East Africa Com: See you next year | 20-21 May 2014

*** Share your thoughts on #EastAfricaCom @allaboutcom ***    

East Africa Com 2013 Day 2: Affordable & relevant services are needed to drive growth in East Africa’s telecoms market!

After a first day where networks were at the centre of most discussions, the second day of East Africa Com looked in more details at services.

The day started with an interview of Jose Henriques, VP data and online at Airtel Africa, who highlighted the importance of affordability of data services, both in terms of data pricing and of devices. He was followed by John Naranka, who gave the point of view of an OTT player: Kenya-based social network Whive. 

The sessions covered the services that are most likely to impact data growth in the region: content, mobile money, e-health, TV, mobile marketing and apps. Some keywords were repeatedly mentioned when discussing how to make services successful: affordability, user-friendliness and simplicity. Betty Mwangi-Thuo from Safaricom (who gave an update on the ever successful mpesa) also highlighted the importance of partnerships to ensure the success of services.

The topic of e-health was covered by a presentation from a representative of Ogra Foundation, the event’s charity partner, which works with and for vulnerable communities in Kenya to improve and promote health. 

The event ended with the AppGig, a new session dedicated to developing, promoting and monetising apps for East Africa. A lively panel discussion covered both technical and commercial issues. The audience had a chance to share their favourite apps for the region, ranging from traffic news to education and health.

East Africa Com was once again a great showcase for the innovation and entrepreneurship to be found in the region. Next year’s event (to take place in Nairobi on 20-21 May 2014) will again focus on how to make networks more reliable and affordable in order to provide relevant services for the region’s users. 

Until then, the next events in the Com World Series will look at networks and infrastructure developments in West Africa (Connecting West Africa, 11-12 June, Senegal), Digital services (Digital Services Africa, 25-26 June, South Africa) and trends in Africa’s largest digital market (NigeriaCom, 17-18 September).

We look forward to seeing you next year at East Africa Com 2014.  
  
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Thanks for tweeting and using the hash tag #EastAfricaCom @allaboutcom 
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The East Africa Com team received a record breaking 500+ tweets over the course of the two days, which surpassed last year’s tweet record by 68%. Plus, the hash tag #EastAfricaCom was trending on Twitter today as a key topic in Kenya.  

We look forward to reading your tweets next year! 

You can still tweet about your experience this year using #EastAfricaCom @allaboutcom on twitter!  

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What our attendees said about this year's show:   
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“Overall conference was well organised, excellent networking and good contacts with my operator customers in the region with some hot leads generated”
Regional Account Director, SAP UK Limited

“Well organised event & excellent contacts made. Speed Networking sessions were great! Propose that you keep doing them again!”
Regional Director – Africa, iBasis

“We had very good two day at East Africa Com and made valuable contacts during networking with new & exciting partners”
VP Sales, Ekinops France

“Great event! It is our first time at East Africa Com and it was a good opportunity to interact with more players in the region as well as our clients. The speed networking was a valuable session in which we got to sell ourselves to potential clients”
Commercial Officer, ComzAfrica Kenya

“Informa put on a great networking event presenting valuable opportunities to explore business relationships.” 
Cyrus Sang, Executive Director, Jamii Telecom Ltd, Kenya

“Good show and productive targeted meetings with East-African operators – will definitely take part again.”
Philippe Llau, Director Line of Business Data & Telecom, Eutelsat France

“It has been a pleasure attending East Africa Com and participating as a panellist, hearing and sharing views from other regional players.”
Betty Mwangi-Thuo, General Manager, Financial Services, Safaricom

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Thank you to all the Sponsors of East Africa Com 2013
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Comza * Eutelsat * Liquid Telecom * KDN * Simbanet
  
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See You Next Year!     
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To get involved early for the 2014 show,       
please visit our website: http://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/

 East Africa Com 2014 
20-21 May 2014 
Safari Park Hotel
Nairobi, Kenya 

"East Africa is all about innovation, change and growth” – East Africa Com opens in Nairobi

***Join us for day 2 ***  Share your thoughts on #EastAfricaCom @allaboutcom 

The 9th annual East Africa Com opened in Nairobi today with great debates showcasing the dynamism of the region’s market. Senior executives from the telecoms, media and ICT sector from the whole region were in attendance to define strategies for a changing market as well as to network with their peers and to do business.  
  
The keynote session offered a great overview of the key trends, challenges and opportunities facing stakeholders in the digital market. A debate on the evolution of the ecosystem saw Michael Ghossein, CEO of Orange Kenya and Joseph Mucheru, Sub-Saharan Africa Ambassador at Google lock horns on the subject of partnerships and revenue sharing between operators and OTT players. 
  
Richard Bell, CEO of triple player Wananchi showcased the diversity of the opportunities in the new digital ecosystem. He summed up the enthusiasm of many in the audience by saying: “The reason we’re all here at this event and the reason why East Africa is so exciting is because East Africa is all about innovation, change and growth”. 
  

The other main subject of the day was broadband and connectivity, whether from mobile or fibre/satellite developments. The sessions included contributions from MTN Business Kenya, Airtel, Canar Telecom Sudan, PCCW/Gateway, Eutelsat and more. The conference in the afternoon broke into two sessions, one looking further into connectivity themes and another one looking at Customer Experience Management with in particular a presentation from Safaricom. 

Meanwhile the adjacent exhibition was all about networking and business meetings. Over 25 exhibitors showcased their products and solutions for the market. A Speed Networking session took place during the morning coffee break, bringing together 20+ VIP guests from the region’s leading operators to meet solutions providers and vendors. The day ended with a poolside networking drinks reception sponsored by Liquid Telecom – a great place to unwind after a busy day! 

“It is clear from the debates both in the conference and in the networking breaks that the East Africa region is a great hub for business in Africa” says Julie Rey, Research Director at organisers Informa Telecoms & Media; “We are proud to organise East Africa Com as the region’s annual forum to encourage debate and business deals in this dynamic environment”. 

The second day of East Africa Com will include sessions on data strategies, digital services, mobile money, mobile marketing and the AppGig for developers.  
  
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Make sure to join us for Day 2 
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There is an outstanding speaker line-up for day 2 of the event as well -   
make sure to join us tomorrow!   
  
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Timings:   
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Registration Day 2:  08:30am    
Conference Day 2: 09:00am - 15:30pm   
    
APPGIG at East Africa Com  
Conference Day 2: 14:00am - 15:10pm  
    
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What are your thoughts on this year's East Africa Com?   
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The East Africa Com team received a record breaking 300+ tweets within the first 4 hours of the conference, which surpassed last year’s tweet record by 50%. Plus, the hash tag #EastAfricaCom was trending on Twitter today as a key topic in Kenya.  
  
So don't forget to tweet about your experience using #EastAfricaCom 
@allaboutcom on twitter!   
  
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Feedback about Day 1 on Twitter:      
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"People are discussing major business deals at #EastAfricaCom" 
Robert Alai, Blogger, Techmtaa 
  
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Sponsors of East Africa Com 
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Comza 
Eutelsat 
Liquid Telecom 
KDN 
Simbanet 
    
Join us tomorrow at the Safari Park, Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya!
The East Africa Com Team  
  

See you next year at EurasiaCom | 25-26 March 2014

*** Share your thoughts on #EurasiaCom @allaboutcom ***     

 EurasiaCom 2013: it's all about the customer in Eurasia's changing digital market
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------After two days of engaging discussions and networking, the 9th annual EurasiaCom conference and exhibition closed today in Istanbul. 

The conference included presentations and panel discussions with over 40 senior representatives of the region's most dynamic telecommunications and digital service providers: operators (Vimpalcom, Turkcell, TeliaSonera, MTS, Megafon, Azerfon, Virgin Mobile, Bakcel and more), OTT providers (Google, Mynet), regulators (Bulgaria, Bosnia Herzegovnia), handset specialists (Yota Devices, KVK), app developers (Fugo, Baba Girisim) and more. 

 The overall message of the debates was that telecom operators need to change their business models to adapt to a new digital environment where customers have different requirements. Telcos are still concerned about the threat posed by OTT players to their revenues but they are now open to partnering with them in order to answer their customers' needs.  

New revenue opportunities are emerging that will hopefully compensate the lack of revenues from data. However the companies who will be most successful will be those who understand their customers best and can move rapidly to meet their needs. 

  The EurasiaCom programme included new sessions in addition to the traditional keynotes on strategic business and network issues, which reflected the new important topics in the digital market: customer experience management, handset and devices, M2M, applications.

We look forward to seeing you next year at EurasiaCom 2014.     
       
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What are your thoughts on this year's EurasiaCom?   
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Tweet about your experience using #EurasiaCom @allaboutcom on twitter!

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What our attendees said about this year's show:      
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"It was an excellent event with a lot of speakers and useful content. I think it is one of the top Informa conferences. If you want to participate in some of Informa's conferences, absolutely put Eurasia Com in your preference list."
M. Hossein Taheri, Senior Analyst, Teyf, Iran

“Two amazing days to meet top class decision making operators from Europe and Asia”.
Sorin Balasoiu, Account Director, Ascom, Romania

“Eurasia Com has been a great opportunity to meet and network with mobile network operators and other organisations in the telecom industry from different countries in the region such as Turkey obviously, Russia, Albania, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Yemen, Bangladesh, Iran etc. Looking forward to generating some business growth from these leads.”
Ivy Mumo, ComzAfrica, Business Development, Kenya

“Excellent organisation and high quality of delegates. Very timely and interesting discussion themes, engaging speakers and panellists, true representation of the Eurasian region.”
Jaques Couvaz, Senior Lecturer, Billent University, Turkey

“I can easily say that the whole event was very useful for me to get in contact with the right people and companies.”
Erkan Keskin, Data Account Manager, Turkcell Superonline, Turkey.

“Nice presentations, special perspectives shared on Customer Experience Management. Eurasia Com brings lots of discussions and ideas. Looking forward to join next year.”
Nevila Bejleri, Customer Experience department Manager, Albtelecom and Eagle Mobile, Albania

“Good event, lots of live presentations and cases. Would be glad to do this again!"
Sergey Radchenko, Development Division Director, Megafon, Russia

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Thank you to all the Sponsors of EurasiaCom 2013
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Comza * Mahindra Comviva * CommScope * Cambium Networks * Intersec * Vidiator

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See You Next Year!  
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To get involved early for the 2014 show,    
please visit our website: www.comworldseries.com/eurasia
 
EurasiaCom 2014
25-26 March 2014
Swissôtel The Bosphorus,
Istanbul, Turkey 

The 9th annual EurasiaCom opened today in Istanbul...

***Join us for Day 2!***    Share your thoughts on #EurasiaCom @allaboutcom  

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The 9th annual EurasiaCom conference and exhibition opened today in Istanbul, providing key debate and networking opportunities for the region’s leading operators and digital companies.

The first conference day focused on the evolution of the market and how telecom companies adapt to new conditions: networks need modernising to meet increased demand for data; operators are building partnerships with OTT players; new pricing models need to be developed; operators must understand their customers better; new revenue opportunities must be explored (e.g. mobile financial services, M2M, cloud), etc.

Some of the region’s leading operators were sharing their expertise and vision of the market evolution. Dmitry Kromsky, Head of Vimpelcom’s CIS business unit, said: “I am happy to have the opportunity to participate in this forum; the potential of all countries in this region is very high”. Rob Shardlow, Group Sales & Business Development Director at Virgin Mobile CEE said he was “incredibly pleased to be here today: there are fantastic characteristics to the market and the region offers great opportunities”.

In addition to the conference the event is an occasion to network with the region’s telcos, regulators and digital companies. The morning break included a Speed Networking session for vendors to meet with some of the event’s VIP participants.

“The debates at EurasiaCom are always engaging and we are pleased to see the region’s most innovative companies share their ideas in a very open way” says Julie Rey, Research Director at organisers Informa Telecoms & Media.

Tomorrow’s session will focus on innovation and digital services (including two new sessions on M2M and apps), with speakers from Turkcell, Google, Mynet, Yota Devices, Vimpelcom, Deutsche Telekom, Megafon and more.

We look forward to seeing you at the second day of EurasiaCom. 
 
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Make sure to join us for Day 2 
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There is an outstanding speaker line-up for day 2 of the event as well -    
make sure to join us tomorrow!    
       
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What are your thoughts on this year's EurasiaCom?    
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Tweet about your experience using #EurasiaCom @allaboutcom on twitter!

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What our attendees said about Day 1:    
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“EurasiaCom is a unique conference that brings together operators, regulators, vendors, content and application developers and addresses topics catered to all members of the ecosystem around the telco industry”
Sergey Nichiporuk, Head of Strategy, MTS Ukraine

“Again, this year’s event has been a great success in creating new business opportunities.  Speed networking is the right way to start the event”
Thomas Sachs, Senior Account Manager, CreaLog

“Many thanks to the organisers of the conference; it was all “high”.  Also, thanks to all the speakers, learnt a lot and met many interesting people.  I hope we will meet again and cooperate”
Bakyt Kaiykov, Head of Department of the Transmission Network, MegaCom, Kyrgystan

“Speed networking was very useful to meet other participants.  The Informa team is very proactive with introductions.”
Shishodia Upkar, Manager – Europe, Mahindra Comviva

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Sponsors of EurasiaCom 
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Comza * Mahindra Comviva * CommScope * Cambium Networks * Intersec * Vidiator

Announcing the programme for Connecting West Africa, 11-12 June, Senegal

What is needed to deliver reliable and affordable communications to West Africa?

Connecting West Africa is the place to find out about networks and infrastructure developments in Africa’s most promising region. Over two days (11-12 June in Dakar, Senegal), the conference and exhibition will offer in-depth discussions on and networking opportunities with the region’s leading minds.

The brochure with full details on the programme and how to participate is available here.

Connecting West Africa is the new brand for the Com World Series’ event in the region (formerly West & Central Africa Com), looking specifically at the networks and infrastructure developments. Over two days, the conference will address the major concerns in terms of connectivity in West Africa and help key stakeholders plan for the future: fibre and satellite development, cost of bandwidth, new needs from consumers and enterprises, partnerships, cost-efficiency, investment, rural telecoms and more..

Leading speakers include senior representatives of Orange, ExpressoTelecom , Google, Sonatel, Intelsat, Sierratel, Starcomms, O3B Networks, Tigo, Telecom Italia Sparkle, Helios Towers Africa, ECOWAS and more.

Plan your visit now and prepare to network with the decision makers in the region’s communications landscape.

If you have any question or if you’d like to participate contact:
- For programme enquiries and speaking opportunities: Julie Rey, Julie.rey@informa.com
- For sponsorship and exhibition enquiries: lee.dendy-sadler@informa.com
- For marketing and PR opportunities: Subuola.alinkugbe@informa.com
- For VIP and free passes for operators and regulators (limited availability): sofia.marti@informa.com

Cambium Networks joins EurasiaCom as sponsor alongside ComZA, Comviva, Intersec and Vidiator

Wireless broadband and microwave solutions  provider Cambium Networks confirmed their participation as sponsor to EurasiaCom, taking place in Istanbul on 26th ad 27th March.

They will be represented in the conference by Ian Bayly, VP Sales & Marketing for EMEA, who will join the expert roundtable on meeting broadband needs across the region and will give a presentation. Cambium Networks joins other sponsors ComZA, Mahindra Comviva, Intersec and Vidiator.

EurasiaCom is the leading event for the telecoms, media and ICT sector in the region - comprising Eastern Europe, Russia, the CIS and Turkey. Top operators and digital brands will be represented onthe conference programme, including Vimpelcom. Altimo, Turk Telekom, Virgin Mobile CEE, Turkcell, TeliaSonera, Google, MTS, Yota Devices, Megacom and more.

For more information on the programme and how to participate click here.

'On the Edge of Transformation': Viewpoint by Sergey Nichiporuk of MTS Ukraine ahead of EurasiaCom

Sergey Nichiporuk is Head of Strategy at MTS Ukraine. Here he gives his thoughts on how the telecommuncations industry is evolving, ahead of his participation as a speaker at EurasiaCom in Istanbul on 25th March.

"Each industry undergoes different stages in its evolution and development, which transform the value chain and business models of its participants.

Despite the fact that voice remains one of the most effective means of communication, the era of traditional fixed voice telephony is over.  In various geographical markets revenues from fixed telephony and volume of consumed services are steadily decreasing year over year due to the onslaught of different substitutes (wireless mobile telephony, VoIP applications and etc.).

At the moment the Telecom Industry has fully entered the era of data services.  The expansion of population coverage by high-speed 3G and 4G wireless and up-to date fixed optical networks, the growth of connected devices volume (smartphones, PC, tablets, Smart-TV, Set-top-boxes, game consoles, media-players) as well as the emergence of traffic consuming on-line services and applications (games, video and audio content, cloud services and online data storage) have led to a surge in consumer demand and stimulated rapid growth of fixed  and wireless Internet broadband access penetration levels all over the world.

The volume of services, quantities of subscribers and operators’ revenues from fixed and wireless broadband in most of the markets (developed and emerging) have tripled and still continue to demonstrate double digit growth rates.

The lifestyle and consumers and their preferences are gradually changing.  Customers use smartphones and tablets for various applications, social networking, on-line gaming, multi-media messaging, data storage, streaming of audio and video content.

On the one part the proliferation of data leads to cannibalization of traditional telecom services. However on the other hand it creates opportunities for growth of operators’ revenues in mature and saturated markets at the same time creating an opportunity for introduction of new technologies and rapid development of the industry.

In future, at the time when the data market will reach saturation the growth of revenue from internet access will also eventually decelerate. 

The next stage that telecom industry is about to enter is the era of OTT (over-the-top) services and All-IP communications that will allow to process traffic flexibly and provide subscribers with various portfolios of services incl. dynamic connection of customer fixed or wireless access points to services of various companies. 

With  theincrease of IPTV and HD content popularity (3DTV, 4K, 8K) the traffic is expected to grow by 10 times and even more, that will impose greater requirements for telecom providers’ networks capacity and throughput.

Telecom operators will have to invest large amounts in modernization of infrastructure to cope with the market requirements, while the main beneficiaries of traffic growth will become mainly OTT-players.

In the era of all-IP communications Telecom players will face a non-trivial challenge how to transform their business models to save and capture value and obtain payback from investments in networks development.

Pure fixed telephony operators will either disappear or transform themselves via modernization of infrastructure in fixed internet access providers, to offer subscribers individual bundles of different IP-services.  Even now in some of developed markets operators like AT&T already consider abandonment of legacy PSTN networks and full transition to Internet based protocol services starting since 2018. 

Cable TV operators will also become extinct or forced to transform their business models, to turn into either online content aggregators or Internet-access providers, since neither customers nor content producers will require them to distribute or deliver the content the final consumer. 

In future the challenge for connectivity providers can be overcome only via transformation of pricing model for Internet access services as well as reconsideration of commercial relationship between Telco and Internet-players to redistribute the pile of revenue (i.e. both-sided charge of data consumers and content providers for quality, speed of access, data volumes and extra services). "

Sergey Nichiporuk is a keynote panellist at EurasiaCom, in the session on 'Meeting broadband needs across Eurasia'. Click here to find out more.

Be the first to see the East Africa Com conference agenda!

East Africa Com
Safari Park Hotel
Nairobi, Kenya
www.comworldseries.com/eafrica

The 9th annual East Africa Com returns to Nairobi at the Safari Park Hotel in Kenya on the 21-22 of May. East Africa is now established as a leading ground for innovation in the telecoms, media and ICT industry. The East Africa Com programme reflects the dynamism of this market, with representatives from the region’s foremost operators, alternative service providers, innovative start-ups, creative developers and more.

What will you learn?
The two day event will feature 40+ expert speakers from the entire digital ecosystem and you will learn from keynotes, panel discussions, case studies and sessions dedicated to Digital Transformation, Broadband & LTE, Connecting East Africa, Customer Experience Management, Digital Services, Mobile Money, Mobile Marketing in East Africa and the inaugural APPGIG. 

Be the first to see the East Africa Com conference agenda 
http://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/download-brochure/ 

Have you registered? (Quote booking code: BLOG/EASTEM1) 
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- Apply for a Free* operator pass (*conditions apply) 
Here: http://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/free-pass/ 

- Claim your discounted ticket – save $300 
Here: https://commerce.informatm.com/events/i68gp.html 

- Do you want to sponsor or exhibit? Find out more 
Here: http://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/sponsors-exhibitors-brochure/ 

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Hear from the Movers and Shakers of the Telecoms, Media and ICT industry: 

OPERATORS & ISPS 

- Richard Bell, CEO, Wananchi Group 
- Mickael Ghossein, CEO, Orange Kenya 
- Jose Henriques, Vice-President: Data and Online, Airtel 
- Ken Munyi, CEO, AfricaOnline 
- Ali Ahmed Yarouf, CEO, Canar Telecom, Sudan 

OTT, SOCIAL MEDIA & CONTENT PROVIDERS 

- Joseph Mucheru, Sub-Saharan Africa Ambassador and Country Manager Kenya, Google 
- John Karanja, Founder, Whive, Kenya 
- Chams Diagne, Africa General Manager, Viadeo 
- Emma Kaye, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bozza.mobi 
- Santos Okottah, CEO, Eziki TV 

APPS & THE MOBILE MARKETING ASSOCIATION 
- Patrick Maina, Chief Executive Officer, Crowdpesa.com 
- Andrew Moguya, Founder, AfriApps 
- Daniel Ogwok, Web and Mobile Developer, Brudan, Uganda 
- Frank Maina, East Africa Chair, Mobile Marketing Association 

To see the full speaker line up and conference programme - download the conference agenda 
Here: http://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/download-brochure/ 

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Register today for your FREE* or Discounted pass! 

Regional operators and regulators can attend for FREE, whilst early booking discounts apply to all others. 
Secure your delegate ticket by the 16th of April to save $300 today. 
Ticket Options: 

- Regional Operators* and Regulators 
(*Conditions apply) – Free* 
http://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/free-pass/ 

- Regional Non Operators - $999 
- International Operators* and Regulators $999 
- International Non Operators $1,999 
https://commerce.informatm.com/events/i68gp.html 

- APPGIG for East African APP 
Developers(Conditions apply) – Free* 
http://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/free-appgig-pass/ 

Register quoting your booking code: BLOG/EASTEM1

We look forward to receiving your registrations!

Kind Regards 

The East Africa Com Team 
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East Africa Com is Sponsored by: 
Comza: http://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/sponsor_partner/comza/ 
Eutelsat: http://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/sponsor_partner/eutelsat/ 

Official Charity: 
Ogra: http://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/ogra-foundation/

Eurasia "has become one of the major innovation hubs" says Berna Samiloglu of Turkcell in interview ahead of EurasiaCom

Berna Samiloglu is Director of New Businesses and Entrepreneurship at Turkcell. The Com World Series team caught up with Berna ahead of the EurasiaCom conference and exhibition, taking place at the (Swissôtel The Bosphorus, Istanbul, Turkey, 26-27 March) to find how companies can encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.

EurasiaCom: Please describe your company’s position and objectives in the Eurasia region

Berna Samiloglu: The region has become one of the major innovation hubs. The contribution of the region to the global economy is expected to increase.
Turkey is playing a key role with its growing economy and demographic characteristics. Digitalization has been a major issue for the last two decades in the country and now we are talking about increasing awareness and use of fixed and mobile broadband penetration, internet, social media and many other topics.
The country aims to reap the benefits of digital economy. Turkcell has been leading the local GSM industry since its foundation with now 35 million customers only in Turkey and over 60 million customers in the region.
In partnership with other industries, we continuously introduce innovative products and services to our consumers and corporate customers to provide them with new value added services beyond  voice communication and commodity value added services like messaging. There are big opportunities in areas like Machine to Machine, Cloud, New Media, Digital Advertising and Marketing for both consumers and corporates. We want to be a major experience provider in this region with our large partner ecosystem.

Eurasia om: What do you think are the top 3 major trends that are affecting your business in 2013?

Berna Samiloglu: As I just named, we are aligning our business objectives based on major growing topics such as Machine to Machine and Cloud. These areas are expected to creare a large portfolio of services in both consumer and corporate market. For instance, we expect a tremendous growth potential in telemetry applications for areas like healthcare and smart city  including energy management, public transportation, appliances management as well as industrial optimization solutions. Also there will be high demand for cloud services as we provide solutions to meet privacy and security concerns of customers complying with regulatory framework.
In all these areas, telecom operators face an increasing competition from OTT players. We have seen the impact of OTT players in areas like voice, messaging and social media. We believe building smart partnerships will help both OTT players and telecom operators in terms of easy commercialization, fast penetration and differentiation.

EurasiaCom: How can telcos and digital market players understand customers’ needs better?

Berna Samiloglu: Innovating with customers has been one of the top agenda items for our company. First you need to understand pains and needs in the market, both consumers and corporates. You need to build product and services based on expectations of your market. To do that, you need to closely follow local and global consumer and technology trends, you need to invest in market research to gain customer insights.
You need to be in the field with your customers to better observe and understand their needs. Also you have to continuously track use of your products and services after launch to optimize based on customer feedback.

Eurasia Com: What new services will have the biggest impact on the market in 2013 and onwards?

Berna Samiloglu: Besides M2M and Cloud, peer to peer services will also continue to grow and to be disruptive. With increasing bandwidth and speed, mobile applications will be major driver to create these p2p world. With all these new content and applications, of course big data & analytics will be another major topic. We will begin to use multiple personal connected devices and experience seamless services in areas like multiscreen, social TV. Starting with mainly retail, we will see shift towards digitalization of traditional sectors. Online and offline shopping experience will be merging with advanced customer experience. Recognition, recommendation and marketing automation tools will help differentiation. The impact of e/m commerce will be increasing.

Eurasia Com: How can companies encourage innovation and entrepreneurship within their teams?

Berna Samiloglu: Innovation should be a motto for all business units. We have been building an innovation network including all internal and external stakeholders such as employees, partners, vendors, developer communities etc.
Internally, we have been investing to increase awareness of our employees about innovation and give training on how different methodologies could be used to develop innovative solutions. Ideation, concept generation sessions in light of customer insights. We do this through online and offline channels. For instance, We have an internal innovation portal to gain feedback and suggestions from our employees on some themes to develop product and services. These insights help to reshape our concepts, value propositions or solutions.
Additionaly, when you look at external innovation resources like startups, you see that they apply new techniques like lean startup approach for business model and customer validation. Startups have  much more limited resources compared to large corporations and these startups need to be a lot more efficient in their businesses. We need to import these techniques into large organizations as well. In my previous comments, I named OTTs a major competitor for telecom operators. All those OTT players are now equipped with these techniques and they are doing just fine.

Berna Samiloglu will give a presentation at EurasiaCom on Wednesday 26th March on "The next wave of growth opportunities for the telecom industry". For more information and to register click here. 

Ogra Foundation will be the Official Charity of East Africa COM 2013

The Com World Series is is proud to announce Ogra Foundation will be the Official Charity of East Africa COM 2013!

OGRA Foundation works with and for vulnerable communities in Kenya to improve and promote health through five pillars:
1. Disease prevention and control
2. Promotion of maternal and child health
3. Community empowerment
4. Health systems strengthening
5. Emergency preparedness and response through partnerships

Since its founding in 2000 Ogra Foundation has made great strides in its core business by making healthcare available and affordable to the underserved populations in the community.
Hear more about Ogra Foundation’s work including their M-Health project – Zidi - at East AfricaCOM or contact http://www.ografoundation.org


About East Africa Com

East Africa Com is the annual event for the telecoms, media and ICT sector in the region. It is designed to showcase the innovation, entrepreneurship and developments taking place in the region’s digital space.
The audience will include 600 high-level representatives of telcos, alternative players, broadcasters, content providers, vendors, suppliers, as well as the new generation of ICT start-ups leading innovation in the region.
Confirmed speakers include the CEOs of Wananchi, Orange Kenya, AfricaOnline, Whive, Canar Telecom and senior representatives of Google, Airtel, Safaricom and more.

For more information on the event and how to participate visit http://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/ or contact Julie Rey on julie.rey@informa.com