, AS WELL AS TO ASK WHAT THE NEXT FEW MONTHS HAVE IN STORE FOR THE INTERNET OF THINGS.

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July 2021

Q. WHAT ARE YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR IN YOUR NEW ROLE?

» Enable the ecosystem to unlock their

full imaginations as we bridge the gap between possibility and reality (while we make the Internet better). Moving from the holistic goal of bettering society through technology and innovation, we are here to help both the Enterprise and Service Provider communities utilise connectivity and device solutions seamlessly to support their Internet of Things use cases around the world.

Q. WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR IOT AT ERICSSON?

» Said plainly, we want to be the best for

our partners and customers.

This means having a truly global reach for borderless coverage, providing our customers with industry-leading capabilities and service-levels, leveraging Ericsson’s amazing cellular technologies to power businesses, and powering growth on demand as innovation becomes the norm.

“THE MOST EXCITING PART OF THIS INDUSTRY IS WHAT IS YET TO COME, AS THE INNOVATION WE ARE SEEING RIGHT NOW IS ALREADY MIND-BLOWING”

“I THINK THERE IS FANTASTIC IDEATION IN PLACES LIKE TELE-HEALTH AND TELE-MEDICINE SPURRED BY THIS PANDEMIC” Q. MORE GENERALLY, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGER HURDLES THAT STAND IN THE WAY OF INCREASED IOT ADOPTION, LIKE SECURITY FOR EXAMPLE?

» Each industry is going through their

own unique adoption curve with their own unique hurdles, but there are some consistencies across the ecosystem.

Managing a massive amount of devices across an ecosystem is a challenge, so they need the right platform to make their lives easier and simpler with less manual effort; keeping their data pipeline robust and intact while generating meaningful insights and action plans is essential; and refactoring their environments to be “smart” requires world-class connectivity solutions that are easy to implement and manage.

Some industries, take utility distribution for example, are based on a 100-year old architecture and are starting to deploy smart sensors to modernise their distribution capabilities.

Digital transformation and implementation of IoT in the utility vertical will then have a very different journey versus an automotive manufacturer building a brand new factory using cobotics, robotics, smart connections on the shop floor and in the cars, etc. mobile-magazine..com

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LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR A DIGITAL SOCIETY WRITTEN BY: JANET BRICE PRODUCED BY: STUART IRVING

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July 2021

EUROFIBER

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July 2021

EUROFIBER

Eurofiber’s open digital network is paving the way for an all-inclusive dynamic digital world – first envisioned by the Dutch company 20 years ago

A

distance of 160 kilometers of fibre optic cable has been laid by Eurofiber since I interviewed the group director of the company exactly one month ago. This impressive statistic is why the Dutch-based open digital network provider is leading the way in helping European cities stay connected.

The pace of deployment is staggering and started back in 2000 when Eurofiber laid their first 500km stretch of fibre network to connect the four major Dutch cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht. Today, they have laid more than 38,000km of fibre – laying 40kms each week – have 10 data centres and a digital footprint that covers the Netherlands, Belgium, France and a new branch in Germany.

There was a time when a river was the lifeblood of a city for its trade and commerce, but as the pandemic has shown, the future of remote working for

“ Utilising our own fibre optic network and data centres, we provide smart, open, futureproof cloud infrastructure and connectivity solutions to companies, government bodies and non-profit organisations” DANIEL DANON

GROUP DIRECTOR PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS, EUROFIBER

millions of people now relies on being connected to a digital world – as does the future safety and security of a city.

Eurofiber is literally laying a lifeline for the digital society of so-called ‘smart cities’. The network is already being used to control 75 per cent of the movable locks and bridges along Amsterdam’s famous canals. “Vital infrastructure” is how the Dutch government designates the company’s open digital network which means different providers, from hospitals to FinTech, companies, governments and non-profit organisations can install and operate their services in an efficient way.

“Utilising our own fibre optic network and data centres, we provide smart, open, futureproof cloud infrastructure and connectivity solutions to companies, government bodies and non-profit organisations,” said Daniel Danon, Group Director Products & Solutions. mobile-magazine.com

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“Customers have complete freedom to choose the services, applications and providers they need, allowing them to tap into the full potential of digital innovation”

“Customers have from Netways Europe complete freedom to to Infradata – and has choose the services, the aim of helping applications and others at its heart. providers they need, allowing them to tap Open fibre network into the full potential Eurofibers’s open of digital innovation,” digital infrastructure, said former French which they own and engineer Daniel Danon, operate, is designed who joined Eurofiber in to independently April 2020 at the height support a wide of the pandemic. spectrum of industries Speaking from and innovations. The DANIEL DANON GROUP DIRECTOR PRODUCTS Utrecht, Danon companies Dataplace, & SOLUTIONS, EUROFIBER said the DNA of the FullSave and Eura DC company is an “open operate their 10 data fibre network to enable others” pointing centres in the Netherlands and France. out he is proud to lead an organisation – “We were lucky enough in 2000 to have rich with a strong ecosystem of partners the vision of how fibre was going to be a key 26

July 2021

EUROFIBER

DANIEL DANON TITLE: GROUP DIRECTOR PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS INDUSTRY: FIBRE OPTIC NETWORK AND DATA CENTRES part of the future and it has become the most future-proof, dynamic, element of our digital world. We have been able to create an infrastructure that is cost effective, which is very important to us as we want to enable other people’s businesses in a financial and technical way,” said Danon.

“As a company we have a digital all the way approach, we're fast growing so everything has to be scalable and that means being digitised. So we know how important it is to be digital, to have our processes and our systems, at the disposal of our 550 employees and of our partners, wherever they are.

“Going digital for our customers can also be counterproductive if you don’t keep it personal.

Whenever we're thinking about digitisation, it's very important for both our customers and for colleagues, that we go digital – but we always keep it personal.”

EXECUTIVE BIO

LOCATION: NETHERLANDS Daniel Danon started his career at Telecom Modus Ltd in London, followed by an MBA at INSEAD in Paris, he became product manager at Liberty Global/UPC in Amsterdam.

In 2009 he moved to Budapest where he initially worked as senior consultant at Solon and then became Director of Business Development and New Enterprise Services at Vodafone Hungary. In 2014 Daniel returned to Liberty Global in Amsterdam, where he worked as Director Product Strategy and VP Product Planning & Research. In 2020, he joined Eurofiber as Group Director Products & Services, responsible for the company’s portfolio strategy.

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NETWAYS EUROPE, THE SOLUTIONS PARTNER FOR OPTICAL NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURES. Netways Europe is the Value-add Partner that distinguishes itself through a consultative market approach. This customer-oriented approach means we work with you on the right solution for your business!

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We create wiring diagrams for smooth and correct installation (for and by installers).

We provide customer-specific installation of software and configuration on devices. Need for additional supplies? We also add extra cabling or (pre-programmed) SFPs, making it plug-andplay for installers. This prevents errors and unnecessary lead times.

Logistics / Lifecycle management We take care of the complete logistics process.

As a distributor/integrator, we hold stock so that we can respond quickly. In addition to regular distribution, ad hoc delivery is crucial to the progress of the rollout or project. If hardware fails, we take care of the RMA process, so

the interruption of service will be as short as possible. Re-use of equipment? We take care of the return process. After return, the equipment will be refurbished with the support of our own special software and make it ready for re-deployment. Doing so, we extend the life cycle of equipment. This is how we contribute to our and your sustainability goals.

Managed Services Netways provides support and management, for manufacturers or as an addition to your support team based on a tailored SLA. We can provide services like fibre optic monitoring and signalling as part of the service level agreement.

This ensures accelerated diagnosis and shortens resolution times. We provide support for fault diagnosis, because in addition to extensive expertise, we also have advanced test equipment at our disposal.

Specials Need for custom applications? We design and produce optical solutions such as passive splitters based on customer’s requirements.

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EUROFIBER

Title of the video

“ We were lucky enough in 2000 to have the vision of how fibre was going to be a key part of the future and it has become the most future-proof, dynamic, element of our digital world” DANIEL DANON

GROUP DIRECTOR PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS, EUROFIBER

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July 2021

Hybrid cloud management The Eurofiber Group consists of: Eurofiber, DCspine and MatrixMind (in the Netherlands and Belgium), Dataplace (Netherlands), FullSave, Lumos, Eurafibre, ATE and Eura DC (France) and provide the following services: • Ethernet • Secure cloud connect • Business Internet • WDM • SD-WAN • Managed dark fibre • Data centre services “We also provide services to secure cloud connect that allows you to have a direct connection into a player such as Amazon, Microsoft Azure or Google cloud,

and not have to go through the internet “From the start we were an open remaining on an ethernet layer which means network, and it really is part of the DNA of it is very close to the customer,” said Danon. the organisation that Eurofiber was built to “What I think customers really be the fibre for everyone. We've brought need from us is overall hybrid cloud that into the larger digital infrastructure, management. It's not just about including colocation and connecting one office building to connecting data centres, which is another. We are connecting our unique and powerful. customers and partners to their “Our open network is different 38,200km data, wherever it is, and helping and powerful as it allows us to of fibre optic them manage that data flow, in invest once, for many. It allows us network is owned and operated by their own premises, in the data to deliver ultra low latency and Eurofiber centres that are close to them, because we have a mesh network as well as into the public cloud.” the routing is much more dynamic and direct,” said Danon Competitive advantage who also pointed out having a presence Danon cites that having an open network across Europe was also important. model allows them to be “different “In addition, when you're thinking and powerful” thus giving Eurofiber about data, it's also about colocation and the competitive advantage. connecting to the cloud. Managing and mobile-magazine.com

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EUROFIBER

DID YOU KNOW...

HOW EUROFIBER IS CONNECTING CITIES

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AMSTERDAM

ROTTERDAM

Eurofiber has a unique partnership with Amsterdam Smart City (ASC) who work with companies, governments, knowledge institutions and the people of Amsterdam with the aim of developing the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area as a smart city.

As the Dutch government has recognised, for a city to become connected it needs an open digital network so different providers can install and operate their services in an efficient way.

Eurofiber’s fibre optic infrastructure in the capital is very dense. The finemeshed network coverage across the Dutch capital is laying the foundation for smart city applications so that sensors, intelligent systems, Internet of Things applications and big data analyses can be used efficiently.

Amsterdam has the most inhabitants of a Dutch municipality: 859,732 in an area of 219 ​​ km² – a quarter of which is water. Eurofiber’s coverage extends to hospitals, schools, metro services, energy stations and the famous canals with some 50 bridges and locks connected via the Eurofiber network, as well as 200 bus shelters and dozens of security cameras in the public space. With an average network distance of 400 meters to the backbone, 96 per cent of the locations in the Amsterdam region are within their network coverage.

Eurofiber started in 2018 with the construction of a large-scale, fine-mesh fibre optic network between all locations of the Municipality of Rotterdam. With this project, all existing fibre optic networks of the Municipality of Rotterdam are optimised and linked to the Eurofiber network, creating a single high-quality fibre optic network for the municipality.

“We've helped them connect everything from bridges to cameras and the electricity network. When we talk about a smart city, it means that everything in that city will benefit from being connected with fibre and opening up opportunities for the people living there,” said Danon.

“It is a key enabler which will allow the city to live its full digital potential and deliver its citizens more ecological and effective connectivity. We also have to think of future-proofing a smart city and prepare it for a future of 5G and edge computing.

July 2021

BERLIN Eurofiber has just appointed Christoph Klein as Managing Director Germany to lead the expansion in Germany as part of its European growth strategy. Eurofiber entered the German market with a joint venture with Vattenfall, which is established to connect more than 500,000 households and businesses in Berlin.

“From the start we were an open network, and it really is part of the DNA of the organisation that Eurofiber was built to be the fibre for everyone” DANIEL DANON

GROUP DIRECTOR PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS, EUROFIBER

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QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS

EUROFIBER

IN THE HOT SEAT WITH, DANIEL DANON, GROUP DIRECTOR PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS What technology do you predict will be used by data centres in the future?

Data centres will bring data closer to the consumers and businesses. It will not just be about cloud but edge and ultra low latency. At the end of the day it's making sure data is very close to customers. This will impact things such as Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, 5G, 6G as we move into the future.”

What plans do you have for the future?

“To be the best open infrastructure for the digital world. We want to enable our customers to grow and innovate without any digital limitations, and thus empower the digital society.”

What is the next smart city you will be working on?

“We are not focusing on one city.

We've got a very dense mesh network across our territories and on a daily basis we are connecting more elements within a city than ever before. We are working with cities across all of our footprint in The Netherlands, Belgium and France.”

“Our work in Berlin with Vattenfall is an amazing asset for the community to have in the ground and will benefit households and businesses as well as the city's optimisation management.

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July 2021

controlling all aspects of this hybrid cloud also puts us in a competitive position. That means that we really are the partner of choice in terms of digital infrastructure.

“We are continuing the vision of a dynamic digital world first envisioned by Eurofiber when the company started more than 20 years ago.”

Partners – Infradata and Netways Europe Danon outlined the importance of being an open network which enables Eurofiber to work with an ecosystem of partners which include Netways Europe and Infradata.

“It’s not just about how we enable our partners, but also how partners enable

“We are connecting our customers and partners to their data, wherever it is, and helping them manage that data flow, in their own premises, in the data centres that are close to them, as well as into the public cloud” DANIEL DANON

GROUP DIRECTOR PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS, EUROFIBER

us. Netways is our key partner for logistics, and together we can continue to keep our they grew with us, and always go one standards very high for our customers, step beyond. even in these extraordinary times.”

“We have worked with Netways for Commenting on Eurofiber and many years and they have always taken Infradata, Danon said this was one of care of written processes which is very their core partnerships. “Infradata is not important. They’re always trying to just a partner, they really are our system improve our partnership, which is integrator,” he says. “Our network very important by thinking ahead is largely based on equipment and [they] have always helped us they manage with us and that to go a step beyond. equipment is an integral part of “In these crazy times where, for all of the service level agreements 160km example, the chip market went – our promise to customers. They of fibre optic cable is laid haywire and Netways helped us have been supporting us and every month adjust our stock management. taking care of the ethernet and

by Eurofiber They are a key part of our logistics internet network.” mobile-magazine.com

37

2000

the year Eurofiber was founded

550

employees

€202m revenue

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EUROFIBER

Healthcare and FinTech Danon said Eurofiber will continue to be agile to their customers by making sure they are available and adapt to their needs. “We’re constantly monitoring developments in industries like healthcare and FinTech and we build scenarios on that to make sure our network will continue to be the infrastructure they need. This also includes security encryption, reach and latency and bandwidth.”

“It’s also about our colocation infrastructure being more than just real estate but being part of how customers connect to the cloud, and that cloud is, in itself, a very agile and dynamic place to work in. We've already recognised how we can build an EUROFIBER – EIGHT STEPS infrastructure – an orchestration TO A FAST, SECURE SERVICE capability – to combine everything we've got. It’s not • Ethernet – connects sites securely always about the invention of and flexibly over a custom private something new. It's also about network with Ethernet VPN. combining what we have with • Secure cloud connect – provides the expertise of our partners.” a safe, direct access to multiple Danon said he was looking cloud platforms. forward to focusing on • Business Internet – offer their new venture in Berlin. employees fast and secure internet “Extending our fibre networks access with business internet. and data centres across • WDM – benefit from high.

Western Europe is part of bandwidths with WDM and don't the future plans but we are worry about management. also committed to focusing • SD-WAN – software replaces on the growth here in the manual management.

Netherlands. Belgium and • Managed dark fibre – control the France still have a lot of bandwidth of your dark fibre and fibre and cloud connectivity grow as needed. opportunities and we are • Data centre services – data and focusing on our joint venture applications optimally and securely in Germany,” he said. available in a Tier 3 data centre.

• Connectivity – the foundation of a smart city.

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TAKING THE PULSE OF TELECOMS

5G 40

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TELECOMS

As the global 5G rollout continues, experts from AT&T, Huawei and the GWS help us take stock of the industry’s progress so far.

WRITTEN BY: HARRY MENEAR

T

he world’s first commercial 5G launch took place in early 2019.

In April of that year, some of the world’s biggest telecom companies, including AT&T, Verizon, SK Telecom, and KT Corp, all piled over the finish line in a sort of telecom space race. The goal: lay claim to the title of the world’s first 5G network.

Who won? Well, it depends who you ask.

When South Korean carriers SK Telecom and KT Corp announced that they would go live with their pioneering 5G networks at some point in April, US carrier Verizon moved up their own launch by a whole week, which would put them ahead.

The Koreans all scrambled to beat that live date – managing to do so by a few short hours.

»

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41

What is good (and bad) customer service in 2019?

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TELECOMS

$15bn

© Huawei

The projected economic impact of 5G in the UK

When the dust settled, all the mobile operators involved declared victory, with AT&T claiming to have already won the race back in December of 2018 with the launch of several 5G mobile hotspot devices in 12 American cities. SK Telecom, Verizon and KT all responded by saying that mobile hotspots don’t count and that connecting an actual phone is the criteria for a commercial 5G mobile network. AT&T disagreed - obviously.

Two years later, and the frenzied spirit of competition that surrounded those early days of 5G has only grown more

“ Countries like South Korea and China… are already seeing greater consumer demand for innovative services, such as AR and 360degree video” RAY WILLIAMSON HUAWEI

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TELECOMS

© AT&T

Title of the video

intense. Carriers are throwing down billions of dollars at a time for chunks of 5G spectrum, sales of 5G phones jumped by a staggering 458% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021, and the number of 5G connections worldwide is expected to hit 3bn by 2025. Governments of countries that were quick to adopt 5G - like South Korea and China - are fighting tooth and nail to maintain the lead they’ve built. And the governments of countries Growth in that ended up being 5G smartphones slower out of the gate are sales (Q1, 2021) investing heavily in order to catch up.

458%

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East vs. West Competition over which country has the “best” 5G has been a part of international, uh, feet-measuring contests since the technology was launched. In the transatlantic trade war between the US and China, the East seems to be running away with first place by an impressive margin, with China claiming more 5G users, and more 5G users per capita than the US, thanks to massive investment by its stateowned telecom corporations.

Ray Williamson, Director of European Product Management at Huawei Wireless, notes that “Countries like South Korea and China, which were early adopters of 5G, and ahead of the UK, are already

TELECOMS

Learning from the Competition According to Williamson, there are three important lessons for the UK to learn from rollouts in other countries: Content is crucial in driving consumer uptake of 5G. 5G will greatly enhance user experience, but it is advanced content such as AR, 8K & 360 Video, and advanced gaming which drive up data usage and mobile revenues. We have seen this in South Korea where thousands of mobile AR/VR applications are now available over 5G, and the number continues to increase.

Rollouts in other countries have shown that 5G is indeed making industries safer, more productive, and more innovative. Vertical adoption of 5G is most advanced in China, where the technology has been deployed and its benefits were realised in areas such as mining, steel, smart manufacturing, and ports. While there have been extensive 5G trial programmes in the UK, the rate of commercial adoption of 5G by verticals in the UK is relatively slow. A similar UK focus on key verticals such as manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare,

and tourism would accelerate adoption of the technology and its associated benefits.

A 5G rollout needs to happen nationwide.

Initial deployment of 5G often focuses on major cities, but the rollout needs to be expanded rapidly across the country. The pandemic has significantly increased the levels of home working in suburbs and rural areas, while videos and gaming are enjoyed while travelling on our railways and highways. Additionally, industries such as manufacturing and agriculture need 5G in more remote locations and for indoor environments. For these reasons, a speedy rollout of 5G nationwide is crucial. The UK needs to build a high bandwidth 5G foundation network, to deliver ubiquitous, high speed connectivity, at low cost per bit. Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MMIMO), in conjunction with site simplification through the deployment of ultra-wideband Remote Radio Units (RRUs) and highly integrated antenna solutions, and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) are key technologies in achieving the required levels of cost, coverage and performance.

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TELECOMS

“ Excluding Huawei from the UK’s 5G networks would risk severely delaying operators’ 5G roll-out plans, adversely affecting the UK economy by £18.2bn” RAY WILLIAMSON HUAWEI

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TELECOMS

© Huawei

seeing greater consumer demand for, and a return on investment from, innovative services, such as augmented reality (AR) and 360-degree video.” He adds that early 5G adopters in APAC, like China and South Korea, have also seen “various vertical industry developments including more ecosystem partnerships between mobile network operators, device and application providers, system integrators and 5G technology providers.” This kind of collaboration has, Williamson explains, been key to driving greater adoption in APAC, compared to the UK and US. The UK: Going at its own pace?

In the context of the global 5G rollout, the UK is something of an odd-one-out. The country was one of the first to launch 5G commercially - with EE getting its network up and running as early as May of 2019 - but since then, Williamson explains, “things have been moving more slowly.”

Dr. Paul Carter, Founder and CEO of the GWS, adds that the UK’s operators in addition to being hampered by several spectrum auction delays - haven’t displayed as much of the frantic urgency that’s defining 5G rollouts elsewhere. “Even though the deployment of 5G is in a dedicated midband for all operators, they are investing in and integrating it with their existing networks at their own pace and at locations that fit within their own capital improvement plans,” he explains. “From coverage availability to the amount of dedicated (or shared) spectrum to 4G/5G’s combined use of available network resources, there are many complex and intertwined factors that impact the quality and ultimate performance of today’s 5G. And for each operator in the UK, this experience and corresponding level of quality is different.” mobile-magazine.com

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Quickfire Questions: Brian Daly, AT&T Given the global shift towards remote work in many industries that is expected to live on after the pandemic, how is 5G essential to supporting that kind of future?

“AT&T’s network was there for its customers during the last year because it was optimized with future demands in mind and designed to adapt to unexpected challenges. On an average day now, about 468 petabytes of data crosses our network, which is up 40% year-over-year.

At-home videos calls and conferences are becoming the norm, and that’s why we’re investing heavily in AT&T 5G and AT&T Fiber.

The lower latency, higher bandwidth and greater security of AT&T’s 5G network will allow for an enhanced user experience as we continue to work, learn and consume entertainment at home.”

How is the rollout of 5G in the US changing the user experience for AT&T's customers?

“Our 5G network now covers 230mn Americans in 14,000 cities and towns, and AT&T 5G+ is now available in parts of 38 cities in the U.S. We’re in the business of connectivity, and we continue to invest and innovate to improve the experience for consumers across the country.”

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How can MNOs ensure that 5G increases coverage across rural, marginalised and isolated communities, rather than just affluent urban ones?

“We are working closely and collaboratively with the government, our industry and customers to expand and enhance our networks to reach rural areas. We support the FCC’s efforts to expand broadband access to many parts of rural America through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and Digital Opportunity Data Collection.

There’s still a lot of work to do… But we’re working to serve the needs of our rural customers, we’re excited about it, and the network team has a lot of momentum heading into 2021.”

TELECOMS

“ 5G deployment still has some way to go, and of course this is all nonstandalone 5G” GWS

When the GWS tested 5G networks across the UK, it found that, in order to achieve a watershed throughput of >100 Mbps per city, 5G coverage in that city needs to exceed 40%. At the time of testing, only seven out of the 32 cities the GWS surveyed met that criteria. “5G deployment still has some way to go, and of course this is all non-standalone 5G,” says Carter.

However, progress is still being made.

Williamson is still confident that a tipping point is drawing near. “I think it’s less about the health of 5G in the UK and more a question of how the UK as a whole can benefit from 5G,” he explains. As applications for 5G continue to expand particularly in the industrial and smart city spheres - more of the benefits will begin to be unlocked, which will compound the speed of adoption in turn.

Williamson does lament Huawei’s absence from the UK’s 5G rollout, however.

“In short, it will hold the country back from realising its full potential for years to come,” he says. “Independent research by Assembly (analysts), found that excluding Huawei from the UK’s 5G networks would risk severely delaying operators’ 5G rollout plans, adversely affecting the UK economy by £18.2bn, and losing the

The US: Fast and too-focused?

Unlike UK operators, the US’ carriers gained access to low and high-band 5G spectrum early on in the 5G race - with mid-band 5G only just becoming available; Verizon,

© AT&T

DR PAUL CARTER

UK’s current competitive advantage in 5G leadership.”

Huawei, which the UK Government has classified as a “high-risk” vendor, was banned from selling equipment to UK carriers late last year, with the threat of hefty fines hanging over the heads of operators who didn’t switch to Nokia, Ericsson or OpenRAN components for their networks quickly with a final eviction date set for 2027.

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TELECOMS

“ The more rural we go, the harder it gets, as we have to use technology and available spectrum more

creatively” BRIAN DALY AT&T

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for example, has had promising results in trials that combine its mid-band spectrum with mmWave, but won’t be commercially launching that service until early in 2022.

Brian Daly, AVP of Standards and Industry Alliances at AT&T - which has been recognised several times as having the US’ fastest 5G, even though its extensive use of mmWave spectrum means that its coverage spans an extremely narrow footprint - is confident that consumer adoption in the US is set to hit 15% of the nation’s telecom subscriber base by the end of the year. The country’s deployment “has been very aggressive with the major carriers all offering nationwide

“This will complement our nationwide 5G network on low band and allow us to deliver faster speeds across the country,” he says. Currently, according to Dr. Carter, while GWS’ research “saw 5G inspired throughputs over 1 Gbps for all three major US operators at the Superbowl this year, typical average achievable throughputs are much lower, and not significantly different from some achievable 4G(+) performances.”

However, the US’ major issue right now isn’t speed, but coverage. Each of the US carriers claims to cover more than 200mn people with their nationwide networks, but an April report by Opensignal found that T-Mobile (which leads the US carriers in terms of 5G availability) users were only connected to the operator’s 5G network around 33.1% of the time, with AT&T clocking in at 20.5% and Verizon trailing at just over 11%.

If the US is to catch up with China, as well as deliver on the promise of a 5G future, expanding coverage across urban and rural areas needs to be the priority.

“There’s still a lot of work to do, as rural builds take longer and present their own unique sets of challenges.

And, generally speaking, the more rural we go, the harder it gets as we have to use technology and available spectrum more creatively,” says Daly.

Dr. Carter notes that, “This is all a workin-progress and with standalone 5G and more spectrum transitioned to 5G in the years ahead, network quality will continue to improve dramatically.” However, whether the UK and US can create and maintain sufficient momentum not to be completely left behind by other 5G firstmovers is another matter entirely. © AT&T

© AT&T

TELECOMS

deployments as of last year,” he explains, adding that the recent acquisition of C-band (or mid-band) spectrum at the FCC’s Auction 107 earlier this year will be “key to fulfilling the potential of 5G.” AT&T laid down several billion dollars at the latest spectrum auction, receiving 80 MHz of 5G real estate in response. Ahead of Verizon, Daly explains that AT&T will start commercially offering the first 40 MHz of that spectrum before the end of the year.

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Fighting for the ROI on

5G 5G promises to revolutionise digital communications, but CPSs need to adapt their business models quickly if they are to see the ROI they deserve.

WRITTEN BY: HARRY MENEAR

4G communications were first launched in mid-December 2009. Over the subsequent decade, the technology has completely revolutionised the digital economy, ushering in new business models like ride-sharing, the gig economy, and OTT streaming services. The technology supporting these innovations has completely reshaped day to day life, and allowed the companies behind their commercialisation (like Netflix, Uber and Spotify) to rake in billions every year.

However, the telecommunication and digital infrastructure companies responsible for the infrastructure underpinning 4G - and the massive capital expenditure required to make the technology a fact of daily life - didn’t end up seeing a return on investment (ROI) proportionate to their expenses. In fact, as OTT streamers and other digitally disruptive firms continued to grow exponentially off the back of the increased bandwidth and connectivity being funded by communications service providers (CSPs), those same CSPs found themselves increasingly boxed into a discrete, growthless segment of the market.

Boxed out of the value chain “With the 4G rollout, telecoms were the engine that powered a new economy.

But it was other players that actually monetised that transformation. Netflix, Zoom, Spotify - basically, all the OTT players capitalised on the telecom industry's huge investment in 4G,” says Francesco Venturini, a Senior Managing Director at Accenture, who has lately found himself focusing on helping telecom operators to monetise their network assets and avoid the same outcomes that the industry saw following the 4G rollout.

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5G

Francesco adds that, once non-telecom players established themselves as the ones who stood to benefit from the increased capacity, coverage and speed that 4G delivered, “In the end, the telecom industry was essentially forced to remain in a small corner of the value chain, just providing faster connectivity at pretty much the same price points.”

Now, as the global 5G rollout continues to gather momentum around the world, CSPs are once again shelling out billions of dollars in order to keep pace in an extremely competitive market. And once again, these companies are finding themselves faced with the challenge of defending their revenue streams against digital service providers using their infrastructure to offer disruptive, transformational services. “Most, if not all, of the telecoms I talk to recognise the mistakes that were made with 4G,” says Venturini. “And I think that's motivating a lot of players in the industry to be a bit more territorial - to plant the flag on 5G in order not to once again be forced into a corner where they provide faster connectivity in exchange for very little in the way of ROI.” The widely held belief that, as Venturini puts it, “operators missed the boat” with 4G isn’t ubiquitous. According to Mark Newman, Chief Analyst at TM Forum, an

industry association representing service providers and suppliers throughout the telecom sector, “CSPs didn’t make a mistake with the 4G rollout.”

Newman explains that, while he understands the people who argue that operators lost out by taking on the cost of the rollout while the OTT companies like Google and Netflix reaped the rewards of faster consumer connectivity, he also believes that, since “the goal for the operators is to furnish their customers with a faster and better-connected consumer experience,” by this metric, the 4G rollout “has been incredible. Modern video and audio streaming wouldn’t have

“ WITH THE 4G ROLLOUT, TELECOMS WERE THE ENGINE THAT POWERED A NEW ECONOMY” FRANCESCO VENTURINI ACCENTURE

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2021 Program Chair Kevin Hart EVP, Chief Product & Technology Officer, Cox Communications

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5G

$110.1bn OTT Market (2018)

$438.5bn OTT Market (2026)

19.1%

CAGR (2018-2026)

Top OTT Leaders Facebook, Hulu, Netflix, Apple, AWS, Google

“ IN THE END, THE TELECOM INDUSTRY WAS ESSENTIALLY FORCED TO REMAIN IN A SMALL CORNER OF THE VALUE CHAIN” FRANCESCO VENTURINI ACCENTURE

developed as far as they have without the speed 4G offers.”

Interestingly, while Newman frames it as more of a logical evolution, and Venturini as a fight for survival, both of them agree that the 5G rollout is pushing telecom operators in the same direction. Newman

explains that the defining shift in the market we’re about to see is “CSPs endeavouring to expand more and more into the B2B services market, building out enterprise grade connectivity and working with partners to create end-to-end solutions for specific vertical markets such as manufacturing, healthcare, connected vehicles and smart cities.”

However, whereas Newman describes something of an inexorable march towards telecoms’ greater role in everything from remote medicine to smart manufacturing, Venturini maintains that if operators are to leverage “the stepchange that is 5G” into a greater piece of the pie, they are going to have to play their cards right. mobile-magazine.com

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5G

The way back in transitioned into being “It's a bit of a provocative commodities, so there's perspective,” says a corresponding increase Venturini. “It's a in pricing pressure.” As a perspective that tries to result, customer loyalty highlight what it takes became the battleground for operators to move for these companies, away or evolve out of creating a race to the being a pure product bottom - “because company and - on both otherwise it's very the B2B and B2C sides hard to differentiate,” of things - become a Venturini adds. This platform company by shift further and further FRANCESCO VENTURINI ACCENTURE leveraging 5G.” into the commodity Telcos, he explains, (and even utility) space, have traditionally tended to be product combined with their curtailed position in companies. “They're great at selling the value chain due to the rapid growth their own products, bundling, pricing, of OTT disruptors, according to Venturini, and managing acquisition costs - but is yet another weight around the telecom those products have increasingly sector’s neck.

“OPERATORS ARE DISCOVERING THIS NEW CONTROL POINT THEY NEVER HAD BEFORE: THE EDGE”

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However, by pivoting their approach, Venturini believes that operators can flip the script. “By becoming a platform company, these operators can radically change their DNA,” he says. “They can stop focusing solely on their own products and instead can start to leverage a number of control points.”

Chief among them, the B2B control point that Venturini establishes as vital is the edge.

Fighting for the edge “Operators are discovering this new control point they never had before,” he says. “The question becomes if, on the consumer side, I can leverage devices that have traditionally been dumb devices as control points to build new engagement new experiences, can I do the same by leveraging the edge in the B2B space? It requires looking at your network architecture in a different way, as well as looking at your relationships with the disruptors and the hyperscalers in a new light - and potentially protect a little bit more of your turf around the edge in order to become an enabler of things like the industrial IoT and see a greater ROI.” In tandem, Venturni explains, the COVID19 pandemic has “opened a window” for CSPs to act. “directly tied to connecting and monetising value chains in an era of edge computing and platform ecosystems.”

$43.4bn Edge Computing Market (2027)

37.4%

Francesco Venturini and the Brain Gain With over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications consulting sector, Francesco Venturini has an undeniably unique understanding of the direction the industry is headed and a uniquely interesting plan of action to match.

He’s a proponent of the connected brain approach, a cognitive, AI-powered microservices platform with three key tenets: future-proof technology architecture, the ability to power new and existing business models, and a fundamental shift at the operational level.

“With the Connected Brain, CSPs can fulfil their promise of a connected consumer platform or an x-industry orchestrator for businesses, leaving their commoditised legacy connectivity business behind in favour of a vast new landscape of significant revenue potential—and a promising, growthoriented future,” he explains.

CAGR (2020-2027)

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5G

“ PARTNERSHIP WITH PUBLIC CLOUD AND OTHER GROWING WORK TECHNOLOGIES COULD PROVIDE ENORMOUS REVENUE FOR CSPS IN THE COMING YEARS” MARK NEWMAN TM FORUM

However, he wrote in a recent report, “the time to act is short. The time to move is now.”

The COVID-19 crisis raised our collective dependence on our CSPs for everything from work to socialising. As a result, trust in the quality of service of operators is higher than it’s been in a while. Trust, as an intangible lever, can unlock significant tangible business value for CSPs, like the harvesting and monetisation of customer data. “Due to post-COVID shifts, now more than ever, CSPs have opportunities to expand their offerings outside their

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core business,” Venturini adds.

To begin capitalising on this new opportunity, operators are quickly going to begin transitioning (just like pretty much every company in pretty much every market) into technology-first organisations.

The ones that can pull this off, and leverage their competitive infrastructural advantages, will be much better suited to dictate the terms of the necessary cooperation between operators and their competition - the hyperscale cloud providers and software-defined companies also looking to move into the edge. “The enterprise segment offers the greatest opportunity of all for CSPs to redefine themselves— and their growth trajectory— by capitalising on what 5G and edge computing make possible,” he adds.

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“In the B2B market, it seems fairly clear that we’re going to see a growth in private mobile networks constructed by operators for specific companies and purposes, whether this be shipping ports, fulfilment centres or other large-scale operations,” predicts Newman. “CSPs will decide the extent to which they utilise the possibilities of 5G to partner with MSPs in providing end-to-end IT and network solutions for businesses. Partnership with public cloud and other growing work technologies could provide enormous revenue for CSPs in the coming years.”

For Venturini, the cooperative relationship between operators and cloud will be the defining feature of the edge in the 5G era. “It just remains to be seen on whose terms that cooperation takes place,” he muses. “The granularity and capillarity of 5G networks, and the real estate that operators now control cannot be easily replicated, which means that these operators have a lot more bargaining power now versus in the past.” mobile-magazine.com

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VODAFONE PROCUREMENT COMPANY

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VODAFONE PROCUREMENT COMPANY

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF

PROCUREMENT WRITTEN BY: RHYS THOMAS

PRODUCED BY: GLEN WHITE

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VODAFONE PROCUREMENT COMPANY

Reinhard Plaza-Bartsch, Global Head of SCM Development, Operations & Digital

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VODAFONE PROCUREMENT COMPANY

Reinhard Plaza-Bartsch, Global Head of SCM Digital & Operations, Vodafone on empowering procurement through digital transformation

D

efining the efficacy of a digital transformation in procurement seems straightforward on the surface. You can consider the facts by measuring efficiency and productivity metrics or tally up the black ink on quarterly financial results. But the full story is written in the detail. In making areas of user experience and ESG commitments tangible, reportable and manageable.

As Global Head of SCM Digital & Operations at Vodafone, Reinhard PlazaBartsch is driving the telecoms giant’s supply chain digital transformation journey. His vision is that digital will transform the way we work, fostering a culture of innovation and driving more sustainable value creation.

It will empower individuals to do more, through outstanding user experience, boost productivity and reshape how we collaborate across organisations.

“Digitalisation will unlock exponential value for our business,” he says. “As a function, we want to push the boundaries of what can be achieved through technology and innovation.

Having a vision and lining up a clear roadmap of new capabilities interlocked with the business is an essential part of the journey.

“You need to start from the basics - typically opportunities that will free up capacity of commercial teams so that they can devote more time to more value-adding activities.

However, you need to shift gears quickly, go beyond simple automation, and equip teams with new digital solutions that go beyond bridging process gaps and providing data mobile-magazine.com

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VODAFONE PROCUREMENT COMPANY

Title of the video

insights to enable business foresight. In other words, enabling fully end-to-end connected solutions that provide transparency about what is happening in their area of spend. Extending the reach to identify external factors that will influence the business and leveraging artificial intelligence to advise and recommend the best course of action to minimise risks and maximise the value for the organisation.”

Plaza-Bartsch joined Vodafone 14 years ago in the nascent era of digitalisation, when centralization and standardization were the buzz words of the hour. That initial unification process took some years to accomplish but resulted in “a data foundation for the supply chain organisation” that has been instrumental in accelerating the digital transformation over the past five years.

“The degree of insights that we can get from the data that we've created over those years is tremendous,” says Plaza-Bartsch. “We can see how our operations perform in realtime, identify patterns and behaviors in our business and take laser sharp actions to drive performance. We can see how our users are 66

July 2021

“ Digitalisation needs to be very much linked to the actual expected business outcome” REINHARD PLAZA-BARTSCH

GLOBAL HEAD OF SCM DEVELOPMENT, OPERATIONS & DIGITAL, VODAFONE

leveraging certain datasets, what is becoming more relevant to them and how they are unlocking value for the business. Beyond our operations, we are helping our suppliers and partners improve their performance through our insights and the actions we have taken.

“We are now also using some predictive models to proactively manage and mitigate risks, although this is an area where there is still a big opportunity to scale further.

Getting access to data has been one step in our journey; this has now moved towards

VODAFONE PROCUREMENT COMPANY

turning data into business insights that are meaningful and relevant. This has enabled us to achieve world-class performance and drive consistency across all categories and regions.

“What’s great in our function is that no matter where you are in the business, you will have access to the same information, same dashboards and analytics, and enjoy the same and unique user experience across our processes.”

While business insights are a great asset to give you a view of what is happening, we are already leading into applications that provide business foresight. We want to take a more proactive and long-term perspective to potential risks and issues that may impact our supply chain. This can range from simple business trends being contextualised for category teams, to more advanced risk modelling solutions that enable our business to take data-driven decisions on more complex scenarios.

The next step in the journey is to make data actionable, and where possible autonomous.

You can think about this being a “companion or assistant” for a category manager, PlazaBartsch says, which equips them with the information they need to make decisions based on empirical evidence, rather than relying on heuristics or decontextualised data.

“Going a step further, we intend to leverage artificial intelligence to autonomously identify

REINHARD PLAZA-BARTSCH TITLE: GLOBAL HEAD OF SCM DEVELOPMENT, OPERATIONS & DIGITAL INDUSTRY: TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOCATION: LUXEMBOURG Reinhard is currently the Head of Digital Supply Chain & Operations at Vodafone. He is spearheading the digital transformation of Vodafone’s supply chain by accelerating innovation and adoption of new technologies, driving operational excellent performance and unlocking new sources of value for the function.

His career spans across a number of different industries with roles ranging from managing large scale logistics operations to leading complex transformation programmes along the supply chain.

At Vodafone, Reinhard has been pivotal in the establishment and operation of the Vodafone Procurement Company and the transformation of the global supply chain (which now oversees Vodafone’s 25bn€ global spend). He has successfully delivered major transformation programmes that have delivered multimillion Euro in benefits for Vodafone and have also gained external recognition Reinhard is passionate about the role that

1982

Company founded

€44bn+

Revenue in the 12 months to 31 March, 2021

EXECUTIVE BIO

technology can play in shaping the future of procurement, and is actively engaged in customer advisory boards for a number of procurement technology solution providers.

VODAFONE PROCUREMENT COMPANY

KEY PARTNER: BLOCKGEMINI

“We have big ambitions around our autonomous procurement journey, and we are keen to push the envelope further” REINHARD PLAZA-BARTSCH

GLOBAL HEAD OF SCM DEVELOPMENT, OPERATIONS & DIGITAL, VODAFONE

“We exchange a lot of pricing information with partners and suppliers, and we wanted a solution to manage that activity in a much more seamless manner,” says Reinhard Plaza-Bartsch. “So we decided to work with BlockGemini, a late-stage startup partner and Tomorrow Street portfolio company, which is not part of the traditional procurement tech space, because we had a vision of what we wanted, and it was clear that it wasn't available in the market.

“The partnership is about commonly investing from both ends to develop this solution and eventually productise it. It is already live within our ecosystem across 11 markets, with around 30 different partners operating on the platform, and we are now aiming to scale this rapidly towards the end of our financial year across all our supplier base. It has been successful so far, enabling us to track price fluctuation and identify areas of opportunity for reviewing price on an on-going basis.”

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“ Supply chain is a key contributor to Vodafone’s purpose agenda” REINHARD PLAZA-BARTSCH

GLOBAL HEAD OF SCM DEVELOPMENT, OPERATIONS & DIGITAL, VODAFONE

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patterns and prompt action, and eventually… enable our systems to autonomously take decisions,” he adds.

While all the new tech is great, securing a consistent and outstanding user experience is a cornerstone to any successful digital transformation. “You need to keep a close focus on user experience to drive adoption,” says Plaza-Bartsch. Enhancing user experience has been a long objective of Vodafone’s supply chain digital transformation. As far back as 2017 the company began measuring user experience across all its procurement processes and systems. Using a net promoter score - a simple but effective questionnaire, that is automatically triggered when people interact with the digital solutions, asking users to gauge how likely they would be to recommend the SCM solutions - the results were underwhelming. On a scale from -100 (everyone hates the system) to +100 (everyone loves the system) the score came back at -37.

“Naturally what this told us was we needed to do something, and so we did,” Plaza-Bartsch says. “While we couldn’t find any company trending on the positive side of user experience with procurement systems, we are strong believers that improving user experience helps our organisation to become leaner and more agile. It also helps us drive operational excellence and attract talent. People want to work with companies that have great tech, where they can unlock their potential and mobile-magazine.com

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SIRIONLABS, EMPOWERING TRUE COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIP Ajay Agrawal, CEO & Co-Founder of SirionLabs, discusses their fruitful partnership with Vodafone and how CLM enables smarter contracting enterprise-wide.

Ajay Agrawal, CEO & Co-Founder of SirionLabs, shares how the alignment of values and the power of CLM have made for an effective partnership with Vodafone. “We believe in the power of cost savings and superior customer experience, and therein lies the synergy between our organisations. What started out as a post-signature value realisation exercise back in 2016 has since grown into a full suite CLM solution encompassing customised pre-signature features to cater to local markets spread over more than 40 countries. Nothing gives me greater happiness than a customer who has been able to gain increased visibility and get a tighter grip over their contracts.”

“Vodafone has today around 2000 strategic supplier contracts managed through SirionLabs, which oversee a spend of close to 6 billion euros annually. Through our initial discussions, we saw great potential in addressing Vodafone’s commercial engagements, tracking and realising value at scale through a myriad of systems that were retrofitted to suit existing infrastructure.”

“Our four-way automated invoice matching solution has contributed to Vodafone’s bottom line, enabling them to save hundreds of millions of dollars. It has also reduced the friction in their supplier landscape,

ranging from missed commitments or complaints to disputes or disagreements. Automation also reaps many benefits and has enabled Vodafone to cut costs in contract management and supplier governance by more than 60%, reducing manual effort by almost 50% and generating further savings through reduced headcount cost. Post signature activities have also become smoother and a lot more efficient, with one enterprise contract repository across all suppliers and managing them according to their footprint.”

By leveraging AI and extracting valuable data, SirionLabs’ CLM solution empowers collaboration and continued cooperation and partnership long after contracts have been signed.

Agrawal explains, “Collaboration is essential to any partnership. That is really the heart and soul of any SirionLabs project. Unlike many conventional contract management systems that create, store, and maybe extract information from contracts, SirionLabs is unique because it allows both contracting parties to have continued access to the system, even after the contract is signed, while giving a single, consolidated view of data, further enhanced by rich dashboards and insights which help make quick business decisions. The purpose of that continued access is true collaboration across multiple business functions.”

Digitize Your Contracts Now

VODAFONE PROCUREMENT COMPANY

actually maximise their contribution to the organisation, rather than being consumed by administrative activities.”

Today that score sits 117 points higher at positive 84. “User experience is and will always be something to chase, PlazaBartsch admits. “This is basically because our expectations as individuals continuously evolve. We are all exposed to great user experience in everyday applications we have in our private lives, so naturally our expectations will not be different at work.”

The improvement achieved in user experience represents a complete turnaround in the course of just three years. That development will continue as Vodafone continuously influences the innovation roadmap of its partners, but also through a new approach to partnerships which is taking shape through the development of new 74

July 2021

“ Customer experience will continue to be an uncompromised priority, combined with an obsession for speed and simplicity across all our user journeys” REINHARD PLAZA-BARTSCH

GLOBAL HEAD OF SCM DEVELOPMENT, OPERATIONS & DIGITAL, VODAFONE

SCM systems. Instead of buying ready-made solutions, Vodafone is driving innovation by teaming up with a number of partners to develop new capabilities, including software firms outside the traditional sphere of procurement software solutions.

One good example of this drive for innovation is Vodafone’s vision of autonomous journeys across the whole supply chain.

“This is a very ambitious project we are doing with Pegasystems. Today we call it Autonomous Procurement, however, we expect it to quickly expand beyond procurement to a truly integrated and automated supply chain ecosystem” PlazaBartsch says. “We’ve worked hand-in-hand with our category teams to shape the user journeys in the procurement space as a start,

and on this basis we are beginning to add on the capabilities that make buying simpler and faster for the business, while also creating competitive tensions. Our ambition is that this becomes a fully autonomous, end-toend solution, where everything from supplier selection, to contracting and risk management happens automatically, all on the platform. We are moving here clearly from a digital-first to a digital-only mindset.

“We are very proud to have launched our MVP (minimum variable product). This is truly agile development where we are getting to see how the product shapes every other week” Plaza -Bartsch adds. “The platform is still in its early stages and needs greater human oversight to function properly than when it is complete, but having an MVP up and running has been an important step in solidifying Vodafone’s leadership position. mobile-magazine.com

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Pega & Vodafone: Procurement’s Digital Transformation Pega and Vodafone are partnering up to build futureready procurement processes.

With 6,000 global employees across North America, Europe, Latin America, and AsiaPacific, Pega has joined forces with Vodafone, a leading British technology communications company. We recently spoke to Joaquin Reixa, Pega’s Vice President & Managing Director, EMEA, to see what this partnership will hold.

‘This is a joint digital journey’, he told us. ‘To accelerate Vodafone’s digital transformation, Pega is focused on leveraging our unique and complementary technology and skill sets’.

Why Collaborate?

Both Vodafone and Pega bring unique strengths to this new partnership: Pega will provide the digital foundation; Vodafone will provide the procurement expertise. With

Pega’s simple yet sophisticated architecture, Vodafone Procurement Company (VPC) can rapidly build, deploy, and automate global operations to scale.

In addition, Pega’s solutions are perfect for complex supply chains. With Vodafone experts manning the controls, Pega will help create a streamlined, intelligence-driven supply chain engine. As Reixa explained: ‘You want to have a global common process, but couple it with the flavour of the local country and culture’.

Overall, Pega and Vodafone’s partnership will drive agility, optimise supply chains, offer customers a personalised experience, and accelerate Vodafone’s operations. Reixa summed it up: ‘In these moments of chaos, companies must speed up their digital transformation. If you’re not prepared, you stand the risk of irrelevance. This is the time to pursue change’.

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“When we set our vision, we initially went to market to find an off-the-shelf solution that will meet our objectives. We invited 30-plus different partners and came to realize that the landscape wasn't ready. That gave us an indication that this is an area where we should invest more time and develop something to maintain our leadership position for the future.

We believe such a solution will be relevant not just for Vodafone, but also for our partners.”

Alongside evolving the core functions of its procurement division, Vodafone is also leveraging its digital transformation to encompass environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) objectives. PlazaBartsch says: “Supply chain is a key contributor to Vodafone’s purpose agenda. This is by embedding planet and society objectives across everything we do, from how we make decisions (policies) and how we run our business (processes and systems), enabling us to influence and align our more than 10,000 global suppliers around common objectives.”

Sustainability, diversity and inclusion have become core concerns for the private sector, but many businesses continue to grapple with exactly how to quantify them, and how to link them to business objectives.

At Vodafone, Plaza-Bartsch’s approach is to make them tangible and transparent so that they can be managed.

“For example, we have embedded purpose commitments in our sourcing process,” he says. “When evaluating suppliers for new work, 20% of our scoring criteria will account for their commitments to diversity, inclusion and the environment. Enabling this through our systems has been key to secure a consistent implementation across our spend.”

Likewise, to support a reduction of carbon emissions objectives, Vodafone is leveraging big data to access and create full transparency of its CO2 footprint. "For us the use of

technology is essential to understand and predict CO2 emissions growth through our supply chain” Plaza-Bartsch says. “By creating this visibility, we can be more targeted when selecting areas of opportunity to actively drive a reduction in emissions on a year-by-year basis by working with our partners on greener technologies and solutions.

“It’s the same for ESG. We expect that the demand for information and transparency across our supply chain will continue to rise. We will see larger and more connected ecosystems that will contribute richer information to enable business foresight at scale.

“Innovation has become the new normal across our digital transformation journey and our culture. Customer experience will continue to be an uncompromised priority, combined with an obsession for speed and simplicity across all our user journeys. This will enable us to scale commercial and operational value to Vodafone, and beyond that, enable lasting and impactful improvement to society and our planet.”

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TECHNOLOGY

5G: DRIVING AUTOMATION AND IOT 80

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Whereas 4G transformed the world’s digital industries, 5G is set to deliver a revolution across mission critical networks in physical space.

WRITTEN BY: HARRY MANEAR

G

iven the fact that the total investment in 5G across the telecom sector last year came within a whisker of $2.7trn, it’s easy at first to question why carriers are pouring such eye-wateringly large sums of money into networks that have, in many cases, been delivering download speeds that aren’t really that much more impressive than those seen on 4G LTE infrastructure.

Phil Siveter, CEO of Nokia UK&I, reminds me, however, that while faster download speeds and immersive VR experiences to keep his children occupied on long drives are where our minds naturally go when we think about the 5G future, these elements of the technology are only a part of the puzzle.

“There's no question. Over the last 15 years, we've seen a massive transformation of what you might call the digital industries, with things like online banking, streaming, and we're all consuming just about everything through the cloud. And we've seen a massive transformation of those industries as a result,” he explains. “In some part, that's been underpinned by technologies like 4G. It's allowed us to access online banking using our phones, to be able to book restaurants and so forth.”

What we haven’t seen, Siveter continues, is as much of a transformational effect on physical spaces. “But what we've not seen yet, is the same level of mobile-magazine.com

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“ When we think about the importance of 5G as a transformational technology, it's going to be in the physical industries” PHIL SIVETER

CEO, NOKIA UK&I

digital transformation in industries like transportation and manufacturing,” he says.

“These are the mission-critical industries where lives are often at risk - and you need technology that can be trusted absolutely.”

It’s in these spaces, where the power of 5G to improve automation, support more powerful forms of computing closer to the edge, underpinned by a greater level of IoT saturation than we’ve ever seen before, “is going to be really transformational.”

He stresses that “While 5G is going to be exciting for us as consumers, when we think about the importance of 5G as a transformational technology, it's going to be in those physical industries.”

Driving Innovation In asset-intensive industries like manufacturing, supply chain and logistics, efficiency, productivity, and safety are all high priorities for operators. Stephane Daeuble, Head of Enterprise Solution Marketing at Nokia, explains that “These can only be achieved through incorporating technology such as automation and IoT, which are heavily reliant on robust, secure private wireless networks for success.” mobile-magazine.com

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TECHNOLOGY

A checklist for extraordinary 5G success

“A 1% efficiency gain can make a real difference to overall performance” PHIL BAULCH

DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION, BT

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In the UK, Nokia itself is helping to drive this transformation - recently partnering with US carrier Verizon and the Port of Southampton to deploy 5G as the foundation for IoT and machine learning applications to improve operations. More than £40bn worth of exports, around 900,000 vehicles, and millions of cruise ship passengers pass through Southampton every year, making it one of the UK’s busiest hubs of maritime trade and travel.

Until now, according to Verizon, the port’s infrastructure has suffered from “poor wifi connectivity” and the loss of onsite data communications.

The Verizon 5G platform, underpinned

by Nokia’s own technology, will provide the port with a reliable and secure private wireless data network across selected

TECHNOLOGY

areas within the East and West controlled and secure way.”

Docks of the Port,” allowing In the UK, Nokia is working digital communications to with North “to fully automate a be consolidated into a single 40-tonne HGV vehicle, which Industrial IoT Market platform, which is intended to would be controlled remotely by (2020-2027) reduce complexity and improve teleoperations,” says Daeuble.

Industries Most Affected: the resilience of the network, Manufacturing, Logistics, Mining, Aviation, Rail as well as reducing dead zones Overcoming Challenges and opening up opportunities Phil Baulch, who works as the for new technology applications like drones Director of Technology and Innovation and high-definition video streaming for at BT, notes that the industrial drive for maintenance and security purposes. increased productivity enabled by 5G is Nokia, both Siveter and Daeuble tell me, is stemming from physical industries’ needs also using 5G to power several autonomous to overcome a number of key challenges. vehicle pilots in the UK and beyond. In “This digital transformation is in response to Finland, Siveter explains, a private, ultraa set of challenges which all manufacturers secure 5G network is being used to direct are grappling with. These pressures a fleet of “robots that are helping with include increased global competition; the the distribution of pharmaceuticals in a need to respond to constantly shifting

%16.7 CAGR

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Partnering with Industry Nokia and BT are both partnering across multiple industries and markets to deliver on the promise of 5G’s potential in industrial settings.

Nokia is partnering with Vodafone to deploy a 5G network for HORIBA MIRA’s technology park in the UK, allowing them to test Vehicleto-Everything (V2X) technology which will bring us one step closer to making driverless cars a reality.

Nokia is working with Omron and NTT Docomo in Japan to test 5G performance of self-navigating Autonomous Mobile Robots, which are designed to move material across challenging environments. This will improve productivity, production line agility and better support factory workers.

BT is partnering with W5G to accelerate smart manufacturing delivered through the UK’s first live 5G factory installation. Baulch explains that, “As part of the partnership, we will manage the live 5G Private network for Worcester Bosch factory to deliver 5G, IoT, Edge compute and autonomous robots.”

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The solution will boost productivity by using autonomous robots to transport products and materials. The installation of collision detection sensors connected over the 5G Private Network will also help to ensure health and safety on the factory floor.

BT is also working with Hyperbat, one of the UK’s largest independent vehicle battery manufacturers, to significantly speed up the manufacturing process for hybrid and electric vehicle production in the UK. “This is a really exciting and world-first innovation,” enthuses Baulch. “Alongside our partners, Ericsson, NVIDIA and Qualcomm, we’re deploying a world-first 5G Virtual Reality (VR) ‘digital twin’ solution which allows remote teams in different parts of the country to connect, collaborate and interact using a virtual 3D engineering model.” By enabling dispersed teams across design, engineering and manufacturing to collaborate more efficiently, the technology is set to accelerate the pace of innovation within the UK manufacturing sector.

“ 5G will be key to realising the fully automated smart factories of tomorrow” PHIL BAULCH

DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION, BT

consumer demands; and coping with significant skills shortages,” he explains.

However, according to Baulch, something as seemingly insignificant as a 1% efficiency gain “can make a real difference to overall performance. New automated processes enabled by 5G and complementary technologies are key to driving these efficiency gains.”

This is where the role of 5G in the modern industrial setting becomes a little clearer.

“5G, when combined with automation and IoT, will empower manufacturers to connect many more devices and sensors and capture more data than is possible using 4G. Thousands of sensors can be placed on equipment across the factory floor to monitor performance, with petabytes of data being carried across the 5G network, faster and more reliably than ever before,” Baulch continues. “5G also delivers ultra-low latencies of ten milliseconds or less, which will be key to realising the fully automated smart factories of tomorrow. Ultra-low latency is critical for

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“ 5G brings us greater levels of automation and control that are going to allow us to transform the physical industries” PHIL SIVETER

CEO, NOKIA UK&I

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real-time data transfer and analytics. This capability will be powered by a combination of 5G, cloud, IoT, edge computing, AI and data analytics - enabling smarter decision making to optimise industrial processes. This will give manufacturers an instant, granular view of the performance of machines, systems and processes, allowing them to identify and solve problems quickly and effectively.”

Manufacturing a Smarter Society By fully integrating 5G - and technologies like IoT, AI, automation and data analytics - into both the consumer and industrial contexts, Baulch explains that, “In order to create a truly smart society, we have to deliver what is called a digital fabric.” In short, a digital fabric is the infrastructural foundation for the convergence of all the technologies mentioned above, a ubiquity tipping point for next generation communications technology

that will, according to Baulch, “ help drive better social and economic outcomes, such as inclusive growth, productivity, green recovery, and supporting better access to health services and the wellbeing of citizens.”

If, as Siveter puts it, physical industries can be transformed as radically by 5G as digital industries (like streaming, online banking and ecommerce) were by 4G, the cumulative economic and societal benefits have virtually limitless potential. “5G brings us greater levels of automation and control that are going to allow us to build the mission-critical networks to transform these physical industries. We're going to be able to deliver new levels of transformation for those industries, improving productivity and efficiency,” he says. “There's no question that, when we think about the effect of 5G on those sectors, we can think about it as really changing the world.”

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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AT VODAFONE GHANA WRITTEN BY: HARRY MENEAR

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PRODUCED BY: STUART IRVING

VODAFONE GHANA

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Moses Okundi, CIO of Vodafone Ghana, talks technology transformation, cultural development, and chasing the digitally-driven seamless customer experience.

A

t the heart of every modern mobile network operator is a sizable IT stack. At Vodafone Ghana, which has a subscriber base of more than 9mn people, the job of managing and overseeing that IT stack falls to Moses Okundi, the company’s Chief Information Officer.

An Unprecedented Year Okundi joined Vodafone Ghana in late 2019, and quickly found himself faced with the unexpected and unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 crisis. Now, a year later, Vodafone Ghana and Okundi can look back on the first year of the pandemic with a sense of pride, not only in their response to the changing demands brought about by the 92

July 2021

crisis, but also in the scale and efficacy of the digital transformation that is underway at the company, and what it has achieved so far.

“As I’m sure you can imagine, the demand placed on us as an IT organisation in response to COVID-19 was enormous,” says Okundi. “We had to very quickly set the entire workforce up to work remotely, and support our partners to do the same.

The bulk of our workforce is our call centre team, who typically come into the office.

We had to figure out how to maintain this workforce so they could attend to customers because, in parallel, those customers were also adopting digital ways of interacting, transacting and engaging with one another in response to the pandemic.”

VODAFONE GHANA

MOSES OKUNDI TITLE: CIO COMPANY: VODAFONE GHANA INDUSTRY: TELECOMMUNICATIONS

“ THE DEMAND PLACED ON US AS AN IT ORGANISATION IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 WAS ENORMOUS.” MOSES OKUNDI

CIO, VODAFONE GHANA

EXECUTIVE BIO

LOCATION: KENYA Under his leadership, Vodafone Ghana has made significant progress in its Digital Transformation Journey. It has progressed towards establishing a Software Factory for continuous delivery, leveraging a newly developed ecosystem of APIs’ & reusable Micro Services.

Highlights include the integration of key customer journeys across digital interaction channels, incorporating mobile money & micro lending on to digital channels amongst others. Moses’ leadership has laid a solid foundation for Operational Excellence leveraging a revised IT Structure & a new end to end service management platform that facilitates Agile ways of working. The IT Team has also launched in a big way, IT transformation, that has progressed in refreshing the Infrastructure & Applications to be cloud ready in line with its 3year Strategy.

Power Connections.

Empower Change.

VODAFONE GHANA

The big challenges will be solved one way: together. At Juniper, that means a collection of innovators coming together to fully connect the world so that our customers and the communities they build can continue to solve our greatest challenges of health, well-being, sustainability, and equality. We continue to believe in the power of a connected world to bring us all closer together, and that when we’re all connected there’s nothing we cannot change for the better.

Empower change today

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“THE PANDEMIC IS CAUSING PEOPLE TO JUMP FEET FIRST INTO NEW, DIGITALLY-DRIVEN WAYS OF DOING BUSINESS.” MOSES OKUNDI

CIO, VODAFONE GHANA

pandemic has forced the whole world to embrace digital transformation at neverbefore-seen speeds, and “jump feet first into new, digitally-driven ways of doing business.”

The COVID-19 pandemic drove a huge spike in demand, both for customer support services, and Vodafone Ghana’s digital channels, which needed to adapt - and adapt fast.

“We had to expand our capacity across our digital channels to accommodate growth in traffic from increased consumption of our digital services, increase the number of channels for payments through our digital app, and increase and integrate digital customer engagement channels, including social media. At the same time, we set up our entire workforce to be able to work securely, conveniently and comfortably from home,” Okundi reflects, before taking a very deep breath.

“We rallied the team, put a plan into motion, and executed it well. I'm quite proud of us for pulling it off.”

If Okundi had anything to say about it, COVID-19 would get the award for digital accelerator of the year, given the way the

The Heart of Vodafone Ghana Outside of the organisation’s radio access network (RAN) and network core, everything technological within the scope of Vodafone Ghana is Okundi’s job to look after, from the enterprise IT stack, business support systems

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“ WE WANT OUR CUSTOMERS TO HAVE A NEAR-SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE WHEN CONSUMING OUR SERVICES.” MOSES OKUNDI

CIO, VODAFONE GHANA

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(BSS), charging, billing and subscription solutions, to the multiple digital channels through which end-customers interact with Vodafone Ghana, including everything from SMS to web pages and the company’s suite of apps.

Okundi sees his role as that of an enabler and facilitator. “All of these digital elements of the business end up consuming services from the legacy telco systems. We have to somehow link all those systems together, efficiently leveraging our own middleware platforms, APIs & Microservices that we’ve developed in-house,” he explains. “My team and I need to enable our frontline employees and agents - those in the field, shops and call centres, interacting with our customers in real-time around the clock - to be able to do their jobs on a dayto-day basis in a seamless manner. That means connectivity, and a platform that can interface with the rest of the company's systems, which provide everything from order and relationship management to analytics and reporting, service fulfilment such as subscription and resource purchase enablement, additionally unlocking efficiencies through process automation.”

Uniting a burgeoning tech stack with a national-scale telecom operator’s legacy system is no mean feat. Transforming Vodafone Ghana’s legacy systems into cloud-ready functions that integrate seamlessly with the rest of the company’s digital capabilities, all while improving the experience for the end-user, is the focus of Okundi’s digital transformation efforts.

When approaching this mammoth task, Okundi says that it’s essential to understand one’s priorities and goals. “We need to identify what success looks like for us,” he says. “First of all, we want our customers to have a near-seamless experience when mobile-magazine.com

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“ IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THE CHANNEL ITSELF IS JUST ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE. THERE'S ALSO A SIGNIFICANT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION THAT WE NEED TO DO BEHIND THE SCENES.”

SQUADS AND TRIBES

MOSES OKUNDI

CIO, VODAFONE GHANA

DID YOU KNOW...

consuming our services. That’s why we are working on enhancing that customer experience across all our digital channels and enabling our customers to fulfil all their needs through those digital channels.”

With that core principle in mind, the next step takes place within Vodafone Ghana itself, in the heart of Okundi’s own domain: the IT department. “It's important to remember that the channel itself is just one piece of the puzzle. There's also a significant digital transformation that we need to do behind the scenes,” he says, adding that Vodafone Ghana is investing heavily in a virtual environment, a DevSecOps

“As a modern telco, you need to be fast. You need to continue to deliver value in an agile manner, realising value in iterations, as opposed to a more traditional waterfall approach,” explains Okundi.

“You need to create that value quickly and deliver it at pace.”

Squads and tribes are an increasingly popular feature of an agile organisation, which give individual groups full responsibility for a product or service from end-toend, rather than passing that product around to different departments throughout its development cycle.

“There's an enormous cultural change that we need to drive and execute as part of our digital transformation, and a learning curve that we need to climb,” Okundi adds.

“This is one of the areas where I really appreciate being part of Vodafone & Vodacom Groups. There's a myriad of resources and support that is offered, including strategy, architecture, course material etc. to help us climb that curve.” One example is the #OneMoreSkill initiative, which encourages Vodafone employees to get new certifications and training in areas including cloud, analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Agile.

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Title of the video

“ AS A MODERN TELCO, YOU NEED TO BE FAST.” MOSES OKUNDI

CIO, VODAFONE GHANA

toolset enabling Continuous Integration & Continuous Deployment (CI/CD), and driving the need for people development in the digital skills “that can facilitate the kind of sustained quick turnaround we need.”

A key step here is to rapidly increase microservices, which means, “that for any service we need to deliver, our developers don't have to spend a long time writing new code, but rather consume from existing microservices, which really speeds up the process.”

Okundi is also driving the initiative to transform applications to be cloud-ready.

Key applications are already cloud-ready.

“We have made good progress to virtualise the IT environment. We are about halfway done now,” he explains. “All our upcoming

transformation initiatives will also require as a minimum that concerned applications are cloud-ready, and support Open APIs and microservices.”

Bringing it All Together In order to unify all the elements of Vodafone Ghana’s IT stack, Okundi reveals that, “we're putting it all together using an integration layer that cuts across our whole stack to ensure that every element talks to one another in a near-seamless manner.” The process is going well, with the integration layer now capable of facilitating payments, resource consumption and subscriptions, to name a few of its capabilities.

Due to the expense involved in buying an off-the-shelf integration layer solution, Okundi’s team built their own, something he’s immensely proud of them for doing.

“The team has really done a great job to create and enhance that layer, and to really mobile-magazine.com

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VODAFONE GHANA

“ WE'RE ENGAGING WITH OUR PARTNERS TO FIND A WAY FORWARD THAT IS CLOUD-READY, MODULAR, OMNICHANNEL, CAPABLE OF MAKING UPGRADES WITHOUT DOWNTIME, AND CAN LEVERAGE MICROSERVICES.” MOSES OKUNDI

CIO, VODAFONE GHANA

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create a roadmap for what has now become a critical core element of our IT architecture.

I would like to applaud them for rising to the occasion and finding a way forward without us having to expend a huge amount of money buying an off-the-shelf solution,” he says. “In this digital world, it's critical to develop those internal capabilities and strategies. Doing so obviously reduces cost, but it also gives you more agility and speed of delivery going forward.”

Looking forward to 2021 and beyond, Okundi is excited and optimistic, but acknowledges that there’s still a lot to be done. “This year, we're pushing forward with our key transformation,” he explains. “To transform our BSS, we're engaging with our partners to establish a cloud-ready, modular, omnichannel, capable of making upgrades without downtime, and can leverage open APIs and microservices. Having a strong partner ecosystem is critical. Your partners help you to accelerate your agenda in ways you can't achieve alone.”

Additionally, he notes that he and his team will have to continue with the data centre modernisation and basic housekeeping in the Vodafone Ghana data centres in readiness for company-wide cloud adoption.

And lastly, he emphasises that the coming year will be one of personal development, as well as supporting others to grow and develop themselves. He concludes: “I want to keep pushing this culture of learning and growth, focus on gaining new digital skills, thinking digital-first, and supporting the kinds of personal transformations that allow people to have fun, engage and develop alongside this rapidly accelerating digital world in which we all live.”

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CONNECTED DEVICES

IOT: SMARTER HOMES, CITIES AND SOCIETIES Experts from Huawei, BT and the GSMA paint a picture of a smarter, better world, interwoven with a ubiquitous Internet of Things.

WRITTEN BY: HARRY MANEAR

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T

he Internet of Things (IoT) is poised to transform the very fabric of the modern world. From smarter homes and cities to the way we live, work, play and build things, IoT is increasingly saturating every aspect of the economy and daily life.

By the end of 2019, the number of active IoT devices in the world hit 26.66bn. By the end of this year, that figure is expected to exceed 35bn. It’s a staggering jump, but nothing compared to the estimated 75bn pieces of IoT hardware that are expected to be in service by 2025. At the current rate of global population growth, that’s just over nine IoT devices per person on the planet.

Today, IoT devices, from smart meters and sensors to intelligent refrigerators, are already becoming a fact of daily life for millions around the world. However, some experts believe that, in order for IoT to achieve its full potential, the technology must pass a tipping point, from widespread usage into true ubiquity. Henk Koopmans, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei’s Research & Development division in the UK, explains that, in order for the societywide connectivity benefits of IoT to be realised, there needs to be a “ubiquitous integration of IoT into our lives.” mobile-magazine.com

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Smart Cities

Aruna Srinivasan, Senior Director of the Internet of Things at the GSMA, believes that the COVID-19 pandemic will be the catalyst for the kind of ubiquity that Koopmans describes. “Over the next few years I think we’ll see an optimisation of connected/ virtual life and real life,” she explains, adding that “The pandemic has taught us the value of each, and I’m excited to see how we achieve a balance in all areas of our lives.”

Koopmans goes even further, positing that, up until this point, IoT has largely been used to augment and automate pre existing business functions. “Many IoT implementations are just business extensions,” he explains. “For example, the remote reading of electricity meters, the predictive maintenance of logistics trucks, or the traffic management driven by parking sensors. Credible applications in their own right, but completely vertically integrated, only useful to the business running it.” These relatively narrow applications are, Koopmans reflects, “a far cry of the Internet of Things - the emphasis being on Internet.”

“ Over the next few years I think we’ll see an optimisation of connected/virtual life and real life” ARUNA SRINIVASAN

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS, THE GSMA

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CONNECTED DEVICES

The World Wide Web of Things In order for connected devices to really fulfil the promise of an internet of things, Koopmans explains that the ways in which we access this technology, and the purpose that the IoT serves, will need to evolve. “A ubiquitous internet – or should it be called the World Wide Web of Things – is one where we as consumers have applications on our smartphone that utilise this vast amount of data that is generated by the ‘Things’ out there,” he says. “This data is digitally representing my community, my city, the environment I live in. I therefore want to know about it, and that means that a democratisation of this data is needed, and tailored for my personal use, to improve my quality of life.”

However, just as there’s a disconnect between the ways in which IoT devices are used now and the applications needed to create the future Koopmans envisions, there’s also a fundamental dissonance between the current conversation around data sharing and privacy, and the free flowing information that would form the lifeblood of an IoT connected world. It’s a problem that exists for good reason. As data has become an increasingly valuable resource, and the increasingly digitalisation of the economy has come to both produce and use more data, there are fundamental questions regarding individual privacy that need to be resolved before data can be allowed to move freely enough - and in large enough quantities - to support the kind of IoT saturation and functionality Koopmans says we’re headed for.

If the truly democratised IoT is to be realised, Koopmans continues, then “we need to find a way to manage data ownership.”

He notes that, while technologies like blockchain have shown promise, they’re “too cumbersome for the IoT”, meaning that, if 108

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organisations want to “share and exchange data, we have a long way to go.”

Srinivasan, on the other hand, is more optimistic. “As we become more connected, it’s incredibly important that we empower consumers to remain in control of their data,” she says. “The EU’s GDPR regulation goes a huge way towards achieving this and if these principles are maintained I believe we will be in a good place.”

Connected Devices and Smarter Societies In many ways, the smart city is the ultimate end goal of IoT implementation.

CONNECTED DEVICES

Integrating smart sensors, security systems, monitoring equipment, traffic lights, waste management, and transportation into the nebulous cyberspace will, advocates suggest, create a degree of efficiency, sustainability and visibility that will allow cities to better care for the people that inhabit them.

The idea of the smart city has grown alongside the IoT, with global spending on smart city initiatives predicted to hit $135bn this year. That figure represents a 22% increase on the previous year, although that jump in investment may be a little misleading given the pandemic –

“The smart city vision is a fully connected city. It involves driverless cars, artificial intelligence (AI), smart street lighting and smart parking” JAMIE HAYES

MOBILE NETWORK OPERATOR DIRECTOR, BT WHOLESALE mobile-magazine.com

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“The move to net zero is increasingly on the agenda of governments and business around the world” ARUNA SRINIVASAN

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS, THE GSMA

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the “economic uncertainty” caused by the global health crisis - shut down or delayed a number of high-profile smart city developments last year, including Sidewalk Labs’ Quayside development in Toronto. Nonetheless, the application of IoT to urban infrastructure remains one of the most compelling use cases for the technology, and in many ways, is the lens through which most people experience the benefits of IoT. According to Jamie Hayes, Mobile Network Operator Director at BT Wholesale, the sheer scale of smart cities’ potential is almost a challenge in itself. “The smart city vision is a fully connected city. It involves driverless cars, artificial intelligence (AI), smart street lighting and smart parking. With so many technologies – and all the policies which govern how to implement these technologies – half the battle is knowing where to start,” he explains.

As we progress, Srinivasan reflects that “The truth is there are both technology and business hurdles that we need to cross,” in addition to challenges relating to privacy, if IoT is to have a truly transformative effect on society. By bringing together multiple players from the tech industry, she’s confident that significant advances can be made. “We know that we can’t just be inward looking. The mobile connectivity is primed to support other industries in reducing their emissions, for example through the deployment of environmental monitoring solutions, smart grids, smart buildings, or smart agriculture,” she explains. “The move to net zero is increasingly on the agenda of governments and business around the world and IoT solutions will be a huge enabler in helping achieve this and preserving our planet.”

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LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES: Innovation and Shifting Mindsets WRITTEN BY: LAURA V. GARCIA

PRODUCED BY: CRAIG KILLINGBACK

LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES Bruce Dines

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By listening to people and nurturing creativity Liberty Global Ventures is driving innovation and helping organisations shift into a new cultural mindset

A

“ Every company, every industry, gets disrupted” BRUCE DINES

PARTNER AND LEAD IN INNOVATION, LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

bout three years or four years into Liberty Global's decision to focus on external innovation, it occurred to Bruce Dines, Partner and Lead in Innovation, that the disruptive technologies that had occurred in the last decade had removed friction, making it easier for entrepreneurs to launch and build businesses.

"There's more capital in the system, and there's less capital required to start companies now than there used to be. When I was an entrepreneur, there wasn't such a thing as on-demand computing. There wasn't such a thing as ubiquitous broadband internet access. There weren't programs specifically designed to help entrepreneurs accelerate their knowledge of how to start up and scale their businesses, and on the back end be introduced to interested investors", says Dines.

"The venture capital industry was alive, but you had to go to New York or Boston, you had to go to Sand Hill Road [Silicon Valley], and you had to schedule meetings and sit down and talk to people about your vision and your plan. Now, there's on-demand computing and an internet distributed workforce. It's possible to hire talent from anywhere in the world and have them join your team. Capital requirements are 10% of what they used to be: no IT person to run data servers, software, connectivity and telephony: all of that is now done in the cloud.” mobile-magazine.com

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LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

Liberty Global – Our Purpose

"Cloud has driven the acceleration of new businesses, the acceleration of new innovations and the acceleration of more competition.

And it has become impossible for even the largest corporations and the largest Research and Development (R&D) budgets to keep up with the level of innovation that's happening.”

"Look at the turnover in the Dow Jones exchange over the past 30 years. Many of the companies on the premier global trading exchange 30 years ago don't exist today.

They've been disrupted and replaced. The same thing will be the case 30 years from now. As the pace of innovation accelerates with cloud, compute efficiency, ubiquitous broadband connectivity and distributed workforce, every company, every industry, is faced with a greater threat of disruption.”

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"To the extent a company isn't in the slipstream of this rapid innovation cycle, they are at some level being disrupted. It is vital to recognise how this accelerated cycle of innovation and concept creation is moving and prepare your organisation to keep, at minimum, the same pace.”

"How do large corporations, in particular, with a certain level of maturity prepare for that disruption? I believe it's important to foster this culture of innovation, where

LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

Bruce Dines

“ If you look back at the Dow Jones industrial average, and the companies that were on that average 30 years ago, many don't exist today” BRUCE DINES

PARTNER AND LEAD IN INNOVATION, LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

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EMPOWERING BUSINESSES TO GROW WITH TECHNOLOGY Pax8 is the world’s favorite marketplace for technology professionals to buy cloud products. We enable businesses to easily buy, consume, and manage cloud solutions in any IT environment so their employees can work productively and securely, whether in a remote setting or the office.

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The born-in-the-cloud company is powered by its award-winning Pax8 Platform that seamlessly delivers cloud solutions from a modern marketplace offering consolidated billing, automated provisioning, and industry-leading Professional Services Automation (PSA) integrations.

The technology is backed with enhanced support, educational programs, and dedicated resources.

The Wingman Partner Program ensures Pax8 is with you at every step during your cloud-buying journey, which is important today as 73% of companies would prefer to buy through a marketplace, according to Ryan Walsh, Chief Operating Officer at Pax8.

“We believe in offering the best partner experience, and that means riding shotgun with an IT professional so they can achieve success.” said Walsh Since it was founded in 2012, the Colorado-based company offers innovative solutions to partners, which include:

•

Simple cloud management - The platform integrates with Autotask, ConnectWise, Kaseya, RepairShopr, Syncro, and Tigerpaw - so clients can manage everything from their preferred PSA tool.

•

Consolidated billing – Consolidation of monthly, annual, and usage based billing into a single invoice.

•

Instant solutions - Pax8 integrates with all their vendors’ APIs to automate the process and offer provisioning within seconds of ordering.

Pax8 has gained the competitive edge by listening to their partners. “We have a very agile team that pushes updates to our platform weekly,” said Nick Heddy, Chief Revenue Officer - at Pax8 Liberty Global Ventures was an early investor in Pax8.

“It is a fantastic partnership,” said Heddy. “They have connected us to influential companies and opened doors for Pax8 worldwide.”

Pax8 acquired Wirehive in January 2021 which has given them a foothold into the UK. “Pax8 is a cross between the human touch and leading technology innovations,” said Heddy

LEARN MORE

LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

BRUCE DINES TITLE: P ARTNER AND LEAD IN INNOVATION INDUSTRY: TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOCATION: DENVER METROPOLITAN AREA Bruce Dines is a founding partner of Liberty Global Ventures and is responsible for co-developing its Technology Investment Portfolio. With 25 years of tech and telecom experience – half spent in early stage environments, where he co-founded and led three businesses from concept development to exit. The other half of his career he has held senior executive leadership roles in mid and large corporations – American Telecasting (IPO’d and sold to BellSouth and Sprint), EHPT (sold to Ericsson) and Ericsson Mobile Communications post sale where he led a $1B business unit. Bruce also leads the Spark programme within Liberty Global which drives innovative thinking and development principles across operating companies.

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it becomes a core part of the DNA of the business. Many large corporations are just beginning to understand this."

Beginning in 2000, agile methodologies began to take over the world of software development after a group of 17 software practitioners created the Agile Manifesto.

Agile is rooted in three main concepts: an iterative approach to development, short feedback loops, and a disciplined project management process.

Software teams would meet every morning in 10 or 20-minute intervals known as "scrums". These faster, iterative design processes created new standards and

LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

made for more agile product development, truncated Time to Market (TTM). Dines explains, "Part of this was promoted by new software languages that had emerged and made it easier to micro architect code versus having it be part of a much larger, for lack of a better word, spaghetti system, or train of intermingled code".

Essentially, this new ability allowed for imperfect software to be launched. "It used to be in the coding world that you had to go to General Availability (GA—the release of a product to the general public, available through a company's general sales distribution channels). To get to GA was an

exhaustive process and involved testing, retesting and regression testing to ensure there were no bugs in the system. Bugs were considered a sign of poor quality testing if they showed up after release (but with large codebases, they always did). With microarchitecture and agile design, release cycles moved from once or twice a year to once a month and then accelerated to once a week and in some cases now two-to-three times per week, accelerating TTM, product release cycles and customer satisfaction. Yes, the bugs were still there, but MS educated the world that people were somewhat tolerant of bugs in exchange for better performing, mobile-magazine.com

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$14.4bn Revenue in US dollars

2005

Year Founded

20,200+ Number of Employees

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A Seamless Video Experience From The Moment Your Viewers Hit Play Penthera, a Liberty Global partner, is a SaaS company offering a suite of streaming solutions to OTT providers across 36 countries and 100 million devices. Our technology helps eliminate last-mile streaming issues, such as buffering and low video quality, to reduce stream abandonment and churn and increase revenue.

Learn more

LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

Title of the video

“ There's more capital in the system, yet less capital required to start companies now than there used to be. When I was an entrepreneur, there weren't programs specifically designed to help entrepreneurs accelerate their startups, scale their businesses and be introduced to interested investors” BRUCE DINES

PARTNER AND LEAD IN INNOVATION, LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

more functional software. Now, there are public release forums, where bugs can be outed by crowdsharing with volunteers as part of the scrum/agile process, and with better architecture and performance tools, release cycles are both rapid with higher performance.”

As manufacturing had extraordinarily long TTM life cycles, executives looking for competitive advantage started introducing agile methodologies into their product creation and manufacturing processes. Agile then evolved into lean and other process improvement methodologies.

"I think that there are still large corporations out there who have been around a long time, but they haven't necessarily figured out how to incorporate design thinking or lean and agile methodologies into their core culture.

And so, our internal innovation programs are specifically designed to create opportunities for business units to engage in learning those methodologies." mobile-magazine.com

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LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

“ I believe it's important to foster this culture of innovation, where it almost becomes a core part of the DNA of the business” BRUCE DINES

PARTNER AND LEAD IN INNOVATION, LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

Spark, democratising creativity and shooting for the stars "You cannot shoot for stars with your feet firmly on the ground".

A grassroots movement, Liberty Global's internal innovation platform, Spark, looks to democratise creativity and begins to chip away at the culture barrier that often slows innovation and improvements.

"Our Spark program is made up of three primary legs. The first and broadest is an idea generation platform, which is an enterprisewide software that enables any one of our more than 20,000 employees worldwide to input an idea at any time of the day.

"Campaigns may be run specifically for a business unit or across the entire enterprise, and the Spark team has run many at both the local and company-wide levels. Dines says that running enterprise-wide campaigns helps to generate enthusiasm and gain cross-functional cooperation through a thorough initial assessment of ideas and voting that pulls participants from multiple business units into the process.”

"We initiate the campaign, but we're leveraging the collective brainpower and creativity inherent amongst our large pool of people, and we depend on their creativity and their brainpower to provide us with new, interesting, and beneficial ideas. Each campaign requires that we find a champion – someone who believes in the program crowd sharing and is willing to support and promote the campaign within the organisation. Now that we have been at this for a while, those internal champions often come to Spark and ask us to help them improve or solve a particular issue.

And when we succeed, it builds momentum.”

To measure success, Liberty Global tracks the cost savings or benefit attributed to the

LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

ideas that are implemented. Assuming a new idea has a life cycle of two years before it has to be refreshed, Liberty Global captures only two years of savings, regardless of the sometimes longer-term impacts. In five years, the program has generated 24 million euros of direct savings.

Matchbox The second program is branded internally as Matchbox, which is a very specific, hands-on Agile training course that walks participants through the six stages of Agile methodology.

To take advantage of the Matchbox program, business unit owners commit their participants to two hours per week for eight weeks. The first week is an introduction to the program, followed by six modules.

Then, in the last week, employees are given the opportunity to showcase the results of their work by pitching the ideas they have

developed using the rapid iteration, rapidcycle Agile methodology.

One idea generated by the program reduced after-hours customer calls by 25% and improved customer net promoter scores (“NPS”), where customers rate their satisfaction by their likelihood to recommend a product or service, by 10%.

The prior process included turning off customers’ entertainment service when their bills became too far overdue. They’d come home from work and discover they had no TV service. To make a payment and have their service turned back on, they needed to proactively contact our customer service group. An engineer had the idea to develop an integrated IVR code that enabled customers to dial a number, provide their credit card information, which could then be approved automatically, and generate a message to their set-top box to turn their mobile-magazine.com

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service back on—all within 5 minutes of the call. It was a brilliantly simple, elegant idea.

The idea of Matchbox is to go deep and thoroughly develop an idea from concept to a minimum viable product, testing along the way. "As part of this program, participants are given a credit card with 500 euros that they are able to spend in bringing their idea to life.

They can put together a test website or go to a store and buy materials that they can use to display how their product might work."

“A lot of creativity comes out of the program, and ideas are better formed”, says Dines. “The results accelerate and enhance 128

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the principle of process improvements, team building, and most importantly, provide true knowledge about iterative, rapid prototyping, A/B testing, and function gain.

This, in turn, gets buy-in and engagement of employees throughout the process and results in strong implementation statistics.”

Spark's Brainwriting Due to resource constraints, there is a limited number of Matchbox sessions that can be performed in a year.

And so was born the idea for Spark's Brainwriting program.

LIBERTY GLOBAL VENTURES

“The brainchild of our dynamic Spark leader, Sarah Kelly, the Brainwriting initiative is a minimum two-hour session that is designed to get people out of their day-today routine and into a different environment where they can start thinking in new and different ways”, says Dines.

Designed to stimulate right brain thinking that focuses on creativity and ideation, the program offers another venue for unearthing solutions to specific problems and may be used in conjunction with the Spark or Matchbox programs. Depending on the depth of the issue, the Brainwriting program

may offer the best, quickest methodology to a solution.

The programs have had amazing feedback from participants, generating four and a half of five stars on average. Participants see the value of the program and bring the concepts they've learned and their new ways of thinking back into their broader group, starting to shift the company culture. And in the end, this hits the original goal right on the head, helping to launch companies into more innovative mindsets.

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SMARTPHONE

EXECUTIVES WRITTEN BY: HARRY MANEAR

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Meet the innovators, business strategists, and tech visionaries leading the world’s largest smartphone brands.

TOP TEN

T

he global smartphone industry is undergoing a pivotal moment as sales begin to rebound in the wake of the pandemic, and the worldwide 5G rollout continues to take shape. In Q1 of 2021, global smartphone shipment revenues passed the $100bn mark for the first time in a record-breaking resurgence of the industry, with global shipments growing by 20% year-on-year.

This month, Mobile Magazine is bringing you its list of the top 10 executives at the head of the world’s biggest smartphone brands. Meet the innovators, seasoned veterans, and digital pioneers at the helm during one of the most interesting moments in the industry’s history.

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TOP TEN

10

George Zhao

T I T L E : CEO, Honor N A T I O N A L I T Y : China A P P O I N T E D : 2013

When Huawei sold off its budget sub-brand, Honor, last year, it was announced that George Zhao would remain as its CEO. He would keep making the same phones. He would do a good, unremarkable job. At least, that’s what people expected to happen. A farewell party for the company was held.

Ren Zhengfei made a speech and, for a couple of months, it looked as though Honor would keep on quietly making budget phones for its new owners.

Zhou, however, has a very different plan for his company. In March, he announced that Honor is working on a new premium handset that will aim to surpass Huawei’s own premium phones. Given room to grow, it seems as though Zhao has big plans for Honor.

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09

Sundar Pichai

T I T L E : CEO, Alphabet, N A T I O N A L I T Y : India A P P O I N T E D : 2015

Inc.

As the CEO of Alphabet, Inc, Sundar Pichai has to wear a lot of hats, from cloud entrepreneur to sustainability advocate. However, he also has a hand on the wheel of Google’s Pixel phone division.

Pichai was born in Chennai, India, and has a background in materials engineering, as well as management consulting at McKinsey & Company.

In the wake of the COVID19 crisis, Pichai has been a vocal advocate of using the technological advances made during the pandemic to create a more inclusive digital economy. At the Singapore FinTech Festival in December, Pichai said that, “Our goal for the post-Covid world is to ensure the benefits of technology can be shared, as widely and equitably as possible. If we can do that, 2020 will be remembered not as the end of the world, but the beginning of a world that works better for everyone.”

TOP TEN

“Becoming the No.1 brand on Flipkart is a testimony to the fact that we have made our mark in a small time-frame”

08

Cher Wang

Co-Founder, Chair, HTC Corp N A T I O N A L I T Y : Taiwan A P P O I N T E D : 2007 TITLE:

As the co-founder and Chair of Taiwanese chipmakers HTC Corp and VIA Technologies, Cher Wang is one of the most successful women in tech today.

The company she helped found has been having a rough couple of years and, when Yves Maitre (an ex-Orange exec who stepped in to run the company for several years in Wang’s place) resigned due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions last September, Wang returned to steer HTC back to profitability.

07

Madhav Sheth

Vice President, CEO, realme India & Europe N A T I O N A L I T Y : India A P P O I N T E D : 2019 TITLE:

Vice President and CEO of upstart Chinese smartphone sensation realme’s Indian and European operations since 2019, Madhav Sheth is a relatively unique figure. Given a cramped office and a broad mandate to “make some ripples” in an already oversaturated market, Sheth took realme’s Indian operations from nothing to the country’s fastestgrowing lifestyle brand in a matter of months.

“Becoming the No.1 brand on Flipkart too is a testimony to the fact that we have made our mark in a small time-frame, becoming one of the most preferred mobile phone brands for its performance, design, and quality,” he said in a recent interview. mobile-magazine.com

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TOP TEN

05

Adobe solutions empower Vodafone’s digital transformation Shen Wei T I T L E : Founder, CEO, Vivo N A T I O N A L I T Y : China A P P O I N T E D : 2009

Geoff Pennells, Global Account Director at Adobe, on the collaborative relationship with Vodafone Procurement Company

06

As the inventors of the PDF and pioneers of other smart technologies, Adobe empowers businesses to meet the challenges of digital transformation.

Like Vodafone Procurement Company (VPC). Adobe provides it with a wide range of solutions that provide detailed data and insight, asset management, Ren Zhengfei T I Tpersonalisation L E : Director, CEO, Huawei and data management.

N A T I O N A L I T Y : China Company is a critical part A P“Vodafone P O I N T E DProcurement : 1987 of our global partnership with Vodafone which has been in place for over 10 years,” explains Geoff Pennells, Account at Adobe.

Born in theGlobal waning yearsDirector of WW2 to two school teachers in “VPC is crucial to our ability to understand global thedemands remoteforChinese province Adobe and we are in constant contact of to Guizhou, Ren Zhengfei grewto the needs of ensure that we are responding upthe to business have anasillustrious they evolvecareer over time.” in the Engineering Corps of the VPC andmilitary.

Adobe areWhen alwaysthe on the lookout for ways Chinese corps to disbanded improve theirinworking relationship. Through was 1983, Zhengfei continual and open collaboration, worked briefly for the Shenzhen both parties provoke broader businesses with South Seatheir Oil respective Corporation, challenges on how they can achieve before growing “dissatisfied” with things never possible. Huawei thebefore workthought and founding in “The 1987.mindset Over the subsequent of never settling for second best, decades, he built Huawei into always challenging the status quo where it one of themake world’s doesn’t sensepre-eminent and continuing to evolve phone brands. and value we deliver to Vodafone our capabilities

One of BBK Electronics’ wildly with ever more flexible agreements – this is key successful smartphone brands to how we continue to drive innovation across was founded back in 2009 by Shen all levels of our partnership with VPC,” says Pennells.

Wei, who stepped down from the CEO itself position BBK to Adobe prides on itsatability to lead bringthe to spin-off comprising theand company’s market industry-leading products services division, Vivo. that can communications help its customers deliver exceptional experiences customers. VPC and Adobe Weitoistheir a multi-decade veteran of work together to make sure they are sharing the smartphone industry, and has innovations and mapping those tobusiness better understand forged an ironclad and the requirements of Vodafone in their own design philosophy in the process: transformation becoming digital-firstproducts business.

“Vivo to focuses onacreating that combine beautiful design, The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance acoustic fidelity as of digital professional solutions for businesses. well as extreme video display in “Overnight, we have transitioned to a experience global digital order to create a joyful economy.for Thethe pandemic the need for young accelerated and trendy.” digital transformation among businesses of all sizes,” says Pennells.

“As the world begins to reopen, digital businesses will be the winners and only companies that can understand their customers’ preferences and personalise experiences will survive and thrive.”

Learn more here

TOP TEN

04

Tony Chen

T I T L E : Founder, CEO, Oppo N A T I O N A L I T Y : China A P P O I N T E D : 2004

Oppo’s CEO, Tony Chen, has been the guiding force behind the BBK Electronics subsidiary’s meteoric rise to become one of the leading lights of China’s smartphone industry. He helped found the company back in 2004, and has since turned it into the country’s fastest-growing smartphone brand.

His unique vision for the design of Oppo phones emphasises sleek, simple designs and user-friendliness. In his new year’s address to Oppo’s shareholders, Chen elaborated that, “The essence of good design in a market-leading smartphone lies not in our love of technical specifications but in our respect for people and our love of what they wish to achieve in their lives through our smartphones.”

“ Central to our approach is putting the user first in our design” 136

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03 Lei Jun

Co-Founder, Chairman, CEO, Xiaomi N A T I O N A L I T Y : China A P P O I N T E D : 2010 TITLE:

As co-founder and CEO of Xiaomi, Lei Jun has overseen one of the most successful startups in history, taking the Chinese smartphone brand from an industry upstart in 2010 to a $4.72bn initial public offering in 2018. At that point, Xiaomi held a modest 8% share of the global smartphone market.

Today, Lei Jun’s company is close to doubling that figure, as well as pouring billions of dollars into new markets like electric cars, augmented reality, and SoCs. Prior to founding Xiaomi, Lei Jun received a BA in computer science from Wuhan University (which he completed in just two years), became the CEO of Chinese tech firm Kingsoft in 1992, and founded an online bookstore called Joyo. com, which he later sold to Amazon for $75mn. He is a prolific angel investor and father of two.

02

TOP TEN

Tim Cook TITLE:

CEO, Apple N A T I O N A L I T Y : USA A P P O I N T E D : 2011

When Tim Cook stepped into the role of CEO at Apple in 2011, he had some decidedly oversized shoes to fill. Over the last 10 years, however, he has taken the Cupertino-based electronics brand from strength to strength, especially regarding Apple’s entry into the 5G race with the launch of the iPhone 12 last year. Under Cook’s leadership, Apple has spent the past six months smashing just about every record for smartphone sales that exists. In Q4 of 2020, the company had the best quarter of any smartphone manufacturer in history, in spite of what Cook himself described as a “sales drag” caused by the pandemic. In Q1 of this year, Apple did it again with a global market share of 31.7%.

“ I’m already seeing AR take off in some of these areas with use of the phone. And I think the promise is even greater in the future” mobile-magazine.com

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“We’re not looking to spend our money on things.

We are looking to buy convenience, peace of mind and enjoyment”

Hyun Suk Kim

President, Co-CEO, Head of Consumer Electronics, Samsung N A T I O N A L I T Y : South Korea A P P O I N T E D : 2018 TITLE:

Hyun Suk Kim isn’t the only CEO at South Korean electronics giant, Samsung. He has shared the title with Dong Jin Koh and Ki Nam Kim since 2018. Considering the size and scope of Samsung’s operations - which span from smartphones and microchips to home appliances and real estate it’s no wonder the megalithic tech and manufacturing firm doesn’t place its entire future on just one set of shoulders.

Hyun Suk Kim oversees the company’s Consumer Electronics division, which is responsible for Samsung’s ubiquitous series of Galaxy-branded handsets as well as tablets, wearables, and, more recently, laptops. He attended Hanyang University and received a Master’s degree from Portland State.

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WORKING TO ENSURE NIGERIA STAYS CONNECTED WRITTEN BY: JANET BRICE

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9mobile is redefining the telco industry in this frontier market as its evolves as a solution provider and overcomes the challenges of the pandemic.

O

ne year after Mobile Magazine featured the digital transformation of 9mobile in Nigeria we hear from Ibikunle Jimo, Chief Information Officer, about how the telco provider is overcoming the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in this frontier market.

The five-year plan of 9mobile is to drive major fibre deployments throughout this geographically and politically diverse country which is four times the size of the UK - serving a population of 206 million people.

“We are now focused on a massive network modernisation, having more reach across the country and focusing on the customer experience,” said Jimo from his office in Lagos who pointed out they had successfully operated through the pandemic as they had been ‘prepared’ so their service had not been disrupted.

My role as CIO means I am responsible for technology and positioning the organisation to deliver on BSS and ESS applications that we use in supporting our customers,” said Jimo who has worked in telco for 17 years.

Currently, the country’s telecom market only has a mobile broadband data penetration rate of around 45 per cent, but 9mobile already has an operational network consisting of close to 6,000km of fibre and aims to nurture an ecosystem of Nigerian companies in order to build a sustainable home-grown MNO.

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“We are currently in a transition with a lot of modernisation on our network to spread across the nation so we can continue to provide an excellent customer experience” IBIKUNLE JIMO,

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, 9MOBILE

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“ 9mobile ties into the authentic Nigerian heritage of ‘9ja-centricity’, and the remarkable journey of keeping true to the promise to always be 9mobile which is ‘here for you, here for 9ja.”

IBIKUNLE JIMO,

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, 9MOBILE

Following the fallout of the pandemic it is now more important than ever that Nigerians are connected in order to work remotely and, according to Jimo, 9mobile was well prepared to serve their customers when COVID-19 hit the West African country.

“We were more or less prepared for an event like the pandemic where we experienced lockdown and shops closed across Nigeria. Our customers were able to access our digital channels to buy our products and top up their lines. We were prepared to defend the platform that we have, but in terms of our rollout plans the 146

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actual implementation is now on course again so watch this space,” he said.

‘9ja-centricity’ is the spirit of Nigeria Formerly trading as Etisalat Nigeria, the official first call on 9mobile was made in March 2008. The brand commenced commercial operations in October 2008, with an innovative offering – '0809uchoose'.

The offer allowed Nigerians to choose and own their preferred unique mobile phone numbers for the first time.

In July 2017, the company transitioned to the current brand identity – 9mobile, to reflect the dynamic and creative attributes

9MOBILE

IBIKUNLE JIMO TITLE: CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER COMPANY: 9MOBILE INDUSTRY: TELECOMMUNICATIONS

that it shares with the people of Nigeria especially the vibrant youth segment.

“9mobile ties into the authentic Nigerian heritage of ‘9ja-centricity’, and the remarkable journey of keeping true to the promise to always be 9mobile which is ‘here for you, here for 9ja,’ commented Jimo.

9mobile is in the process of acting on their five-year digital journey to be a leading competitor in the Nigerian telecom market. In order to realise the company’s full potential, Jimo explains how new technologies are playing a key role in serving its customers and its internal operations.

EXECUTIVE BIO

LOCATION: NIGERIA Ibikunle has 20+ years of experience as a technology and business leader. Working for various companies across IT Services, Consulting, and Telecommunications sectors. He joined 9Mobile (formerly Etisalat Nigeria) in 2015 as Director in charge of IT Demand Management & Planning. Prior to that he held various leadership roles, working for two other big operators within the telecoms industry. Ibikunle has a degree in engineering and a Masters in Business Administration.

He is a husband to a lovely wife, father to two beautiful daughters, a son, brother and an uncle. In his current role as Chief Information Officer, Ibikunle is responsible for leading technology decisions and transformations in line with current trends and strategic vision.

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9MOBILE

Title of the video

“ With technology at home there is no me-time as we had people working around the clock to provide the service” IBIKUNLE JIMO,

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, 9MOBILE

“We are currently in a transition with a lot of modernisation on our network to spread across the nation so we can continue to provide an excellent customer experience. We are leveraging our big data platform to improve our customercentricity via analytics. We are modernising our contact center solution with the adoption of the Avaya One X subscription, while we are also creating an omni-channel for customer interactions.”

Lockdown launch of service platform Commenting on how 9mobile has moved forward during the past year, Jimo said: “We recently launched a new digital platform called ‘ig9ite’, which gives our customers access to not just network subscription services, but access to a whole new world of digital lifestyle services. We actually launched this during the lockdown,” said Jimo who pointed out he was very proud of this development as it was achieved during the challenging times of the pandemic.

Addressing how 9mobile is redefining the telco industry in Nigeria as a solution provider, Jimo said the company was evolving beyond the traditional telco.

“We are in a digital age right now so we are trying to evolve and provide more services as we are playing in the digital space. We have a strategic collaboration with some partners to extend our footprints in the B2B and mobile-magazine.com

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mobile Transforming Customer Experience With Avaya

Suite of Avaya OneCloud CCaaS solutions being adopted by mobile will enable the leading telecom operator to meet the increasingly digital demands of its customer base.

“With Avaya, we are shaping a new Total Experience strategy that will make our interactions with customers effortless ‒ regardless of the touchpoint they choose to contact us through. And as our customer demands evolve, we are confident we have the right technology partner to meet their high expectations.” - Ibikunle Jimo, Chief Information Officer, mobile

mobile, a leading telecom operator in Nigeria, has embarked on a multi-year customer experience transformation journey with Avaya as it seeks to embrace a Total Experience approach that strengthens its market differentiation through effortless customer and employee experiences.

Consumed th through Avaya OneCloud Subscription, the suite of contact center solutions being adopted by mobile enable the telecom operator to meet the increasingly digital demands of its customer base by providing brilliant experiences across touchpoint.

Avaya OneCloud Subscription removes the barriers to getting and staying current with communications software, enabling mobile to achieve more through the latest technology consumed on a monthly subscription basis. It also helps mobile maintain software on its premises and maintain management control.

The ttransformation project will see mobile invest in its digital capabilities to compose experiences that provide exceptional engagement across all touchpoints throughout the customer journey while maintaining the highest standards of privacy and security.

Built on open platforms, the solution underpins mobile’s Total Experience strategy by empowering both customers and employees with contextual information, easy access to subject matter experts, and the ability to transition seamlessly between touchpoints.

s to improve agent The solution is also set productivity and wellbeing by integrating Avaya Spaces, a modern workstream collaboration solution for the hybrid work-from-anywhere world, which delivers AI-enhanced meetings and more. With Avaya Spaces, mobile’s agents are connected with all their people and tools—and can meet, call, chat, share files, and mana manage tasks though a single app, addressing the “fatigue” many users face with video-only solutions.

Finally, mobile is set to bring these same capabilities to businesses across Nigeria, having signed a new partnership with Avaya under which mobile will provide the Avaya OneCloud portfolio of solutions to its business customers.

Talk to us and start your Total Experience strategy today

DID YOU KNOW...

9MOBILE - INTELLIGENT PORTAL FOR INSTANT NIN VERIFICATION 9mobile launched its intelligent portal for instant verification to help its customers link their SIM cards with their National Identification Number (NIN). The Online SelfService NIN update portal enables subscribers to verify and update their NINs instantly. This unique platform provides 9mobile subscribers an opportunity to submit and verify their NIN without physically visiting any of the experience centers in Nigeria.This step is one of the several proactive initiatives taken by 9mobile to make the NIN linking exercise directed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) seamless and stress-free for its subscribers Commenting on the exercise, the Chief Information Officer, 9mobile, Ibikunle Jimo, said that, as a customercentric telecoms company, 9mobile always

looks out for the convenience of its subscribers by leveraging innovation.“Immediately, we received the NCC directive to link all SIMs with the respective subscribers’ NIN, we challenged our IT and network teams to develop a seamless and stress-free solution for our customers. Here is the result. This solution is the differentiator for us since our customers do not need to wait endlessly for the NIN to link up with their SIM cards. This is what it means to use innovation to solve societal challenges for our customers. This solution is the power of the innovation etched in our DNA.We urge our customers to enjoy what we are known for by riding on the back of our innovative solution to verify their NIN without any stress whatsoever,” Jimo said

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“ We were more or less prepared for an event like the pandemic where we experienced lock down and shops closed across Nigeria.

Our customers were able to access our digital channels to buy our products and top up their lines.”

IBIKUNLE JIMO,

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, 9MOBILE

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B2B2C market. Without divulging too much, some of these strategic alliances will help position 9mobile beyond traditional telco services provider into a full-fledged digital services provider,” he said.

4G and 5G rollout Jimo said the focus is to continue to expand 9mobile’s 4G/LTE footprint across the country to satisfy the ever growing demand

9MOBILE

for data coverage from their customers. “We are lining up trials of 5G in Nigeria,” he said.

Ambassadors of 9mobile At the heart of every digital transformation, is the passion of the people within a company and 9mobile is no exception.

Jimo praised his ‘passionate workforce’ who worked seamlessly through the pandemic. “With technology at home there

is no me-time as we had people working around the clock to provide the service for our customers.”

Reflecting on the fact Nigeria has a population of 206 million, Jimo admitted the future business opportunity for 9mobile was “huge as we serve a big market”.

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INTEGRATION, HARMONISATION, TRANSFORMATION WRITTEN BY: HARRY MINEAR PRODUCED BY: STUART IRVING

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“ You can't be available today and not tomorrow; you need to deliver a consistent experience and operational excellence” PRINCE SARPONG

CIO, AIRTELTIGO GHANA

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Prince Sarpong talks digital transformation and customer engagement in the wake of AirtelTigo Ghana’s historic merger and government acquisition.

W

hen Prince Sarpong was offered the role of Chief Information Officer at the newly-formed AirtelTigo Ghana, he accepted without hesitation. He reflects that not only did he find the “challenge offered by the role to bring together the technical operations of the two companies - Airtel and Tigo - that merged” exciting, but there was also “ the fact that the merger and the subsequent integration process was a historic event.”

He laughs, “It's the first merger of its kind in Africa, so I wanted to get my name into the history books.”

Announced in November of 2017, the historic merger between Airtel and Tigo (a subsidiary of Millicom) created the country’s second-largest mobile network operator overnight, combining the two brands into an entity capable, as Sorpong explains, of taking on the dominant player in a highlycompetitive market. “ In Ghana, there is a clear, distant leader in the telecom sector.

Airtel and Tigo agreed that to be profitable, they needed to attain a certain size of customer base,” he explains. “By coming together to form AirtelTigo Ghana, they were able to combine their customer bases to create a strong number two player in the market that is now capable of competing with the market leader.” mobile-magazine.com

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A Historic Merger Sarpong joined AirtelTigo Ghana at a moment of unprecedented change and opportunity. By bringing together the two discrete brands, the newly-formed AirtelTigo Ghana aimed to “reduce operational costs, create efficiencies, and drive more innovative behaviour in the market,” Sarpong explains. “And so this new company came together with a mandate to integrate, harmonise and transform, in order to be in the best possible position to compete in the future.”

This mandate has formed the foundation of Sarpong’s work over the past few years and represents a three-phase transition from the two companies’ pasts towards a single, unified future. The process, he reflects, wasn’t without its hurdles.

In addition to navigating regulatory hurdles put in place by a government that “government didn't want to set a bad precedent for the process” of future mergers, and so set “very strict guidelines with no room for error” that “set us on a very tough regulatory journey,” the process of integrating the tech stacks, operational architectures and different cultures of two companies that, up until that point, had been rivals, required careful consideration.

“I came into an environment in which there were two companies, both with overlapping infrastructure, services, technology, and teams - but with two different cultures and ways of doing things.

So, the first step was to integrate the two companies and figure out how to get these two different systems to talk to each other,” he recalls.

Once this integration was completed, the more nuanced task of harmonisation could begin. Sarpong explains that the harmonisation process “was all about 158

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choosing between the two versions of each service we now had. You've got two billing systems. Which one do you go for? You have two ERP systems. Which one do you go for?

It's a lot of decisions to make to ensure that these two companies can come together as one, and at the end of the day, you can't lose sight of cost and operational efficiency.”

Sarpong gets visibly excited about this next bit. “You've done the integration; you're now talking to each other. You've found the efficiencies where you can, selecting the best offerings from the two entities. And

AIRTELTIGO

PRINCE SARPONG TITLE: CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER COMPANY: AIRTELTIGO

then the third aspect is how to take that next step and start building for the future.”

The future that AirtelTigo Ghana is headed for is one in which the relationship between customer, technology and service provider has been radically redefined. “Customers are very sensitive these days. Gone is the time when they would stay with you no matter what. Now, you can't take those customers for granted,” he explains. For the modern telco, stability, reliability and accessibility are the factors that define whether or not a carrier can stay in business. “You can't

EXECUTIVE BIO

INDUSTRY: TELECOMS Prince Sarpong is a young, energetic, and solution focused leader with over 16 years in the Telecom industry, of which more than half has been in the Senior management role and last 3 years spent at the C-Level, having rose through the different ranks of the corporate ladder. Prince’s career in Telecom started in Ghana as Intelligent Network Engineer with one of the world’s giant telecom equipment manufacturers. He crossed carpet to a mobile network operator in Ghana as Prepaid Systems Administrator and later as Intelligent Network Manager. Prince was later promoted to the role of Regional Telecoms Solutions Architect – based in London, responsible for Billing, Mobile Money and IT infrastructure transformation in Africa. His tenacity and result oriented attitude have seen him led several IT transformation projects in BSS, VAS, MFS and cloud computing in many African countries namely: Chad, DRC, Ghana, Mauritius, Rwanda, Senegal and Tanzania.

His delivery expertise ranges from greenfield, upgrades to swaps.

Delivering Smart Ideas for Transformational Experiences Subscriber expectations are constantly evolving

What telcos need now is superior customer experience, personalized customer management, new age partners, agile and automated technologies to monetize all. There is no one-size-fits-all change strategy that guarantees success.

6d Technologies, with its Digital360 initiative, is driving the CSP to DSP transformation globally Empowering DSPs, not only to refresh their B2C business to make its future secure and profitable, but also enable emerging, and truly transformational, B2B2X model.

The telecommunications industry is undergoing a significant global shift, driven by technology adoption, new organisational strategies, and changing customer demand.

“Customer expectations are really changing, and carriers can no longer take their customers for granted,” says Manish Arora, Executive Director and Chief Revenue Officer at 6D Technologies.

Founded in 2002 in Bangalore, 6D Technologies has spent the past two decades helping companies throughout the telecommunication space leverage the power of digital transformation to adapt, survive, and thrive in a constantly evolving industry. Today, 6D Technologies has customers in more than 70 countries across six continents, leveraging the strength of its proprietary tech stack and consultancy approach in order to help its customers transform their operations through its Digital360 Initiative.

6D Technologies has been a part of AirtelTigo Ghana’s journey since before the historic merger of Airtel Ghana and Tigo Millicom in 2017. Having worked on a business-wide unification of Tigo Millicom’s messaging platform that helped “personalise the interaction between customer and Tigo, helping the company reach out to its customers at the right time, using the right channel, within the right context,” 6D

Technologies was already a key partner when it came time to integrate Tigo and Airtel’s operations in 2018.

Prince Sarpong, CIO at AirtelTigo Ghana, recalls: “Our relationship with 6D Technologies has paid off in a big way. In this industry, it's your value added services that make or break you as a company, so you need a partner that understands that.”

The relationship between 6D Technologies and AirtelTigo Ghana continues to evolve. In April of 2021, the Ghanaian government announced plans to acquire a 100% stake in the carrier, transforming the privately-owned firm into a state-owned operator. For Sarpong and Arora, it’s an exciting time, filled with potential to drive economic impact throughout Ghana, create more meaningful customer journeys, and leverage cutting edge technologies in order to drive the carrier’s digital transformation.

“We really look forward to the exciting times ahead and to the role we have to play alongside AirtelTigo's development,” says Arora.

Learn more

AIRTELTIGO

6D TECHNOLOGIES: PARTNERING FOR SUCCESS “Whenever you approach a new area of the business, you have to look at your strengths and your weaknesses. When you're in a situation where the dominant player has deep pockets, and you're maybe not able to compete in certain areas, that's where your partners can step in to strengthen your capabilities.

That's where you need to form strategic alliances that allow you to leverage new technologies and integrations.

For us, we want a partner that is nimble, agile, and able to help us go to market quickly.

We wanted our platform to be futureproof and capable of supporting further integrations in the future, so we started looking for a partner that would help us do that.

That's when we found 6D Technologies.

Our relationship with 6D Technologies was a gamble that paid off in a big way.

In this industry, it's your value-added services that make or break you as a company, so you need a partner that understands that.

6D Technologies provided us with a Unified VAS platform - from development through to operation - that allows us to pay for a unified license. That means that we don't have to separately purchase license for different VAS service but have the flexibility to transfer licenses from one service to another when the need arise, enabling us to offer affordable value added services to our customers.”

Prince Sarpong, CIO, AirtelTigo Ghana

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“ This new company came together with a mandate to integrate, harmonise and transform” PRINCE SARPONG

CIO, AIRTELTIGO GHANA

be available today and not tomorrow; you need to deliver a consistent experience and operational excellence,” Sarpong emphasises.

Telecom services, he continues, are now a commodity and, in a country like Ghana where mobile adoption is particularly high, and competition is particularly fierce - only the companies that innovate and leverage their digital ecosystems will survive and thrive. For AirtelTigo, Sarpong explains, this idea is at the very core of the company’s digital transformation strategy - and their commitment has already produced results.

“Our unique selling point is our innovation,” he says. “We innovated to the point that the market leader in Ghana had to follow us. The government actually said 'follow AirtelTigo's innovation' when we launched a service that means our customers' data does not expire. It was such a success that the government has made rollover data a nationwide requirement.”

Government Muscle Now, over two years later, AirtelTigo is going through yet another historic transition. In April of 2021, the Ghanaian government announced plans to acquire a 100% stake in the carrier, transforming the privately-owned firm into a state-owned operator.

The acquisition, which came at the end of the transformational journey prompted by the merger, Sarpong explains, has a lot of exciting implications for the future of AirtelTigo Ghana. “It’s really strengthened our position against the market's dominant player,” he says. “Everybody wants to be a government employee, right? You have more muscle behind you - that's how I see it.”

The Ghanaian government controls both the spectrum and regulatory framework in the nation’s telecom sector. Being an extension of that organisation, Sarpong mobile-magazine.com

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reasons can only result in AirtelTigo providing better services to its customers. “With the government taking over, we see a unique opportunity in that our mandate hasn't changed; they still want us to be innovative, efficient, and competitive in the market. The government has the resources to make the necessary investments to help us compete,” he says.

Building for the Future As anyone who has ever embarked on a digital transformation well knows, it’s a process that never truly ends. With the successful integration and harmonisation of Airtel and Tigo into a unified entity - as well as a blanket transformation of the company’s legacy IT infrastructure - behind him, Sarpong has 164

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his eyes focused firmly on the future. “I see exciting times ahead for AirtelTigo, in terms of having the serious financial muscle of the government supporting us, as well as being a part of the organisation that regulates the country's telecoms industry,” he says.

“For me, the next year is all about building customer confidence.”

Reflecting that, in Ghana and beyond, traditional methods of delivering telecom services are disappearing, Sarpong explains that operators need to leverage new methodologies and cutting edge technology in order to remain competitive. “Now, with our merger completed, we are ready to deliver on those expectations,” he reassures me.

“We've opened up our entire ecosystem for integration, for payments, for delivery. This

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AirtelTigo Ghana: Making History

is the future of AirtelTigo. And on top of this open ecosystem, we're incorporating machine learning and AI to be able to understand exactly what it is our customers need and give them targeted services. We've already seen this have a positive effect on customer engagement.” AirtelTigo is moving away from single-channel engagement and towards an omnichannel approach. “We've got what we call the 360-degree initiative, which focuses on the interplay between all our different points of contact with our customers, from the web to social media, SMS and so on.

All those communication channels funnel into a single platform, and then, from that platform, we're able to disseminate information across multiple channels.

This, combined with our ability to use AI

and machine learning to deliver a targeted, unique experience to our customers, is driving engagement and confidence.”

By this time next year, he enthuses, AirtelTigo will have continued to build in its open ecosystem, expanded channels and innovation-first ethos, incorporating analytics powered by AI and machine learning “to ensure that we truly understand our customers' wants and needs.” As a final note, Sarpong adds that “From an infrastructure perspective, we have also done the work to ensure that we are ready to meet the future - and 5G is very much going to be a part of that future.”

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Making e l i b Mo

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Better

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Three million Customers

Four

out of six GCC countries in which Virgin Mobile MEA is present

2006

Year founded

$20m Net revenue

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Customer experience drives the digital journey for Virgin Mobile MEA as they move into Kuwait with a focus on FinTech apps

D

Erik Dudman Nielsen Founder and Chief Executive Officer

riving innovation to improve the customer experience across the Middle East from Saudi Arabia to Oman is the focus of Erik Dudman Nielsen, Founder & Group CEO of Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa.

Virgin Mobile MEA serves three million customers in the region, with operations in Saudi Arabia and Oman, as well as providing advisory services to Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) in the UAE. It is the only mobile virtual network provider in the GCC with multiple live operations and millions of active customers.

The Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) now looks set to extend its coverage with the announcement it will launch in Kuwait and that it has secured a banking licence in Saudia Arabia.

The news is welcomed by Dudman Nielsen who has led the innovation since the company was founded in 2006.

“Virgin Mobile MEA is focused on driving innovation and always improving CX (customer experience),” he said. “We’re happy that we are the first to get a MVNO licence in Kuwait and look forward to opening this new digital lifestyle for our customers.

“In 2020 we were awarded the very first banking agent licence in Saudi Arabia through our partner, Saudi Investment Bank, and we will now be able to offer money remittance for customers in this region.” mobile-magazine.com

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Dudman Nielsen from Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa talks about mobile financial services

Dudman Nielsen has been leading digital innovation since the beginning and launched the region's first digital proposition under the Virgin brand which is a digital MVNO where 100 per cent of customer engagement is done digitally through an app.

Driving the CX He is driving the CX at Virgin Mobile MEA which he says is achieved by the company’s “relentless focus on listening to the customers” through focus groups, studies, and work sessions. “Our core proposition is to make mobile better,” said Dudman Nielsen speaking from the company headquarters in Dubai Internet City.

“We do so in a digital manner utilising our digital capabilities and the benefit of doing this is that you end up getting a much higher net promoter score - which is a nice expression for how well the customers are willing to recommend you to friends 170

July 2021

and family. We're happy that we, in our partnership with EITC have managed to have the highest net promoter score in the region which is testament to the continuous work we do.”

Dudman Nielsen pointed out the company operates a dual brand strategy with its Virgin Mobile brand, which has a CX focus on the young Arab youth and people who are ‘young at heart’ and use lots of apps and data, and the FRiENDi mobile brand which targets Asian expats. The apps include a move to financial services with the e-wallet in Saudi Arabia.

Virgin Mobile Flexibility, choice and cool products for the consumer is what Virgin Mobile offers as its CX and according to Dudman Nielsen always has done since Sir Richard Branson started stirring up the telco market back in the 1990s.

VIRGIN MOBILE MEA

ERIK DUDMAN NIELSEN TITLE: FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER INDUSTRY: TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOCATION: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

ERIK DUDMAN NIELSEN

FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VIRGIN MOBILE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

EXECUTIVE BIO

“ We believe that this is just the beginning and the more you focus and invest into the digital space, the more successful you will be because this is the future”

Erik Dudman Nielsen founded Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa in 2006 and has more than 20 years of experience in both MNO and MVNO. Dudman Nielsen has a proven track record of building successful MVNOs in multiple markets, working with both frequency-based and MVNO-based greenfield mobile companies and traditional telecom companies offering both fixed and mobile services.

Prior to Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa, Dudman was CEO of Realtime, a global VAS provider developing digital customer generated solutions, where he successfully managed a turnaround of the business and developed a strong growth strategy for the company in Europe, South America and the Middle East.

NetNumber: Time for a cloud-native transformation Matt Rosenberg, Chief Revenue Officer at NetNumber, discusses how cloud-native architecture is accelerating the transition to 5G for telcos NetNumber is accelerating the transition in the telecom industry to 5G as it shifts to cloudnative architecture to address the fast-paced demands of global subscribers and businesses NetNumber is offering the industry’s first cloudnative platform designed to ensure InterGENerational™ network performance addresses both the legacy and next-generation requirements of telecom networks.

“We have developed the industry’s most robust cloud-native, InterGENerational platform that addresses both the legacy and 5G requirements of telcos,” said Matt Rosenberg, Chief Revenue Officer of NetNumber.

“We’ve created our latest platform TITAN.IUM to allow customers to take any generation of applications, legacy services and protocols and move them into the new world of cloud-native architecture.

“This is a really important part for a carrier to harmonise their network, bring data services together, bring legacy with new together in order to make a more effective network and reduce their cost,” he said.

Established in 1999 and based outside of Boston with presence in over 20 countries, NetNumber delivers a range of products that address all generations (2G, 3G, 4G, 5G) of network functions in the core network, deep rooted security products and services, STIR/ SHAKEN and set of options around data services in more than 90 countries.

“We provide customers a strong ROI through platform-based solutions that reduce Capex and Opex,,” commented Rosenberg

NetNumber and Virgin Mobile MEA “We’re very proud of our partnership with Virgin Mobile MEA as they’ve taken the concept of the InterGENerational platform into their regional network strategy,” commented Rosenberg.

“We’ve had a long-term relationship with Virgin Mobile in Saudi Arabia, and recently signed an agreement with Virgin Mobile in Kuwait. We work with them to deliver multiple applications onto our platform which has enabled them to provide innovative services to their customers across The Middle East and Africa region.”

VIRGIN MOBILE MEA

“The Virgin Mobile brand is targeted more for the Arab youth and tech-refined expats who are into their digital apps - and, last but not least, the people who are young at heart - which I claim to be,” said Dudman Nielsen.

FRiENDi mobile is the brand for those with a piece of their heart abroad, offering highly affordable international prepaid mobile and Internet services in Oman and Saudi Arabia.”

FRiENDi Mobile According to Dudman Nielsen, FRiENDi mobile brings outstanding value for money to customers in Oman and Saudi Arabia, empowering them to stay connected to family, friends and the world around them.

“FRiENDi mobile is the brand for those with a piece of their heart abroad, offering highly affordable international prepaid mobile and Internet services in Oman and 174

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Saudi Arabia,” comments Dudman Nielsen.

FRiENDi (which combines the English word friend and Arabic Habibi for my love or friend) mobile helps its customers enjoy international and local call quality at the best rates and provides the relevant data bundles for VoIP calls.

“The mobile service is built for expats living in the GCC from Pakistani Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan and India who would like to have services in their own languages. It is presented in a simple way to understand and very much focused on blue collar expat workers - which is a completely different segment than the high-end digital Virgin mobile segment.

“Whether they’re calling a friend across the globe, sending a text or surfing the web, we’re working hard to make sure they enjoy that experience.”

VIRGIN MOBILE MEA

“ FRiENDi mobile is the brand for those with a piece of their heart abroad, offering highly affordable international prepaid mobile and Internet services in Oman and Saudi Arabia” ERIK DUDMAN NIELSEN

FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VIRGIN MOBILE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Virgin Mobile MEA apps Focusing on the smooth CX of the Virgin Mobile apps, Dudman Nielsen points out they are easy to understand and all built around the customers needs.

“For example if you want content services you can pay your Netflix account with the click of a button inside the app or if you’re in Saudi Arabia you might want free music streaming services, which you can get with a certain package. These kinds of offers are tailored around the customer's needs in a very easy to understand and very smooth experience. That's what we offer.

“We deem ourselves as payment gateway experts so we ensure your payments always succeed. We're also logistics experts in making sure that your home delivery succeeds. Those are the kinds of things that you make sure the app mobile-magazine.com

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“ Our core proposition is to make mobile better” ERIK DUDMAN NIELSEN

FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VIRGIN MOBILE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

aid works and it's built around what you want as a customer in a modern day life,” he said.

Commenting on Virgin Mobile MEA’s competitive edge, Dudman Nielsen points out this is due to three important elements: • Customer focus • Digital platform capabilities • Great partnerships “Those three components allow us to deliver astounding results,” he said.

Virgin Mobile MEA move into FinTech E-wallets will enable the 170 million smartphones in use across the region to access banking services and this is the focus of Virgin Mobile MEA as they move into mobile financial services following the banking licence issued in Saudia Arabia.

“We have close to 70 per cent of the population in the MENA region being 176

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unbanked,” points out Dudman Nielsen. “If you combine this with the 170 million smartphones then you sense that e-wallets are the way for people to become banked.

“Finally if you combine that within Saudi Arabia, and particularly in the GCC, all salary payments going forward will be electronic.

Today, people are receiving salaries on ATM cash cards - so you have the recipe for success of e-wallets.”

Dudman Nielsen pointed e-wallets will help a typical blue collar expat worker in Saudi Arabia who will not have to go to the ATM on a Friday (Holy day for Islam) to collect his cash to send home but can transfer his money back home with the click of a button.

“He will be able to trade on live exchange rates and trust us because he knows us as a trusted brand already. We see the huge potential of e-wallets and later move this capability into domestic national payments, but the first step for us is the international money remit.”

Pandemic drives rise in digital services According to Dudman Nielsen the COVID-19 pandemic has driven more customers to digital especially with the constraints of lockdown and limited access to banks and shops.

VIRGIN MOBILE MEA

DID YOU KNOW...

VIRGIN MOBILE MEA LAUNCHES IN KUWAIT Virgin Mobile MEA has announced it will be launching in Kuwait.

The announcement follows the successful application for a business licence via a partnership with Kuwait Telecommunications Company (stc) to enable its operations, and secure debt and equity funding for the expansion.

The company will launch its fully digital app-based proposition in the country under the Virgin Mobile brand - becoming the fourth service provider. stc Kuwait will act as a host facilities-based provider with Virgin Mobile Kuwait to provide digital services to customers in the country. All of the new operations’ IT and app technology will be based on Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa’s digital operator platform.

“Our presence [in Kuwait], following other successful launches in the GCC, is part of our ongoing commitment to always provide more choices for consumers as well as to push the boundaries of traditional telco with our digital propositions,” commented Erik Dudman Nielsen, founder and chief executive officer of Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa.

Funding for the expansion into Kuwait has been provided by Wafra International Investment Company, Impulse International for Telecommunications and Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa.

“Debt funding of $13m has been provided

by Wafra to allow expansion of the Virgin brand into the Kuwait market. This is the first investment of its kind, established to set up a virtual telecommunications network,” said Wafra International Investment Company CEO, Ghazi Al Hajeri.

The remainder of the funding is supplied as equity funding, with Impulse International leading the equity transaction with $7m which is a milestone for the telecom sector in Kuwait.

“This deal will allow Virgin Mobile Kuwait to provide the best technological services in its field, transferring technology and knowledge in the telecom sector while providing a more digital platform which reflects the global trend of service providers, while also providing new job opportunities,” said Izzat Abou-Amarah, CEO at Impulse International for Telecommunications.

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“If you combine this with the 170 million smartphones then you sense that e-wallets are the way for people to become banked” ERIK DUDMAN NIELSEN

FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VIRGIN MOBILE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

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“People have got used to using their credit cards to do home grocery shopping. I think we are experiencing a region where people have become much more comfortable with digital payments and online payments. We have seen this in both the Virgin mobile segment and in the FRiENDi mobile space.

We believe that this is just the beginning and the more you focus and invest into the digital space, the more successful you will be because this is the future.” eSIM - the way forward “In terms of new technology eSIMs are the way forward,” predicts Dudman Nielsen.

“More devices will come with what's called an embedded SIM so you will not have to go to a dealer although we have made it easy in the UAE as we launched with a one-hour home delivery service but that will soon be old school.

“The future is definitely with an eSIM. In Saudi Arabia, as an example, we have partnered with Absher which is a digital

ID and we have launched eSIM enabling this functionality. This effectively means when you have a new iPhone through your app share ID verification we can enable your eSIM from the comfort of your sofa at home.”

Great partnerships drive CX NetNumber is a strong partner of Virgin Mobile MEA along with Sinch and Workz.

“I always believe in strong partnerships the business needs to have strong, reliable long-term partnerships where there's mutual trust in that relationship because that opens up and gives opportunities for making strong development,” comments Dudman Nielsen.

“If we look at NetNumber, they are our vendor for HLR and HSS, which is the backend part of our systems, and they are also helping on the front end part – so we're very happy to have these vendors behind us.”

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LUMEN

LOGO/GRAPHIC IN BACKGROUND (DELETE THIS)

WRITTEN BY: JOHN O'HANLON PRODUCED BY: CRAIG KILLINGBACK

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Lumen addresses the dynamic data and

application needs of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR): Shawn Draper explains its evolution from telecom to technology

T

he name is new; the enterprise is not.

Lumen’s origins go back to well before WWII as a local telecoms provider in Louisiana, still the location of its HQ. It was to grow into one of the USA's largest and most successful providers of telecommunications infrastructure and services, making a large number of acquisitions along the way. One huge competitive advantage it holds lies in its extensive fiber network. A name change to Lumen Technologies from CenturyLink in September 2020 reflected the way the company itself had already successfully integrated the technologies and capabilities it had accrued and developed as a telecoms leader with the ability to serve the needs of large corporations. Another new brand under the Lumen umbrella, Quantum Fiber, is a fully digital platform for delivering fiber-based products and services to residents and small businesses. Lumen continues to extend its existing 450,000-mile fiber network. This is the company's outstanding asset, with which few can compete.

Few know more about Lumen's subsequent journey from being a primarily rural telecoms provider to being a technology company with the ability to deliver network service and network capability at the pace of compute than Shawn Draper. Now VP of Enterprise Platform Engineering, he has evolved and

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Welcome to Lumen Technologies!

carried this vision forward to drive much of Lumen's network automation and standardization strategy, which is the basis for Lumen’s transformation from telco to technology platform.

Network at the pace of compute In its shift from telco to technology platform, Lumen changed its approach and determined the company would no longer continue to simply accrue capacity, managing discrete systems and running different products over the top, but neither would it seek the traditional solution of migrating the siloed systems inherited with multiple expansions and acquisitions to a common platform.

Instead, it embraced the concept of federated inventory that gives a holistic overview of all its assets and enables the company to view, consume, plan, manage 184

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and assure its network as a common asset irrespective of legacy systems and processes. As Shawn Draper explains: “We decided that our historical patterns couldn’t scale. As such, we sourced data from each of our systems creating a composite view that gave us a full topological look at our network, irrespective of systems and processes. We call this ‘colorless network’.”

Full horizontal and vertical visibility of the entire network inventory became essential, he says. Whichever way you look at a network, whether as a physical system, or a geographical information system (GIS) or indeed from the end-users viewpoint because they depend on human interaction, they will have holes like Swiss cheese. But if these data sets are overlaid, its appearance will be close to solid, and automated decision making will be much more reliable — and of course much faster.

LUMEN

“ Humanity's greatest achievements arise from their epic failures.

Make sure you learn from them, evolve, and teach others to do the same thing” SHAWN DRAPER

VP OF ENTERPRISE PLATFORM ENGINEERING, LUMEN

That's what gives Lumen the ability to tell a customer, within seconds, where they should be spending their dollars to optimize that investment. “When you have a data set giving you this level of visibility, you have the ability to drive the delivery of network at the pace of compute.” For customers, this means that provisioning and activation of network capabilities are taken out of the critical path. For logical changes, same or next day delivery is a reality. New service installation opportunities can be measured in days rather than the weeks to months that

used to be the industry norm. Automating standardized configurations is at the heart of this transformation, enabled by leveraging partnerships with leading innovators such as the OTDR network automation specialists Itential, and EXFO, which provided a centralized test orchestration system and strategically deployed verifiers across the network.

The benefit to Lumen customers goes beyond the speed of access — it goes straight to EBITDA. Customers today experience a level of flexibility in the network offering, thanks to technology, never before available.

They used to be limited by the network reach of the carriers; however, with the growth of carrier partnerships this has changed, says Draper: “Now we're able to move into a more dynamic service level that allows customers the flexibility to be able to utilize different network capabilities at different sites and pair it all together as an overall solution.” Lumen’s combination of its expansive fiber network, 180K+ lit buildings, and its Adaptive Network offerings of Dedicated Internet Access, traditional Virtual Private Networking and its SD-WAN based offerings, Lumen can provide a solution that meets the needs of its customer base.

SHAWN DRAPER TITLE: VP OF ENTERPRISE PLATFORM ENGINEERING LOCATION: KANSAS Shawn Draper is VP of Enterprise Platform Engineering at Lumen. He has held senior roles at Lumen and CenturyLink for eleven years.

Prior to this he worked at Sprint, and at Embarq.

He studied business administration at Kansas State University, graduating in 1999.

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How customers view Lumen's business is ultimately defined by how the business sees itself. The evolution of technology has been applied to everything Lumen does, from provisioning and activation through the ability to scan across the entire network topology, assess any layer 2 or 3 services that are impacted and tie it into the network visualization dashboard so customers can run their NOC (network operations center) from toolsets provided

by Lumen, in the user interface (UI) or API formats. “We are no longer talking about a telco or network company: this is a true technology company.”

The 4th industrial revolution (4IR) Our customer conversations are no longer limited by network products. “Today we are talking to our customers about applicationlevel services that permit them to meet their business needs without having to worry about the things that are not within their core competency. We have the ability to deliver low latency-based solutions and are creating the platform for businesses that they can build upon to create brand spanking new industries that have never even existed before.”

It’s this level of flexibility that offers our customers the ability to leverage our API enabled network to extend the reach of the public cloud to the metro and premise edge. It’s at this point that a company’s applications lose their historical limitations and new applications begin to bud. This combination of compute and network will drive change across all industries and create or fuel new ones. For example, self-driving cars, industrial robotics or the medical and pharmaceutical industries where it has made possible the rapid development, manufacturing and distribution of vaccines 186

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during the current pandemic, not to mention the analysis of data relating to their efficacy in controlling infection. “The ability to provide five millisecond latency to applications allows high-speed transaction capability over the top of the secure network, thereby extending your platform capabilities and not requiring you to invest in data center capacity.”

4IR leverages the power of data to drive automated transactions. Software development should no longer be driven by requests from operations.

LUMEN

“ When you have a data set giving you this level of visibility you have the ability to drive the delivery of network at the pace of compute” SHAWN DRAPER

VP OF ENTERPRISE PLATFORM ENGINEERING, LUMEN

In the 4th Industrial Revolution, speed matters. Businesses that are nimble enough to act on data faster than their peers are well-positioned to become market leaders.

They are able to spot new trends, identify potential process improvements, speed innovation and drive bottom-line growth.

The physical and virtual edge Customers will be increasingly looking for edge-based solutions to give them better performance of existing capabilities that they would currently be running on private mobile-magazine.com

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ADVERT PAGE GOLD

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or public cloud and bringing them closer to their users' location. Five-millisecond latency is essential, enabling faster, deeper and more actionable business intelligence through a rethought concept of network architecture that extends cloud computing resources right out to the edge of the mobile network, using 5G and the edge ecosystem.

Long gone are the days when a communications service provider (CSP) aspired to own its clients' stack, Draper believes. “No single industry can span all these functions. The companies that are most successful know how to create a platform that encourages others to build on top. There are millions of companies out there bubbling with great ideas: developing a platform-based solution is a form of crowdsourcing when you think about it! When you're crowdsourcing the consumption of your edge base capability,

“ Technology teams are delivering capability in anticipation of operational requirements, shifting from custom software development on a common platform” SHAWN DRAPER

VP OF ENTERPRISE PLATFORM ENGINEERING, LUMEN

you bring your core network along with it.”

Low latency fiber is Lumen's core offering (it has one of the biggest interconnected optical fiber networks in the world), and by adding an edge-based capability, it delivers platform capability that few competitors can

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“ If you want to lead people, you must make them believe in you because you believe in yourself” SHAWN DRAPER

VP OF ENTERPRISE PLATFORM ENGINEERING, LUMEN

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equal because either they don't have the network, or the hosting ability, or the public cloud edge, metro edge and deep edge capabilities that stem from Lumen's ability to deliver network at the pace of compute.

Changing the face of an industry If any one thing differentiates Lumen from its competitors it is its combination of network strength, data center footprint and extensive managed services experience in operating and integrating hybrid environments. It's able to bridge clouds, IT infrastructure and the edge for low-latency, high-capacity, secure workloads and applications. Lumen's ability to deliver compute on customer premises with near-zero latency, or within its deep metro facilities designed for 5 milliseconds of latency or better, provides customers with the capability they need to acquire data, analyze patterns in near real-time and derive value from digital interactions.

For a technology-driven enterprise, software development should no longer be driven by requests from operations, Shawn Draper summarizes: “Technology teams are moving too fast for that, delivering capability in anticipation of operational requirements, and shifting from custom software development to development on a common platform.

As 2025 approaches the network is increasingly dependent on network function virtualization (NFV): right now we have a hardware-enabled network, at our edge and at our core, but we are moving to high-density compute with virtual network infrastructure over the top.”

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