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2017 Daily Highlights 3

The transformation of telecom operators: reinventing telcos

Disruption in technology, networks, processes, and people, pressure from new, internet-based competitors and the need for new approaches to policy and regulation. Telcos are under existential pressure to adapt on all sides, to transform or reinvent themselves – even if it is unclear what the end goal of that transformation may be.

Telcos have been constantly evolving, from the remote sending of messages or voice communication by telephone to today’s focus on connecting computers to people via devices or the cloud, suggested moderator Dean Bubley, Founder and Director, Disruptive Analysis. What comes next?  What do telcos want to transform into, and what challenges do they face?

Transformation itself is not an objective, claimed Mohamed Madkour, VP of Global Wireless Networking Marketing, Huawei, but rather a journey of changes that need to happen, and to happen now. “Telcos have to transform for business sustainability as their old model is no longer suitable for our lifestyles,” he said, but face two major roadblocks: balancing long-term goals with short-term financial performance, and cultural resistance.

His recipe: “Get the most out of what you have, out of spectrum, infrastructure, network, human resources. Then get higher efficiency. Then be agile offering the right services at the right time and place to the right customers.” The most profitable new services, he suggested, will be IT enterprise technology, video and IoT, meaning telcos need to leverage video as a platform and then bring in vertical industries through cloud services.

And the advent of 5G, transformational by its very nature, will force investment – and force transformation, in telcos but also in regulatory and policy approaches throughout the industry.

For Saiful Hidavat, Director of Telkom Group Transformation Project for Telkom Indonesia, transformation is not about the technology but rather about how a telco does business and how it changes its culture to enable it to meet users’ technical needs.

In Telkom’s case, the answer has been to digitize internal processes and change operational efficiency to provide more customer experience, and to explore new digital business. This may be done internally, cherry-picking innovation, investing in customers in new types of businesses such as transport or financial services, through internal startup ventures or through integrating with others.

Startups are key to telco transformation, agreed Jean Michel Serre, CEO of Orange Labs Tokyo.

But for Hidavat,  “the most difficult change is cultural. We never talk about user-centric approaches or leveraging the data; the most difficult thing is dealing with KPIs in telcos, which is what investors look at.”

Rob van den Dam, Global Telecommunications Industry Leader for the IBM Institute for Business Value, echoed the importance of customer experience in a reinvented telco, “providing what customers want, what disrupters want, and working in ecosystems.”

One of telcos’ greatest fears, he continued, is of “Uber systems”, competitors coming unexpectedly from outside the industry and totally flattening revenue with a new business model – a fear that Bubley agreed was justified, citing the example of Whatsapp destroying SMS and with it a huge telco revenue source.

Robert Middlehurst, VP for International Regulatory Affairs at Etisalat, saw it less as a transformation than another step in an ongoing process of evolution. It is important to move forward as an industry, he said, not just as a telco, government, regulator or vendor, but all together to find a solution.

Where should telcos look for new models and revenue streams? Van den Dam found that telcos most favoured a future role as platform provider, with IoT as a future source of revenue – but there are no clear monetization models yet.

Pointing out some of the difficulties, Middlehurst said, “As a licenced operator, we have constraints that other players don’t have, so the problem is how to monetize certain areas of business.” These constraints include licencing, spectrum and tax regimes which leave telcos desperate to pass on costs to consumers, yet unable then to compete with new market players – and at a time when heavy investment in new networks is called for.

In addition, cloudification of services and network virtualization mean companies have software defined networks at international level with centralized management, but regulation is specific to each country, so that “economies of scale are restricted by limited or narrow-mined regulatory environments, and we can’t compete.”

Telcos have neglected for too long monetizing the IP transport, claimed Maikel Wilms, Director, Boston Consulting Group. Traffic volumes may be growing hugely, but revenue is declining or stagnant.

“Telcos are under pressure as the industry ecosystem, including government and regulators, has not succeeded in getting adequately compensated. The key question is to get a monetization scheme in place giving adequate ROI,” whether investment in future networks is in fibre for gigabyte of 5G.

“In Europe, over USD500 billion investment will be needed in the coming years. If you don’t change the economics, it will not work,” he continued.

Establishing the role of telcos in an internet ecosystem is another challenge, complicated by culture clashes and the difficulties in attracting the right talent. “Talent doesn’t go to telcos. If you want to play up, you have to think about attracting that kind of talent.”

Serre urged telcos to “ focus on helping companies to be actors in transformation, to change management, to be open in the way of coping with the world”, concluding that retraining the workforce in cloud, AI, data modelling analytics, is a major challenge.

For Huawei, connectivity is the key to telco success, and will play a much larger value role with 5G, providing higher efficiency and massive connectivity through the IoT. It will be a core asset but must be more efficient and deployed with cloud services.

Wilms argued that “connectivity and cloud are abstract terms, you have to dissect into assets or capability in order to monetize, identifying which unique assets you can monetize and how. You have to differentiate, to be clear where you invest.”

Customer relationships and access to customer data were two key telco assets, the panel agreed, although telcos may not be making the most of either at present. For Bubley, operators do not have a good enough connection with those customers, have not got into their mindset, and ultimately, “there are not enough designers in the telco industry.”

Service transformation through augmented and virtual reality, network slicing on software defined networks and the advent of AI will have huge impact on telcos in terms of infrastructure, services, monetization models and an urgent need to review regulation.

One way or another, transformation cannot be avoided; how telcos cope with changing culture, innovating services, focusing on customers and redefining their role in the ecosystem will be an interesting story.

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2017 Daily Highlights 3

Founders panel: From Startup to Scaleup

What does it take to found a successful startup and take it to the next stage? And what are they key challenges that have to be overcome on the journey? Some great lessons for startups were shared today at the Founders panel: From Startup to Scaleup, with viewpoints from across the world, expertly moderated by Stephen Ibaraki, Founding Chair, Global Industry Council & Vice-chair, IP3 Board, International Federation for Information Processing, Canada.

Challenges

For Aibek Amandanov, Global Marketing Manager of Republic of Korea’s ulalaLAB- a finalist in the 2016 ITU Telecom World Awards, a key challenge- aside from finances- was convincing manufacturers to implement a new technology, but one that could optimize creativity. “Dealing with governments can pose a challenge to start-ups in a host of areas from navigating through licensing institutions to obtaining data. “The government doesn’t have any data on Indonesian SMEs,” explained Kiki Rizki, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Indonesia’s Nurbaya Initiative. Without this data they have no way to reach their potential target market of Indonesian SMEs- we practically have to go door to door to find them, she explained.

Advice for early stage founders

Be open to change when its required, said Reg Orton, Co-founder & CTO of Kenya’s BRCK, winner of 2016 ITU Telecom World Awards, cautioning that it can be too easy to change too much or too often. There is a fine line to be trod between switching direction every 6 months (too frequently) and sticking with the exact same direction throughout, he explained. Educate the market, be that on the importance of connectivity or the Internet and what it can offer them, said Rizki. Expecting SMEs to manage complex digital marketing or an online store takes more than 1 day.

Many ideas can fail without a good co-founder, as a co-founder can bring with them a complementary skillset and experience, ideally even experience from a different culture.  But make sure they have the same mindset, explained Tilman Süss, Managing Director, Berliner Strategen, Germany. Also, remember you can’t do everything- if there is a particular skill you lack, say, accounting there maybe people who are expert in this field and can do this better than you, so it can be a good idea to give some areas up.

Best support for startups

Startups need to be sure the public understand them. Often the public, or even large corporates, think they get startups but they don’t, as they just don’t have enough experience of them and the climate they operate in. Süss commended ITU for its work with startups, including through the ITU Telecom World Award – which will announce its winners on 28 September – to help integrate them into the ICT ecosystem.

Governments can provide key support to startups, helping establish a business friendly environment, establishing accelerator programmes, helping secure investment as well as helping startups manage risk, working with them in a way that enables them to scale up. Governments need to find a path for startups, not just go with the incumbents, according to Orton. The Indonesian government is giving a whole lot of exposure to its startups, according to Rizki- indeed, a number of them can be seen in the Indonesia Pavilion here at ITU Telecom World 2017.

Raising capital & getting ahead

The road to raising capital can sometimes be a difficult journey for startups. Start early, and be brave, said Amandanov. Meet with investors and make sure you research who you are meeting with. Be realistic, cautioned Rizki, don’t set yourself impossible numbers to hit.  Finding an investor within your niche can be tricky, Orton explained that it was easy to find either tech investors or investors interested in Africa but trickier to find one that covers both areas, as well as being an investor you can scale with.

Finding an extra pair of hands can help extend your reach explained Rizki, who worked in conjunction with the Indonesian postal service to get their message out and help get large numbers of underserved SMEs online in just one day.

Conclusions

The panel summed up with some key thoughts to ponder; be realistic but don’t sell yourself short. Don’t do something if you don’t love it – if it’s something you love, it will come across in pitches, said Süss. Take a risk, urged Amandanov. You only live once and when you take a risk the result will be more satisfying. Know where you are going, said Orton, but don’t be afraid to change how you get there. “If you want to succeed, keep pushing yourself beyond your capabilities, you can achieve amazing things.” Concluded Ibaraki.

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

Digital Citizens and Miss Geek: meet Rwanda

Rwanda has long been at the forefront of government-led digital transformation – and not just in Africa. Following its dream of transforming the country into a knowledge-based economy by 2020, Rwanda has worked hard to create an enabling policy and regulatory environment, develop infrastructure and smart services, support a flourishing digital entrepreneurship ecosystem, and build human capacity.

Rwanda’s National Pavilion provides an excellent opportunity to discuss initiatives in all these areas, including “Irembo”, a digital government platform set to feature some 100 operational services by the end of the year. It enables citizens to access and pay for government services effectively, simply and at reduced cost – but in its first two years, it has exposed the need to continue work on developing citizens’ digital skills.

Enter the new Digital Talent Policy, aimed at strengthening ICT training and qualifications in Rwanda to increase digital literacy and bridge the existing skills gap. All levels of society in Rwanda should be able to access digital training, both as part of everyday activities and at the heart of the national education curriculum.  Building up a critical mass of 10 000 ICT experts will transform the country into a producer and exporter of ICTs both in the region, and globally.

The ultimate goal is digital literacy for all, with the internet as a basic utility and full digitalized citizens and government by 2050. The National Pavilion here at ITU Telecom World 2017 also showcases one of the future stars of that digital nation: Leah Akingeneye, Ms. Geek 2017.

Ms. Geek Rwanda is a competition designed and organized by Girls in ICT Rwanda to inspire girls to use technology, innovation and critical thinking to solve problems in the country, and to consider careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). Leah’s winning solution is the Bus System Simulator, a web and mobile-based solution using real-time data to improve public transport in the capital, Kigali. The app lets commuters locate the nearest bus stop and buses, destinations and available space, enabling transport operators to track trips and plan better.

Smart digital transformation is truly underway in Rwanda!

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

AI and financial innovation: applying the power of AI to financial services

A diverse panel from financial institutions, venture capitalists, academia and start-ups considered key questions around AI and financial services, in a session moderated by IBM’s Neil Sahota.

For Stephen Ibaraki, Founding Chair, Global Industry Council & Vice-chair, IP3 Board, International Federation for Information Processing, Canada, AI offers great potential for the streamlining of labour- intensive procedures, such as regulatory compliance scrutinizing or mortgage applications. Procedures that previously took days now take a mere 5 minutes. “Ai is everywhere, embedded, it is a reality of life,” he told delegates.

It’s not just customer facing activities which AI can help streamline; tools such as natural language processing  and machine learning  also have tremendous potential for enhancing internal processes explained Andy Nam, Chief Information Officer, Standard Chartered Bank Korea Limited, Republic of Korea.

For Woochang Kim, Head, KAIST Center for Wealth Management Technologies/Managing Editor, Quantitative Finance, the value of AI lies with serving “regular people,” whom serving can otherwise be expensive. AI can help “providing the same services to normal people. It’s an unexplored market.” He explained

AI has much to offer in a field such as microfinance, where dealing with the unbanked can be time consuming. “AI can be made more efficient by technology that engages users and connects disparate data points,” explained Chris Czerwonka, Chief Innovation Officer, InvestED, USA. Crucially, AI can also provide local language interaction.

Humans and AI can co-work to achieve effective results, according to Andy Choi of the Republic of Korea’s MoneyBrain, who gave two examples where the AI can receive the message and, if not able to complete the request, humans can finalise it, or alternatively humans can take the call whilst AI analyses it at the same time to help find the optimal solution.

Challenges still abound

No doubt AI offers a great deal of promise but despite a lot of open source tools, more is needed to make it truly accessible, according to Ibaraki. Czerwonka warned of a digital divide: although we are still at a relatively early stage in terms of an AI curve, small enterprises also need access to unlock data sets.

A further challenge for start-ups, explained Czerwonka, is finding the right talent. In today’s lean start-up market, many new entrants might have great visions of implanting a supercharged vision of AI but to do this needs people ready and experienced to build out the technology, and affordably, as well as having some domain expertise too. AI itself may not be that “tough” but the fact that everything is interlinked, such as large data sets or an end to end ecosystem, makes the necessary skillset harder to find according to Nam.

There are also a host of ethical and legal challenges to solve – if AI makes a bad decision, for example, who should be held accountable? As these technologies evolve, so too will the regulatory concerns.

The road ahead

Ensuring people understand AI is crucial in order for it to advance and provide complete value, according to Czerwonka. People also need to understand and be prepared “If the switch goes off and you cannot use AI, you still have the processes and internal controls in place to advance business models.”

For companies starting up in AI, timing is key, but it is, according to Choi a good market to be in if you do it right. A sound strategy, structure, process are essential as a precursor to unleashing AI. AI will not substitute human collaboration, it will be in addition to it. As a precursor to launching AI, explained Czerwonka, it is prudent to make sure sound strategy, process and structure are in place in order to underpin AI. It’s a long journey, not a sprint, concluded Nam. But be sure to check reality, manage expectations and whatever you do, don’t give up!

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

Ministerial Roundtable: Transforming the ICT sector

Infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusiveness are the four factors fundamental to ensuring universal access and advancing smart digital transformation, ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao reminded speakers at the first Ministerial Roundtable session at ITU Telecom World 2017. Unless we can provide connectivity for all, leaving no one behind, smart digital ecosystems will simply generate more exclusion.

No one should be excluded from the benefits of future developments, where new technologies such as the cloud, 5G, IoT and AI, are bringing “a paradigm shift not only in social and economic sectors, but across the lives of all citizens,” explained Chang Whan Ma, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea. And it’s happening at pace we could never have anticipated: “The future we imagined is being realized faster than we predicted. Imagination is becoming reality with the help of cutting-edge services and applications.”

He outlined Korea’s policy efforts to support the transformation and development of the ICT sector and respond to the fourth industrial revolution, including creating an encouraging environment to nurture creativity and innovation, as well as establishing an industrial ecosystem spearheaded by SMEs. The ultimate aim of transformation is the creation of future-proof jobs based on new ICT technologies, economic revitalization and ongoing growth.

He stressed the importance of placing humans in the centre of future societies, sharing benefits without discrimination and implementing policy to ensure no one is left out of digital transformation.  Korea is committed to working together with other nations to share its knowledge and experiences, to address global agendas, and to move together towards a sustainable and inclusive society with global prosperity.

“Accelerating ICT development means enriching the future,” according to Jianjun Zhou, Vice President of Carrier Business BG, Huawei. “ICT is not just about technologies and the telecom industry, but also about society, the economy and all industries. ICT is not hype, it is the hyper energy of the economic and business revolution.”

There is no doubt of the significant contribution ICT makes to economic growth, productivity and people’s well-being in all markets throughout the world. Providing the necessary physical, human and policy resources necessary to connect people, homes, governments and enterprises is critical to development and human happiness. But given that more 3 billion people globally have no access to broadband connection, it is imperative that we act now, and act together, to address the digital gap.

Encouraging the enhanced investment so urgently required in emerging markets means establishing a lower-risk environment, offering faster returns on investment, and providing an enabling policy and regulatory environment, including innovative thinking on taxation and opening up infrastructure sites.

He urged all stakeholders to be proactive and collaborative in developing ICTs, innovative solutions and equipment to serve different scenarios in the best way possible, creating services that are “valuable but affordable” and addressing both supply and demand – a mobile government service, for example, should be accompanied by a programme to enhance digital awareness.

Echoing this call for cooperation across sectors and nations, Minette Libom Li Likeng, Minister of Posts and Telecommuncations of Cameroon, outlined her country’s ambition to become a technological leader and Central African hub by partnering with the private sector to raise the contribution of ICTs to the economy up to 10% by 2020, facilitating the creation of many new jobs.

Cameroon’s experience in digital content such as e-banking, e-health and e-agriculture, as well as good international connectivity, young population, and nascent culture of digital entrepreneurship offer much to prospective investors. Young people in Cameroon are already active and creative in the digital world, she continued, setting up startups even without an enabling framework. Cooperation from the ITU, investors and international partners is essential to increase the rate of transformation.

Digital transformation is driven by political will, the Minister noted, ensuring that collaboration happens within and across government departments, ministries and agencies, as well as with external private sector partners providing investment. Sharing knowledge and expertise across nations is also important, such as Korea’s help in establishing an e-procurement system for government in Cameroon.

“Some countries are ahead, some have done very well, but we cannot be left behind,” she continued, calling for further investment and assistance from those more advanced in the process of digital transformation.

The contrast between countries at different stages on the journey to transformation can be a source of inspiration and an opportunity to share good practice. In the words of Monchito Ibrahim, Under-Secretary, Department of Information and Communications, Philippines, “To be in a smart city as advanced as Busan is as good as time-travelling for us. It’s a benchmark of what could be possible, a yardstick for digital maturity.”

The challenge is in part one of making both government and people aware of the opportunities of ICTs, big data, and smart cities in the Philippines.  “The one and only way to a smart nation is a smart government that works as one with its citizens,” he said, outlining the need to set up reliable infrastructure for seamless data sharing across government, promote transparent e government and fragment the silos of government departments.

“The pace of technology waits for no one, but government can help make us ready for this brave new world, looking to learn from other countries for more reliable infrastructure and to build ICT-enabled sectors,” he continued. The IT sector excluding telecoms already contributes 8% of GDP, primarily through the services sector, a figure which will rise to 15% by 2022: how much bigger would the sector be if broadband connection was better?

For Elmir Tofig oglu Velizadeh, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the crucial role of ICTs in changing individual lives and the economy is reflected in the huge investment made in infrastructure, cloud technology and services.  Azerbaijan uses technology in all areas of development, state, society and economy.

He echoed the importance of government as a key agent in driving digital transformation, and of sharing information in international fora such as this roundtable. “Government can speed up the process of ICT development with government initiatives and by creating a favourable environment for cooperation with the private sector, as well as by studying international best practice, forwarding important projects and sharing experience regionally.”

International collaboration is increasingly significant, given both the advent of radically transformative technologies such as AI, 5G, automation and IoT, and the need to avoid further deepening the digital divide between developed and developing nations.

Jailini Bin Johari, Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia in Malaysia, pointed out that disruption is, after all, nothing new. The transformation of the ICT sector which began some 20 years ago with liberalization has not stopped, but has continued on a journey through reform, convergence, new regulations, new licensing regimes, the arrival of the internet and restructuring. As broadband networks and the digital economy continue to grow, the process of transformation is unlikely to stop.

Policy-makers must be flexible and pragmatic as the ICT sector both transforms itself, and facilitates transformation in other sectors.  He shared Malaysia’s target of expanding broadband coverage to 95% of its geography, which will allow the internet economy to grow and new ideas to be exchanged, with ICTs representing 20% of the economy by 2020.

“We must facilitate international e commerce and internet-based innovation, continue to embrace the digital economy and connectivity, and address the widening digital divide,” he said, as well as introducing policy and regulatory approaches which are conducive to private sector investment in infrastructure, the development of affordable communication services and ensuring that consumers benefit from innovation.

As the largest market in South East Asia, the government of Indonesia is aiming for a digital market worth USD130 billion dollars by 2020, built in part by some 1 000 startups, explained Rudiantara, Minister of Communications and Information Technology.  Its priorities include reducing the cost of logistics in the archipelago, which is as much as 20% of national GDP; ensuring consumer protection; encouraging innovation; and a fair taxation policy in response to the move from a goods-based economy to a services-based one.

The challenge of ensuring connectivity has been met by the application of USO schemes, reducing internal bureaucracy, and encouraging private sector investment.  The main concerns of the country are customer service, rights and obligations for security and tax issues as new market entrants from overseas offer content and services over local networks. “The issue of the internet going beyond borders needs to be discussed at international level,” he added.

“The main priority of the government in Belarus is to ensure balanced economic growth to improve the quality of life of the nation’s people,“ stated H.E. Sergei Popkov, Minster of Communications and Informatization.

The ICT sector is recognized as the main driver of future economic growth and development, and “the development of the information society and effective digital transformation of the country are viewed as tasks of national importance,” requiring coordination and integration of state, businesses and civil society.

He added that Belarus has already achieved all Connect 2020 measures, and that by the end of 2018 all last mile infrastructure will be finished, meaning all residents of the country will have broadband internet access, enabling the government to provide a variety of ICT services for the population in the future.

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

The 5G opportunity: driving digital transformation

Discussing 5G as the driving force of the digital ecosystem worldwide with representatives of all key stakeholders raised a number of fascinating issues as hard to pin down as 5G itself.

Sébastien Soriano, BEREC Chair and President, ARCEP, France, shared a uniquely European perspective as the chair of the body of regulators charged by the EU institution with harmonizing regulation across the continent – and repositioning Europe as a global leader in innovative technology. “5g is not just another technology: together with the IoT and AI, it is the innovation wave that Europe wants to surf to be in the tech scene,” he said.

This ultimately political mission is based on exploiting the continent’s innate diversity, enabling it to experiment with a variety of solutions in differing contexts. No one size fits all, as the familiar mantra of technology roll-out goes; but the ambitious aim of early network introduction in 2018 and the first large scale commercial deployment in 2020 calls for a common approach to spectrum, to finding smart solutions across a range of verticals beyond simply telecoms, and to creating a new legal framework for long-term investment. Competition, after all, should inspire investment rather than limiting it, as “we are not a low-cost continent, but one that invests, especially in 5G.”

Seeking to move away from the concept of 5G as simply the next technological step-change, Inmarsat’s Donna Bethea Murphy reminded the panel that we are on the edge of a revolution, rather than an evolution – and one with unpredictable results. There is no specific network business model or frequency band, rather a collaboration of multiple technologies, verticals, and bands, providing highly reliable, ubiquitous, high capacity for a multitude of use cases – but offering the end user a seamless experience, wherever they are.

Seamless connectivity means the user will be largely unaware of it as “all technologies, fixed, wireless, wifi, will work together, with satellite playing a key role in the 5G revolution to make sure the urban versus rural divide doesn’t get bigger” and that we end up with a smart society, not a collection of smart cities.

“Mobile is at the heart of the current transformation and at the heart of the future age of automation,” according to Andy Hudson, Head of Technology Policy, GSMA.  Connecting the 52% of the world’s population that is not yet online must be the first priority, through a mix of fast reliable network coverage, ensuring affordability, and developing both local content and digital literacy.  Digital lives are not, however, founded on technology alone. We need privacy, security and standards in the current 4G age, let alone as we move towards 5G and a world of immersive communication, VR, augmented reality and increasingly blurred line between the physical and the digital worlds.

Standards for 5G are important to ensure connectivity remains fluid and flexible in the new era of 5G networks, adapting to different applications and performances.  Ensuring international alignment on standards will involve governments and regulators working in close collaboration – and accelerating 5G will also mean agreeing on spectrum, creating a supportive investment environment and encouraging government to lead by example through digital services.

Broadly in agreement on the need for global 5G standards to support growth, Jan Färih, Vice President and Head of Standardization and Industry, Telefon AB – LM Ericsson, pointed out the need for systems and networks that perform well and meet the expectations of end users – as well as affordable, attractive devices, and compelling services and apps.

But the real technological challenge of 5G is second-guessing the future and building networks that can cope with a huge range of use cases, many of which are as yet unknown, ranging from massive sensor deployment to robotic steering and ultra-reliable communications. “We had to define a network that was flexible as we don’t really know which use cases will come up in the next ten years… it is key to take care of flexibility, in parallel to standards,” he said, emphasizing the extent to which 5G success will depend on flexible, multi-functional, systems and services offering high performance and adaptability to new industries and their requirements.

Infrastructure sharing improves the efficiency and effectiveness of mobile networks – and significantly reduces the cost of deployment, explained Wu Ma, General Manager, Operation and Development Department, China Tower Corporation. Improving reach and network coverage will be increasingly important as operators move from 4G to 5G, taking with them user expectations of speed, data volume, quality of service and mobility.

By sharing an infrastructure platform, the three leading Chinese mobile operators behind China Tower have freed up resources and operating costs to focus instead on handsets, services and markets. This approach works very well in the current 4G era, but will need to be extended to meet the needs of 5G: “We will try to look at other opportunities to reduce cost, such as street lamp posts across cities and small towers in urban areas to increase efficiency”, he explained, repeating the need to meet subscriber expectations in terms of experience and performance.

Soriano shared his understanding of 5G as “a protea form technology that can deliver a different class of services for different use cases and business cases”

Questions on investment and regulation were raised by the audience: where should the funding for the massive amounts of investment in next-generation networks come from, in an era of historically low ARPU?

For Andy Hudson, 5G is no different from any other infrastructure, in that investment will come as ever from mobile operators and government in one form or another, ideally within the framework of a supportive policy and regulatory environment. Wa pointed out the difficult balancing act telcos face between investing in the near future of 4G infrastructure and services whilst also planning for longer-term, cost-intensive 5G networks. Given the need for greater coverage and reduced distance between cells, much greater volumes of investment will be needed. New business models offering a great ROI should be explored, perhaps alongside innovations in subscriber management and applications billing. “The infrastructure needs to be ready for the business model, but we also need time and opportunity to explore 5G and look elsewhere in the world,” he said.

Soriano saw the need to be open to innovative ways of thinking on infrastructure, such as holders operating 5G services themselves. Telco investors have long had a very specific investment cycle to enable operators to keep growing, and with each technology advancement, revenue has decreased. It is ultimately down to the telcos to work out how to make money from 5G, rather than an issue for public bodies.

The regulatory challenges posed by 5G are as complex and unpredictable as the network itself. The beauty of 5G, its ability to slice the network and discriminate traffic, means different service providers can offer services tailored to specific customer use cases.  Soriano was clear that the end user must be free to choose the best services and applications – meaning the delicate question of net neutrality will be back on the table, with regulators adopting a case-by-case approach. Issues of transparency, quality of service, spectrum licensing and data protection will also fall to the regulator as 5G develops, as well as “rewarding innovation so that companies will take the initiative to build about infrastructure”, said Donna Murphy.

The complexity of regulating something as complex as 5G will make for a fascinating challenge, the panel agreed – and as for who should actually be responsible, well, that’s a topic for next time!

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2017 Daily Highlights 3

New Pavilions join ITU Telecom World 2017 Exhibition

Welcome Benin, Brazil, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Mozambique, Philippines and Sierra Leone to ITU Telecom World 2017!  Joining the event for governments, corporates and SMEs for the first time, these countries shared their leading telcos, SME innovations, strategies, policies and opportunities on the showfloor and throughout the event.

Brazil and Benin showcased SME innovations including agricultural IoT devices, parcel delivery and a digital healthcare system based on a teleradiology platform. Ethiopia highlighted the work of leading telco, ethio telecom, as well as opportunities for investment and partnership in a number of areas.

Indonesia presented their successful experience in fostering the incubation and development of various Digital Economy business models, as well as focusing on their MSMEs working in areas as diverse as B2C and B2B payment systems, SME online market places, agricultural and aquaculture online platforms. Minister of Communication and Informatics, H.E Mr Rudiantara, hosted a press conference to highlight initiatives to cover the country’s wealth distribution disparity – a message echoed in his Opening Ceremony address.

Visitors to the Philippines pavilion were invited to join the “digital gateway to the future,” and enjoy a vibrant display exploring the work of the country’s two leading telcos, Globe Telecom and PLDT Global, providers of a full portfolio of telco, ICT and digital services in the Phillippines and beyond.

The Mozambique pavilion outlined the work of its regulator, the National Communications Institute of Mozambique (INCM), its mission, vision and current areas of work including the country’s digital migration. Sierra Leone highlighted the work of its Ministry of Information and Communications, in areas such as policy and strategy development, developing regulatory frameworks, promoting ICT literacy and ICT research and cybersecurity. Visitors could also read more on the ECOWAN fibre backbone project and the work of regulator NATCOM.

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

A look into a smart, autonomous future with SK telecom

Smart homes, smart metering, quantum cryptography and 5G powered autonomous vehicles were among the innovations showcased by SK telecom at ITU Telecom World 2017.

Delegates were invited to discover a Do IoT Yourself kit, an educational kit to help explore SK telecom’s IoT smart homes solutions, with controls for fans, lights and doors.

Smart metering applications showcased included digital water metering services to help improve flow rate, provide data usage patterns and prevent accidents from abnormal pressure, amongst other areas. Monitoring services showed delegates how IoT can enable a cleaner environment and air, through fine dust monitoring. CleanCUBE, a waste management solution, is a smart powered trash compactor, monitoring levels of trash in real time. Lost pets can be tracked via a special collar, which can run for up to 5 days.

SK telecom’s IoT services and applications are enabled over its LTE-M and LoRa -dedicated IoT- networks, with over 70 IoT services expected to be deployed commercially as of end 2017.

A showcase of the quantum cryptography system demonstrated encryption solutions, based on quantum principles and 10 Gbps encryption, including a quantum random number generator.

As we progress along the road to autonomous driving, delegates were able to explore a self-driving car- introduced by the virtual Jessica- with cameras in mirrors, sensors, radar sensor and NUGU maps, as well as watch a video of its recent (last Thursday’s) 26km test run, on the public roads.

It’s clear we can expect exciting innovations spanning different sectors and transforming our lives in a number of ways, from our smart homes to how we drive and even the air we breathe.

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

South Africa @ ITU Telecom World 2017

The Republic of South Africa held a press conference today to outline the opportunities for investment and development in the region.  Director General at DTPS, Mr Robert Nkuna introduced DTPS, and Minister Dr Siyabonga Cwele gave an inspirational account of the work to date to connect the unconnected.  The demand for education comes directly from those in the most rural parts of the country, with educational content the most popular of all content available online.  Dr Cwele praised the ITU for the successful organizing of ITU Telecom World 2017 and providing opportunities to engage with the industry and share ideas on topical issues. He also expressed his hope to bring ITU Telecom World to South Africa in 2018.

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

The ITU-D/ITU-R/ITU Bookshop Pavilion

The ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) Pavilion showcased their upcoming events including WTDC in Buenos Aires and the 25th Year Celebration of the Development Sector of ITU. The Pavilion also highlighted the important work of their members including Hyundai-Motors, NTT Korea, OKI, Swisscom and Vodafone Egypt, GSMA and more.

Beginning 26 September, ITU-D will be hosting daily workshops on building ICT centric ecosystems and bridging the innovation divide. These workshops deliver hands-on training for delegates who want to accelerate the development of their digital economies.  Seating is limited to 25, so please reserve in advance by sending an email to innovation@itu.int

Meanwhile, the ITU-R pavilion is celebrating the 90th anniversary of CCIR/ITU-R Study Groups by showcasing the role of the ITU-R process to support global regulations and in developing global standards on the use of spectrum. Visitors to the pavilions can receive complimentary USB keys with information highlighting the important work of the 2 ITU sectors.

The ITU Bookshop is selling copies of ITU’s key publications, memorabilia and souvenirs. Guests are invited to visit the ITU Bookshop and to participate in a survey for a chance to win great prizes.