Fifth Annual Media And Telecommunications Convergence Conference 2008 (Amman June 2 & 3 2008)
Conference Highlights Schedule Speakers Sponsors & Exhibitors Registration/Sponsorship Details
   

Speakers

Mr. Jawad Abbassi
Mr. Fayez Abu Awad
Mr. Mohammad Alayyan
Mr. Ammar Aker
Ms. Fayza Amin
Mr. Sam Barnet
Dr. Saad Al-Barrak
Mr. Clement Charron
Mr. Ross Cormack
Mr. Bashar Dahabra
Mr. Bo-Erik Dahlström
Mr. Maarten de Wit
Mr. Chris Forrester
Mr. Luigi Gasparollo
Mr. Mickael Ghossein
Mr. Krishna Gopal
Mr. Nael Halawa
Mr. Saleh Hamza
Dr. Bassam Hanoun
Dr. Abdulmalik Jaber
Mr. Marwan Juma
Mr. Peter Kaliaropoulos
Mr. Hakam Kanafani
Mr.Tamouh Khauli
Mr. Sulieman Maani
Dr. Wassef Masri
Mr. Alexander McNabb
Mr. Russell Merryman
Mr. Massimo Migliuolo
Mr. Yousef Mugharbil
Mr. Saad Nasir
Mr. Nael Salah
Mr. Osman Sultan
Mr.Yagoub Al Sulais
Dr. Samer Taha
Mr. Mikkel Vinter


Mr. Jawad Abbassi
Founder & General Manager
Arab Advisors Group

Mr. Abbassi has more than 14 years experience in the telecommunications, Internet and datacommnications fields. Mr. Abbassi founded the Arab Advisors Group in 2001. As General Manager of Arab Advisors Group, Mr. Abbassi directs the research and consulting activities of the company in addition to steering its marketing operations. Mr. Abbassi is also a frequent guest speaker at conferences and seminars related to technology and communications in the Arab World.

On September 14, 2005, the Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB) and Arab Advisors Group concluded an agreement by which AJIB buys a 55% stake in Arab Advisors Group. The cash transaction will allow AJIB and the Arab Advisors Group to leverage strategic synergies to enhance the quality and scope of services of Arab Advisors Group. Arab Advisors Group -a private shareholding company registered in Jordan- will now be owned by the Arab Jordan Investment Bank (55%) and Mr. Jawad Abbassi (45%).

Before founding Arab Advisors Group, Mr. Abbassi’s career experience includes working as a senior telecommunications and technology consultant with the Yankee Group in Boston - USA. Between 1998 and 2000, Mr. Abbassi was a Senior Analyst with the communications research arm of the Economist Intelligence Unit in Boston.

Before his work in Boston, Mr. Abbassi worked as a corporate accounts manager for Jordan’s leading Internet service provider (NETS). With NETS, Mr. Abbassi led and coordinated the work needed to establish its first international leased line with Cyprus. Mr. Abbassi also worked for Apple Computers dealership, in addition to being a weekly columnist on Information Technology in Jordan’s leading English weekly.

Education:
Mr. Abbassi received a BSc in engineering from the American University in Cairo (Egypt – 1993) and his MSc in information systems from the London School of Economics (United Kingdom - 1998).

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  Mr. Fayez Abu Awad
Business Development Manager - MEA, Nokia Interactive

Fayez Abu Awad holds an MBA from the University of Oxford and an MS Eng from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. With over 10 years of experience, Fayez currently leads Nokia Interactive in the Middle East and Africa - the division charged with availing intelligent mobile marketing solutions to content creators as well as brands and agencies in the region. Previously, Fayez served as Nokia's Essential Insight Manager for the Middle East and Africa region, as part of the Strategy Process and Insights team.

His career experience includes his position as Research and Marketing Director at ITP Consulting, and Strategic Account Director at Interactive Limited in Dubai.

Fayez also has extensive experience in due diligence activities as a local advisor to the Yankee Group as well as other venture capital services. Prior to that, he was part of Bidaya Ventures, a local venture capital boutique services firm in Amman, Jordan, which was one of the founders of Jordan's first ICT incubator, and a partner in a software start-up in the United States. His business acumen and passion for the success of the Arabic language in the digital world culminated in his keynote speech at the first Arab World Search Engine Conference in 2005.

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Mr. Mohammed Alayyan
Publisher and Chairman, Al Ghad Newspaper

Mohamed entered the media industry in 1998, when he established Al Waseet weekly classifed newspaper in Jordan. The publication’s weekly circulation exceeds a whopping two hundred thousand copies, and a leading reach of two million readers on a weekly basis. Mohamed established Al Faridah Specialized Printing, which publishes Layalina, JO, Ahlan,Teen World, Viva, Venture and U magazines. Mohamed is also a board member in Al Kawn for Advertisements & Media, which launched the first independent radio station Fann FM. He also serves as chairman in several media companies, including outdoor media.

In 2005 Mohamed founded and established ATV; the first independent terrestrial and satellite, free to air channel in Jordan. The project was completed by August 2007.

Mohamed is a member of the International Advertising Association (IAA), the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), The Young Entrepreneurs Association (YEA), and the Yound Arab Leaders(YAL). He is also a former board member of INJAZ for the Creation of Economic Opportunities For Jordanian Youth. He has been appointed by Royal decree into the National Agenda Steering Committee. Recently, Mohamed was appointed on the Board of the Jordan Football Association; where he also serves as head of communications and marketing committees.

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Mr. Ammar Aker
CEO, Jawwal

The Chief Executive Officer of Palestine Cellular Communications Co. Ltd. JAWWAL, Ammar Aker has a BS and MS degrees in Accounting from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, USA and Kent State University, Ohio, USA respectively. His experience in the field of finance and accounting started at an investment company in California, USA and a trading group in UAE. He also worked for the Palestinian Development and Investment Company, PADICO, the largest investment group in Palestine. Prior to joining Jawwal, he worked as the Financial Controller and Internal Audit Director at Palestine Telecommunications Co. "Paltel", Jawwal’s mother company, for almost a year. Mr. Aker commenced his career at Jawwal in February 2000 as the Financial Controller of the company and was then promoted to be the first Chief Financial Officer. In October 2005, Mr. Aker was assigned by the Board of Directors to become the CEO of Jawwal.
Mr. Aker is distinguished for his devotion and for the outstanding and effective role he plays in order to elevate Jawwal's status amongst other competing cellular companies. He dedicates all efforts and the company's capacity to increase the company’s market share. Mr. Aker pursues an open-door policy with his team, customers, and clients. Much further, Mr. Aker orients the company's strategies, plans, and policies to meet the customer's needs and exceed their expectations. His policy falls into place with Jawwal's core mission as a customer-centric company.
With the current situation of the Palestinian market, Mr. Aker hand in hand with Jawwal's team and Paltel Group's management rise to face up to the challenges ensued by current political and economic instabilities. Perhaps one of the major challenges facing Jawwal since its early beginnings in 1999 is the competition with four Israeli operators illegally participating in the Palestinian market . The impact of the Israeli occupation, however, does not stop here. The occupation creates obstacles in front of Jawwal's expansion strategies in order to hinder Jawwal's network from developing. Despite such obstacles, Jawwal managed to maintain outstanding financial key performance indicators. These accomplishments manifested themselves in the increase of revenues and market share especially in the past two years.
 

 
  Ms. Fayza Amin
General Manager Middle East & Africa Region, Malaysia Telecom
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Mr. Sam Barnet
COO, MBC


General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of MBC Group, Sam Barnett joined the company in 2002. In his role he has supported the Chairman, Sheikh Waleed Bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim in the commercial restructuring and ongoing growth of the Group to become the largest media and entertainment group in the Arab world, reaching more than 75 million viewers and listeners each day.

During his time at MBC, Barnett has overseen the outsourcing of advertising sales, the launch of new channels and media, the development of an organisation structure to fit a multi-media network and the enforcement of commercial and financial discipline on operations.

Prior to joining MBC, Barnett held senior roles in global management consulting firms Arthur Andersen and PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was responsible for advising on privatization projects for telecommunication companies and developing growth strategies for government, financial and media groups in the UK, Africa and the Middle East.

A Cambridge graduate (Economics and History) with an INSEAD MBA, Barnett enjoys spending time in the outdoors with his family, desert driving and camping, and is a keen marathon runner.

Tara ROGERS | Public Relations Director
MBC Group | Dubai Media City | MBC Building 3 | 5th. Floor
P.O. Box: 72627 | Dubai, UAE

T +971 4 391 9999 Ext. 2721
M +971 50 345 8424 | F +971 4 391 8176
E tara.rogers@mbc.ae

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Dr. Saad Al-Barrak
MD and Deputy Chairman


Dr. Al Barrak is a distinguished engineer and businessman of international repute. Since his appointment in 2002, under his tutelage Zain’s (formerly MTC) customer base has increased from 600,000 to a conglomerate of 22 operations with over 42.4 million active customers across the Middle East and Africa. In this period, Zain's market capitalization on the Kuwait Stock Exchange has increased from less than US$3 billion to exceed $29 billion (February 1, 2008). Dr. Al Barrak holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering, an MSc in Systems Engineering from Ohio University, and a PhD in Information Systems & Technology Management from the University of London. He is also an alumnus of Harvard University. Prior to his appointment with Zain, Dr. Al Barrak was Managing Director of International Turnkey Systems (ITS), one of the leading IT companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Under Dr. Al Barrak, ITS’s revenues grew from $5 million in 1985 to exceed $100 million in 2000. Dr. Al Barrak was Vice-Chairman of the Social Development Office (SDO) of the Amiri Diwan in Kuwait; Chairman of Egyptian software developer IT Soft; Chairman of Arab Telecom; and a non-executive Director of Arab Management Association in Cairo. In 2005 he received the Middle East’s ‘CEO of the Year’ award in the Information Communication Technology sector, and in 2003 he received the ‘E-businessman of the Year’ award in the region. Recently in September 2007, Dr Al-Barrak received the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from leading industry magazine COMMSMEA. Dr Al-Barrak is also an Executive Board Member of Celtel International

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Mr. Clement Charron
JTG VP / General Manager Wholesale Business Unit

Mr. Charron, the General Manager of the wholesale business unit since July 2006, has been working within Jordan Telecom's wholesale business unit since October 2004, bringing with him extensive international experience in France Telecom Group.
In 1997, Mr. Charron joined France Telecom Group in the Regional Representative Office in Jakarta, Indonesia (1997-1998) before moving to hold Sales and Business Development positions within the Wholesale Market at France Telecom Long Distance (1998-2000) and at Mobistar's (Belgium) Roaming and Interconnect department (2000-2004).
Mr. Charron was graduated from the Bordeaux Business School in 1996

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Mr. Ross Cormack
CEO, Nawras

Ross Cormack has been CEO of Nawras the newest GSM operator in Oman since June 2004. Following an extremely fast build out, Nawras launched to great acclaim in March 2005, achieving more than 40% market share with over 1.1 million customers, in the first three years of operation. Highly praised for its pleasingly different customer service, Nawras has redefined and simplified the whole customer experience including what is bought and where, as well as how to get help and how to pay. In September 2007, Nawras was named ‘Middle East Mobile Operator of the Year’ by CommsMEA and in November 2007, received the Middle East Business Achievement Award for Corporate Social Responsibility, from Leaders.

Cormack was seconded to Nawras from Qtel which he joined in May 2003 as Executive Director Wireless Services, bringing over 20 years of international telecommunications experience including mobile start-ups and operations. Earlier he was CEO and founder of Singapore based Virgin Mobile Asia, a US billion dollar start-up joint venture between Singtel and Richard Branson's Virgin Group, which was Asia's first international MVNO. Previously, he was Managing Director of Hong Kong CSL, the market leader in one of the world's most competitive and crowded mobile markets with six operators and was a member of the Chief Executive Committee of Hongkong Telecom.

Other roles have included Managing Director of AirTouch in Italy, Managing Director Asia of Cable & Wireless Mobile based in Singapore and Regional Director for Cable & Wireless Mobile in Europe based in London. Cormack has served on the Boards of Bouygues Telecom in France, M1 in Singapore, CSL in Hong Kong, Europolitan in Sweden, One2One in the UK and Pronto Italia in Italy. 

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Mr. Bashar Dahabra
CEO, Info2Cell.com

Mr.Dahabra was the chief architect and founder for the concept of a regional wireless portal service in the Middle East. Having observed and studied the convergence of the Internet and wireless technologies in the mid 90’s, he developed the info2cell concept in late 1998.

As founder and CEO, Mr. Dahabra was in charge of the overall Business Development, Systems Development and Financial strategies, dealing with the day-to-day operations of Info2cell. Acotel acquired Info2cell early in 2003 and interconnected his company with 18 regional operators such as Zain (MTC)-Kuwait, Zain(Fastlink)-Jordan, MobiNil-Egypt, Batelco-Bahrain, Etisalat-UAE, Qtel-Qatar, Jawwal-Palestine and Oman Mobile with over 250,000 registered mobile subscribers.

Mr. Dahabra has 27 years of Systems Engineering, Management and Entrepreneurial experience, having worked for IBM for 10 years in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, and Jordan. He also worked as Director for Systems Development with FLAG for two years in NY, USA. Mr. Dahabra was the founder of a number of successful startups such as Unitech, Unisat, First Telecommunication Group, Magnet in Jordan as well as Gulf Soft in Bahrain, among others in the region.

Mr. Dahabra holds a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Edinburgh University. He is a member of a number of professional associations including IEEE, Jordan Computer Society, and Canadian Engineering Society.


The main objectives of Mr. Dahabra is to maintain leadership of Info2cell.com as the Mobile VAS provider of choice for the Mobile Operators of the ME region and to Develop the most leading and creative Content group for Mobile Content and Aggregation. Add to this Enhancing and developing Advance Mobile Billing systems with least revenue leakage and Enhancing Mobile Content Delivery of Any content to Any Mobile utilizing Digital Rights Management to protect the content value and maintain revenue streams.
Bashar S. Dahabra’s Specialties:
VAS Mobile Services
Media and Mobile Integration
Content Management
Mobile Billing
Mobile Digital Rights Management
Mobile Content Development and Aggregation
Mobile Portal Development ( Web, WAP )
Intelligent Client Development ( J2ME, Symbian )
Managing largest VAS Multioperator Platform in the Middle East offering connections to 30 Mobile Operators.

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Mr. Bo-Erik Dahlström
 President and CEO, Ericsson Market Unit Middle East

As President for Market Unit Middle East, Bo-Erik has the responsibility for all Ericsson activities in the Middle East region including Pakistan and Afghanistan and heading an organization of some 2,000 employees.

In this role, Bo-Erik oversees the overall success for Ericsson’s business within Infrastructure, Services and Multimedia in the Middle East through the different Ericsson entities in the countries.

Bo-Erik has been working with Ericsson since 1985 and has held various positions in areas including Product Management and Sales, starting with Analogue Mobile System during the late –80’s and later lived 1991-92 in the U.K for the Introduction of GSM 1800 in Europe. Bo-Erik was responsible for introducing Ericsson’s GSM Mobile business in China during 1994-97 and lived in China for 3 years. Following the time in China, Bo-Erik was Vice President for Market Operations China from the headquarters in Sweden. Prior to the present position, Bo-Erik held the position as Vice President Sales with responsibility for the Sales & Marketing activities of the Ericsson group in Central- and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMA).

Bo-Erik is 48 years old and holds a Masters degree in Engineering Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm as well as Diploma in Economy and Marketing.

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Mr. Maarten de Wit
Director, Oliver Wyman

Personal data

  • MBA, University of Oregon
  • BA, Nijenrode, the Netherlands University of Business
  • Language skills: English, Dutch, Spanish, working knowledge of German and French
  • Director, Oliver Wyman– based in Dubai
  • Prior to joining Mercer Management Consulting in 1996, worked for General Electric in Europe and
    North America.
  • Graduated from the widely renowned GE Financial Management Program with four Excellence awards
    and held various finance positions in one of GE’s Industrial Equipment businesses.
  • Is a Reserve-Officer of the Royal Netherlands Airforce

Work experience

Mr. De Wit is a Director in the Dubai office of Mercer Management Consulting. Mr. De Wit is a recognized expert in the field of telecommunications. He works with blue-chip clients in corporate and commercial strategy development, operational launches and improvement programs. He has both
consulted to Board and C-level clients in telecom operators as well as assumed several interim Executive positions himself. Maarten is particularly skilled in strategy development, highly analytical assignments and at leading complex projects with large, multi-disciplinary teams.


Relevant projects

Mr. De Wit’s recent projects in the Middle East include:

  • Mr. De Wit was Launch Director for a groundbreaking converged telco start-up in the Middle East.
    Next to his executive role Mr. De Wit was responsible for a large, multi-disciplinary team working with
    the key commercial and technical areas of the operator.
  • For an incumbent telco operator in the Middle East Mr. De Wit developed a new aggressive growth
    strategy as well as a new long term corporate strategy. As a result Mr. De Wit supported the client
    through various due diligences, acquisitions and license bids valued at over $3bn in 2006. Mr. De Wit
    also took on the challenge to support the subsequent strategy implementation and change
    management.
  • For a very successful mobile operator in the Middle East Mr. De Wit designed a turnaround strategy to
    prepare for competition and improve its operations.
  • For one of the largest construction groups in the Middle East Mr. De Wit developed their telecoms
    strategy, resulting in two license bids and an acquisition in Africa.
  • For one of the largest retail and construction groups in the UAE, Mr. De Wit developed their telecoms
    strategy leading to a re-focusing of its ambitions and to the closing of a strategic partnership with an
    operator

Other projects

Mr. De Wit’s other projects include:

  • Various mobile telecommunications offer development and optimization projects with a top 3
    European telco
  • Two 2G mobile operator startups and one 3G startup in Europe and one GSM startup/TDMA overlay
    in South America
  • Brand strategy, brand development and re-branding strategy in cooperation with Saatchi and Saatchi
    in South America
  • Numerous strategy, business development and sales force effectiveness projects with the largest
    telecom equipment manufacturer in Western Europe
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Mr. Chris Forrester
Editorial Director, Rapid TV News

London-based Chris Forrester is a well-known technology journalist. He reports on all aspects of the TV industry with special emphasis on content, the business of television and emerging technologies. This very much includes interactive multi-media and the growing importance of web-streamed and digitised content over all delivery platforms including cable, satellite and digital terrestrial TV as well as cellular TV and 3G mobile. Indeed, he has been investigating, researching and reporting on the so-called ‘broadband explosion’ for some 20 years.
Besides editing Rapid TV News, the leading daily on-line media news source, and Inside Satellite TV, Europe’s best-selling publication for the DTH broadcasting industry, his journalism is also seen within the pages of TVB Europe, Broadcast, IBE, Television Asia and many other leading industry titles. Chris is also European Editor of ‘Satmagazine.com’ the authoritative on-line news and reference source for the satellite industry.
Chris is a regular TV broadcaster having made guest appearances on the BBC (TV and radio), CNN, CNBC, MBC, CBC, Sky News, Bloomberg TV, etc. His interview tally reads like an industry "Who's Who" and includes Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner, Sumner Redstone (Viacom), Subhash Chandra (Zee TV), Sheikh Saleh Kamel (ART), Pierre el Daher (LBC), as well as other broadcasting and technology leaders throughout the region.
He is also a regular on the broadcasting conference sector, having chaired or moderated the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 “HDTV Summits” in London. He has looked after conferences for IBC in Amsterdam, and at events in Beirut, Cairo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Dubai, Washington DC, and London.

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Mr. Luigi Gasparollo
V.P Business Development MENA
Qualcomm Europe

Born in Rome (Italy) in 1940. Married. Two children. Italian national.

Graduated in Electrical Engineering – Rome - (Italy).

Presently V.P. Business Development Middle East North Africa the interface with the market stakeholders for a proper positioning of the Qualcomm Products and thus facilitating the use of CDMA technologies in the region. Qualcomm is the worldwide leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the company’s CDMA – digital technology - Code Division Multiple Access.

Appointed in July 2001, as Qualcomm Europe Corporate V.P. and Managing Director Europe and MENA, with the task of managing Qualcomm strategic and business presence in regions.

In 2000 he was appointed as high-level Industry Member of the European Commission Enterprise Policy Group (EPG), in representation of Italian industry, to act as advisor/consultant to the European Commission - DG Enterprise - on industrial policies. He still holds the position today.

Prior to join Qualcomm Inc., he served for seven years as Managing Director/CEO of Elsacom N.V. a Dutch company owned by Finmeccanica Group of Italy (Aerospace-Defense), responsible to manage and commercialize telecommunication services, including the technical and commercial interests of Finmeccanica Group in the Globalstar LP consortium, in Western and Central -Eastern European countries.
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. Mr. Mickael Ghossein
CEO, Jordan Telecom Group – Orange Jordan

Mr. Ghossein has been the Chief Executive Officer of Jordan Telecom Group since September 2006. Upon joining, Mickael lead the implementation of the transformation project at Jordan Telecom Group which resulted in integrating the group's companies under a unified business structure, and re-branding the Group’s products and services into the Orange brand, making Jordan Telecom Group the sole integrated operator for fixed, mobile, and internet services in the region. Prior to taking up this position, Mickael was Executive Vice President of Jordan Telecom Group (January 2006); Chief Executive Officer of Mobilecom (now Orange Personal) (August 2002 - December 2005); Chief Executive Officer of Orange Reunion, the subsidiary of France Telecom in La Reunion (2000 - 2002); Commercial Chief Officer of Mobilerom; and Marketing and Communications Chief Officer of Mobilerom, the subsidiary of France Telecom in Romania (1997 - 2000). Mickael also worked for France Telecom, EGT and Thomson in France and Iraq. He graduated in Engineering from University of Valenciennes (France - Radio), Institute Superieur Electronique Nord ISEN (France – Telecommunications), and University of Lyon (France – Master Electrotechnics Automatisation), and in Marketing from HEC Paris (France – Services Marketing) and IFG Paris (France – Products Marketing), and in Sales from Learning International.
 

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. Mr. Krishna Gopal
Vice President – ME, Tech Mahindra

Krishna Gopal is a mechanical engineering graduate from VJTI (1981) in Mumbai, INDIA and has a Masters in Marketing from SPJIMR (1983), Mumbai (http://www.spjimr.org/).

He carries a rich experience of over 23 years primarily in marketing and sales across diverse industries like office equipment, consumer durables, chemicals, retail and software services. He has been with Tech Mahindra Ltd since 1999 and currently heads the Middle East, Africa and SAARC regions as Vice President. Krishna’s prior employment includes leading Indian conglomerates like Godrej and Boyce (http://www.godrej.com/), Asian Paints (http://www.asianpaints.com/) and Satyam (http://www.sifycorp.com/). His work tenure also includes a year of experience at Saudi Arabia in retail operations.

At Godrej he was part of the management team that established the IT and Office Automation business.

Krishna was amongst the initial members of the start up team at SIFY, India’s first private Internet service provider.

Besides actively pursuing his career he also undertakes teaching assignments on a part-time basis at SPJIMR, Mumbai.

He has participated as a speaker on several forums in India such as NASSCOM, CII etc and has also conducted workshops on IT strategy on behalf of these organizations.


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Mr. Nael Halawa
Managing Partner–Marketing and Business Development

Mr. Nael Halawa is the Managing Partner for Marketing and Business Development at Globitel, who helps in promoting Globitel to become a market leader in providing telecom solutions. Mr. Halawa comes from a technical background, with experience in developing, supporting and managing telecom products.

Mr. Halawa first joined the organization in the year 2000 as a software developer and technical support engineer, to be later promoted to the position of Project Manager, before eventually taking on the post of Technical Support Manager. During the period from 2004 to 2006, Mr. Halawa acted as a Country Manager to establish Globitel’s presence in Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Halawa holds a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) , and combines his academic knowledge with his know how within the field of business development to enhance the regional telecommunications arena.

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Mr. Saleh Hamza
CTO, NileSat

Salah Hamza has been working in the Egyptian Satellite Company since 1996. He started as Head of Engineering and has been promoted to Chief Technical Officer. During this time, he has supervised the manufacture and launch of Nilesat first generation Satellites, as well as manages and heads the commercial sector , successfully leading Nilesat into achieving its nowadays excellent reputation not only in the Middle East and North Africa but all around the world .
Prior to joining Nilesat, Hamza was a Project Manger at STESA (Subsidiary of Thomson CSF), Saudi Arabia. He also worked as the General Manager of Transmission projects in the Egyptian TV.
Hamza Holds a BSC in Communication Engineering from Ain Shams University, and MSC in solid state electronics from the American University in Cairo.
 

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Dr. Bassam Hanoun
CEO, wi-tribe limited- Jordan PSC

Bassam Hannoun has been actively involved in the telecommunications industry for the last 17 years. He began his career in research and development and worked closely with BBC, VOA, ITU, British Gas and other international organizations.

He then joined Marconi-UK as a technical consultant and was responsible for the rollout and optimization of GSM networks in Czech Republic, South Africa and other countries. He then joined Lucent Technologies-UK as a senior business development manager for the EMEA region and worked primarily on third generation mobile systems (UMTS) with major accounts such as Telefonica, KPN, Hutchinson 3g and British Telecom. Bassam placed more focus and specialization on the Middle East after he joined an international British based consultancy company as business development director for the Middle East and Africa. He was responsible for marketing, sales and business development covering the whole range of products and services portfolio across the region. His clients were primarily network operators in the region.

Prior to joining Atco Clearwire Telecom he was Chief Sales Officer at Orange Jordan and was responsible for commercial activities in the areas of mobile, data and fixed telephony marketing and sales. He also directed the re branding of Jordan Telecom to Orange across commercial channels.

Bassam holds a PhD in radio network planning, a Masters in Business Administration/strategic marketing and a Masters degree in Data Communications from the UK.

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Dr. Abdulmalik Jaber
Vice-Chairman, Chief Executive Officer
PalTel Group, Palestine & VTEL Holdings, Dubai

Dr. Abel Malik Al Jaber returned to Palestine with the onset of the Peace Process in 1993, during which he joined the Peace Negotiations as part of the Palestinian Technical Committees headed by the then late Faisal Husseini.
Dr. Al Jaber established the first Palestinian Energy Research Center, which was tasked with providing strategic plans for the Energy Sector in Palestine. Under Presidential Decree Dr. Al Jaber became Head of the Center, after which he also acted as principal advisor for the Ministry of Planning. Dr. Al Jaber’s tenure in the Public sector also included assuming responsibility for the Palestinian Industrial Estate Authority as Director General.
In the year 2000 Dr. Al Jaber moved to the private sector and held several senior positions. He became the CEO for the Palestinian Industrial Estates Development Company, during which he supervised the establishment of Palestine’s first Industrial Estate in Gaza.
In 2003, Dr. Al Jaber joined the Paltel group as Vice Chairman of the Board and CEO. Dr. Al Jaber was able to restructure the company towards increased profits and more innovation and social responsibility. Company profits increased from USD$ 15 million in 2003 to USD$ 100 million in 2005. The company is the first to pioneer a Corporate Social Responsibility Fund in the country. The Fund is helping Palestinian society via initiatives in Education, Creativity, Excellence and internet penetration among different segments of Society.
In 2005 Dr. Al Jaber helped found VTEL Holdings, a UAE based company with USD$ 1 billion in capital comprised of high net worth investors from Palestine and the Arab World. VTEL is the latest in ICT initiatives in the region with business objectives to obtain licenses to operate ICT projects worldwide; in CSR countries, Africa, Central and Latin America including the Caribbean.
Dr. Al Jaber currently chairs several companies in Palestine, most notably, Chairman of the Golden Mills, Chairman of Al-Mashreq Real Estate Company, Board Member of Cairo Amman Bank and Vice Chairman of Jawwal, the cellular phone company in Palestine. Dr. Al Jaber is Founder of Al Rafah Micro Credit Bank, a first such bank in the Palestinian Territories.
Dr. Abdel Malik Al Jaber is a recipient of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al Maktoum “Best Arab Manager Award for Excellence in Management” for the year 2001, as The leading business executive in Palestine.
Dr. Al Jaber is active in peace building and regional economic cooperation projects, and is a member of the board of several private sector groups and business councils; including the Arab Business Council – World Economic Forum in Davos, The Arab Technology Forum, Founder of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) Palestine Chapter and is the Chair for the Young Arab Leaders Chapter in Palestine.
Dr. Al Jaber is a graduate of Jordan University of Science and Technology -Jordan, McGill University - Canada, North Western University- Kellogg School of Business Administration and holds an MBA as well as an MSC and PhD in Engineering.
 

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Mr. Marwan Juma
CEO, XPress


Marwan Juma is the Chief Executive Officer of Xpress Telecommunications, one of Jordan’s leading mobile operators and the first Arab company to introduce the iDEN technology in the region which combines the abilities of ordinary mobile phones with the instantaneous Direct Connect (walkie-talkie) service.
Marwan Juma is the outgoing Chief Executive Officer of Batelco Jordan, the country’s second fixed line operator and the leading data communication provider. In addition, Marwan is the Chairman of the local chapter of the Young Arab Leaders Organization, the region’s leading youth NGO, and serves on several prominent boards including the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development, the Jordan Investment Board and the King Abdullah Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency. Juma served on the Royal Steering Committee entrusted with developing the Country’s national agenda and strategy for the coming ten years.
Marwan Juma was also reelected as the Chairman of INTAJ, Jordan’s Information Technology Association, and a founding contributor to Jordan’s national initiative for establishing Jordan’s IT Industry, known as the “REACH Initiative”. The REACH Initiative is a five-year action plan to advance Jordan’s nascent IT sector, and strengthen its position to compete in local, regional, and global markets.
Holder of a Master in Management degree from North Carolina State University in the United States, and two Bachelor degrees in Business Management and Economics, Marwan has been an active player in Jordan’s Information Technology sector since 1990. Upon completing his studies, he joined Ideal Group, (the Apple Computer and Compaq distributor in Jordan), and moved up the ranks to become Vice President. In 1995, he took over as the General Manager of NETS, Jordan’s first e-mail and second Internet Service Provider. Six years later, NETS, and a second data provider, Firstnet, and Bahrain Telecom, a regional leading telecom provider completed the first IT merger in Jordan and formed Batelco Jordan.
An outspoken character, Marwan has lobbied long and hard towards the establishment of a world-class telecom infrastructure in Jordan, and has been an ardent supporter for increased private-public partnerships to further enhance and accelerate the country’s modernization and economic development.
 

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Mr. Peter Kalaiaropolous
CE, Batelco.


Peter Kaliaropoulos has over 25 years of experience in the Information Communications Technology Industry and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Batelco Telecommunications Company in Bahrain since 1st June 2005.

Peter has had diverse assignments with companies in Asia Pacific, North America, UK, Australia, NZ and now in the Middle East. He has worked with various companie such as SingTel Optus, British Telecom, Telstra, StarHub and Clear Communications.

As a CEO and COO in previous roles, Peter has led the transformation and growth of a number of companies operating across multiple geographies supporting both consumer and corporate, multi-national clients. He has been responsible for people development and leadership, strategy, product development, marketing sales, customer care, service assurance and provisioning and, finance for both core teleco services and ICT solutions and professional services.

Peter has also served on the board of a number of IT&T companies in Singapore, Australia and the US.

Peter holds a Bachelor of Electrical engineering degree and a MBA. He was born in Athens, Greece, is an Australian national and is married with one daughter.


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Mr. Hakam Kanafani
Chief Business Development Officer, Oger Telecom

Hakam Kanafani is the Chief Business Development Officer in charge of
Mergers and acquisitions for Oger Telecom (over 35 million subscribers
under management). He holds a board seat in Cell C (GSM operator in
South Africa), AVEA (GSM operator in Turkey) and TT NET (Broadband
provider in Turkey).

Kanafani is a University Trustee Scholar and holds Beta Gamma Sigma
honors. He graduated from the University of Maryland, college Park with
a B.A. and a B.Sc.. Kanafani holds an MBA and post graduate work in
Economics. He continued his Executive Education work in Harvard
Business School (financial Analysis and Valuation).

Upon graduation, Kanafani joined the Information Technology team,
Goddard Space Flight Center (N.A.S.A.) in Greenbelt, Maryland after a
successful internship. He was then named as the VP Operations for
United Auto Technologies, Orange County, California.

Kanafani then moved to the Middle East as the Business Development
Director in Egypt's oldest running private holding company "MM Sons
Conglomerate" (established 1895). He spearheaded the conglomerate's
efforts to establish a successful, rapidly growing ICT enterprise. In
2000, Kanafani was recruited to for the CEO position for JAWWAL GSM,
Palestine's first cellular network. He was then promoted to the holding
company level as PalTel Group's COO and led the Group's in strategy,
acquisition and financial consolidation.

Kanafani is a founding member of the Dubai based Young Arab Leaders and
held the position of Vice Chairman for a two year term (2004-2006). He
also heads the business development committee for the Cairo based Arab
Business Forum for Information and Communication Technology. He is a
Young Global Leader, an organization within the World Economic Forum in
Geneva, Switzerland.

Kanafani is a popular speaker and panel moderator in conferences around
the MENA region. He was featured in the Independent, Forbes magazine and
other regional periodicals. During his college days, Kanafani was the
President of the Organization of Arab Students and was on the Maryland
Water-polo team. Kanafani is a huge fan of Ahly Football Club in Cairo
and enjoys watching Manchester United beat Chelsea. He is married to
Fatenn Mostafa and is a proud dad of two boys; Marwan and Ahmad.

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Mr. Tamouh Khauli
Vice President Jordan Telecom Group, CEO - Orange Innovation & Corporate Integrated Solutions, the technology incubator of Jordan Telecom Group

Mr. Khauli returned to Jordan after a long career in the United States. During the past 29 years of career work, Mr. Khauli held the position of Senior Vice President of Operations at Novell USA and topped his career achievements with four years working at the USDOD (United States Department of Defense) with concentration on the development of the Class 3 Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
In addition to his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Computer Science from Oxford University, and master’s degree from New York University, Mr. Khauli was certified by Novell as CNE (Certified Network Engineer) in 1990. In 1994 he was awarded his Microsoft CNE certification where he combined it with a third certification from Lucent USA as PSE (Platform Security Engineer).
During his career, Mr. Khauli led several research teams from various foremost companies and universities in the US including the MIT. His research included telecommunication network infrastructure, communication platform security, e-commerce, e-Payment, e-government and other related topics.

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Mr. Sulieman Maani
CEO, Itisaluna

Mr. Maani is the CEO for Itisaluna, Iraqi WLL operator. He comes to Itisaluna with an extensive experience in operations and strategic management of Telecom, IT & Manufacturing companies, with special expertise in managing start-ups and turning around non-profitable operations.
 
His assignment at Itisaluna is to rollout a national WLL operator in Iraq. With Maani’s dedicated efforts, ITISALUNA is due for commercial launch in March of 2008. Upon launch, ITISALUNA will be the 1st national WLL operator, the 1st national CDMA operator, the 1st national 3G operator and the 1st national Wireless ISP in Iraq.
 
Prior to joining Itisaluna, Mr. Maani was the Chief Executive Officer for New Generation Telecommunications Company (Xpress), a Digital Trunking Telecom Operator in Jordan. Xpress later became the first telecom operator in the MENA region to launch full telecommunication services, including Telephony, Dispatch, GPS, Data, and VAS, based on Motorola’s iDEN technology. Through his deep strategic vision, Maani was able to secure a $54Mil financing for Xpress through the Export and Import Bank, in addition to various vendor-financing agreements.
 
Mr. Maani graduated with a Bachelors and Masters degree in Construction Engineering Management from Oregon State University in the US. He then worked as a Planning & Cost Control Engineer at MABCO Construction Company in Saudi Arabia. In 1991, Maani was appointed as the National Division Manager for HOSHAN Group, a multimillion dollar conglomerate of companies in Saudi Arabia specializing in IT, Office Automation and Office Furnishings. Mr. Maani was able to capture a substantial market share with sales increasing from SR4m to SR70m over a 6-year period.
 
In 1999, Mr. Maani returned to Jordan as the Managing Director for Haya Food Industries, Jerusalem, and General Manager for Al-Nemeh Food Industries, Jordan (Siniora). Within 2 years, Mr. Maani lead the efforts of restructuring, rebranding and turning around both non-profitable operations to become one of the largest food processing and distribution companies in the region.
 
Mr. Maani is a resourceful, committed and entrepreneurial leader. He displays integrity and vision, and enjoys a high level of autonomy and responsibility. He is known to be customer centric with a passion for delivering outstanding strategic solutions. He is creative, innovative and results-oriented.

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Dr. Wassef Masri
General Manager, Optimiza Jordan

Wassef Masri has more than 12 years of experience ranging from general management to operations and technology leadership in the IT and telecommunications industries. Dr. Masri was the Chief Information Officer/Deputy CEO at PALTEL (Palestine Telecom), where he played a key role in building the company’s IT infrastructure and data network backbone. He later drove the consolidation of all IT functions across the Paltel Group (Paltel, Jawwal, Hadara and PalMedia) and launched Hulul, the Paltel IT arm, with a capital investment of US $30 million. Prior to PALTEL, Wassef developed extensive experience in delivering state-of-the-art telecom and IT applications worldwide for clients such as Siemens, Philips and LSI. He holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering, an MSc in Computer Engineering, and a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Iowa State University, USA. He also holds an Executive MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

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Mr. Alexander McNabb
Group Account Director

Alexander McNabb is group account director at Spot On Public Relations, based in the agency’s Dubai headquarters with responsibility for the agency’s client services, counsel, management and profitability of the firm’s client account teams across the Middle East. He has worked with information technology media and communications for over 20 years, a career that brought him to the Arabian Gulf for the first time in 1986.

As a co-founder, an editor and then the publishing director of the Middle East's leading technology media house (ITP Ltd), Alexander launched more than 20 publications into that market over a ten-year period and was editor and publisher of leading regional titles such as Arabian Computer News and Comms MEA. He subsequently launched several market-leading publications in the Middle East children's and lifestyle media markets, including the launch of the region’s first retail-tied consumer magazine, Living in the Gulf.

Alexander manages Spot On's large-scale and strategic communications campaigns, and the agency’s key business relationships across the region. Alexander has spent the last nine years developing communications programmes for leading global brands in the Middle East, including Accenture, the Business Software Alliance, Canon, Compaq, IBM, France Telecom, Microsoft and Motorola. In addition to consulting work with a number of Arab governments, he has built strategies and managed national and regional communications campaigns for GSM operators across the region, including license bids, network launches, public affairs and service category launches in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait. Alexander also has an extensive track record working with fixed line operators, regulators and legislators in the region’s telecommunications markets.

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Mr. Russell Merryman
Editor-in-Chief, Web & New Media, Al Jazeera English Channel

Dr. Abdel-Malik Al-Jaber
Russell Merryman brings to Al Jazeera English experience and expertise in broadcast and new media and spearheads the development of the channel’s web, mobile and broadband services.

A broadcast journalist since 1988, he joined BBC News Online in 2000 to work on their fledgling Interactive TV project and managed the development of many interactive applications, including the BBC's 24/7 Video News Interactive service, which launched in November 2001 and won the Royal Television Society Award for Technical Innovation in 2002.

Russell also worked on web, broadband, mobile and interactive television projects for a wide range of BBC programmes including Question Time, Newsnight, Panorama, the 2001 and 2003 election results specials and the 2004 Olympics.

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Mr. Massimo Migliuolo
Vice President Emerging Markets Service Provider, Cisco


Bio Data for Delegation
Massimo Migliuolo is Vice President of the Service Provider business for the Emerging Markets Theatre at Cisco Systems Inc., the worldwide leader in networking, transforming how people connect, communicate and collaborate.

Massimo has led the Service Provider organisation since August 2006, which currently accounts for more than 35% of Cisco’s Emerging Markets business (by segment). Cisco’s Emerging Markets Theatre covers four key regions: Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (RCIS), Latin America (LATAM) and Middle East, Africa (MEA).

Key engagements for Cisco include advising country and service provider leaders about their Information and Communication technology (ICT) and broadband strategy, enabling the built-out of Digital Cities across the Middle East, in addition to the creation of a Public and Safety Virtual Service Provider (VSP) in Latin America.

Recognised as an innovator and thought leader in Cisco, Massimo is focused on creating new business models and developing new solutions to help Service Providers, as well as Governments, continue their transformational broadband build-out in the Emerging Markets. In particular, Massimo is leading Cisco’s vision of a Virtual Service Provider (VSP), enabled through his passion for and knowledge of linking market segments to create greater opportunity for Cisco’s customers.

Previously, Massimo was responsible for developing Cisco’s global mobile strategy and implementing the company’s vision for mobile Service Providers. Under Massimo’s leadership, Cisco’s mobility business tripled and his team enabled Cisco’s sales force with revenue-generating and cost-reducing solutions to accelerate growth. Massimo also focused on creating new markets and business models to continuously generate value in the form of new services to end-users. Massimo was able to significantly drive growth for Cisco by brokering key mobile alliances and partnerships to help scale the business.

Massimo joined Cisco eight years ago from Lucent Technologies and previously worked at AT&T, where he was engaged in the development of their mobile market.

Having graduated from the Bocconi University in Milan, with a degree in Business Economics, Massimo spent three years in the Oil Industry, before joining the telecommunications industry.

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Mr. Yousef Mugharbil
President Rotana, Digital Entertainment


Graduated in 1988 from the University of Denver in Colorado, USA majoring in Electrical Engineering. With over 19 years of international & regional experience starting in 1988 working for Fortune 500 companies which included StorageTek (USA), AT&T Bell Laboratories (USA), Lucent Technologies (USA, EMEA) and joining Etisalat-UAE for three and a half years upon leaving Lucent Technologies in November 2002; while currently engaged with Rotana, the world’s largest Arabic content company in leading its global activities of Digital Media and IP Entertainment.

Initially engaged in engineering designing high-speed Integrated Circuits (ICs) developing one of the world’s fastest data archival systems at StorageTek. Later joining AT&T Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff working on communication circuits in the Advanced Technology laboratory and later on, joining Lucent Technologies (due to company split) in the Global Commercial Markets and subsequently in the Optical Networking Group. Internationally, the work assignments included working in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the UAE engaging with key customers and global telecom operators. Departed from Lucent Technologies in November 2002, with the position of Director for Technical & Market Development responsible for the Optical Networking Group activities in the MEA region overseeing region strategy, market & business development and offer development, to take on an Executive position at Etisalat. At Etisalat engaged in leading the development and implementation of the corporation’s overall Corporate Strategy for the domestic and international divisions reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer. In addition, was involved in shaping the strategy of Etisalat International to oversee its international mergers & acquisition activities and ensure its alignment with the overall Corporate Strategy with direct accountability to the CEO of Etisalat International. Leaving Etisalat in March 2006 to take on a leading Executive position with Rotana Group to oversee the global convergence of Media & Telecom and assume the responsibility of transitioning the company into the digital world.

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Mr. Saad Nasir
CEO, Zain - Jordan

Saad Nasir comes to Zain with an extensive experience and vast knowledge of the Telecommunications sector. From the onset of his career Nasir has held key positions in Information Technology companies as well as Telecommunications companies.

Prior to joining Zain, Saad Nasir held the position of Chief Commercial Officer at MTC Touch, Lebanon (May 2004–May 2006). During his tenure, the company underwent an effective re-branding process and the operations revamped to cater to a larger customer base.

Nasir, who had been a Senior Consultant with the Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) Kuwait since the beginning of 2004, worked with the MTC team on the preparation for the second GSM license operator in Saudi Arabia.

After graduating with an engineering degree in Computer & Control Systems in 1980 from Coventry University in the UK, Nasir started as a Hardware and Data Communications Engineer with Rakan International Enterprises in Kuwait. He then got promoted to Computer Division Manager responsible for selling and supporting IT solutions for Kuwaiti and Iraqi markets.

Nasir then went on to working as a Senior Sales Executive, selling IT solutions to governmental and institutional clients with International Turnkey Systems (ITS). In 1991, he joined Diyar United Company in Jordan as the Assistant General Manager and Sales and Marketing Manager for the Jordanian Market. Two years later, he moved to Canada working for Westinghouse Security Electronics, and then for Zed Data Systems as a Regional Manager for Ontario & Quebec.

In 1997, Nasir returned to the region and ITS as Assistant General Manager and Regional Manager for Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Saad Nasir holds an MBA degree from the University of Bradford in the UK

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Mr Nael Salah
Managing Director and Founder, ESKADENIA Software.

Nael Salah, Managing Director and Founder, has an extensive experience in the Telecommunications and Information Technology fields, working for the national telecommunication service provider in the United Arab Emirates, Ericsson of Sweden, and ESKADENIA Software.

The work responsibilities at Ericsson included experience in System Design, Product Management, Marketing and General Management. He assumed several managerial positions including four years as Vice President and Executive Vice President at Ericsson China, Director and Vice President of the Corporate LM Ericsson and Head of the Corporate Ericsson Regional Office in the Middle East.

The past seven years have been invested in establishing and managing ESKADENIA Software, which has become a leading product and export-oriented software house, with special focus on providing telecommunications, enterprise and internet IT solutions to the European, Middle Eastern, American and African markets.

Mr. Salah has a Bachelor degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Liverpool, England.

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Mr. Osman Sultan
Chief Executive Officer, du

Osman Sultan has been appointed CEO of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, du, starting 1st of January 2006, after spending eight years at the helm of the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil), a company he helped set up in 1998 to bid for and operate a GSM licence in Egypt.

From 2003 to 2005 he was chairing the Arab Working Group for the Private Sector in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

His vast experience includes managing operations in several countries in Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Mr Sultan joined the France Telecom Group in 1983 and for the next 11 years worked in management positions in sales, marketing and customer services activities in one of France Telecom’s subsidiaries that specialised in electronic information services.

In 1994 he was actively involved in the acquisition of a US based operations and was appointed Vice President for Worldwide marketing & sales for the new company. In this capacity he was in charge of the merger of two companies in the USA and Europe. He also managed operations in Paris, Washington, London, Frankfurt and Sydney and the set up of a large distribution network in more than 20 countries in Europe, South America, the Middle East, Asia and Japan.

In 1995, he was appointed President of a US based subsidiary, Questel.Orbit Inc., with a goal of developing a growing business of professional Online Services.

In 1996 Mr Sultan received the award for The Best Web Site-Legal Product from the American Information Association and later received the Man of the Year award (1996) from the Professional Electronic Information Services Community in France.

Osman Sultan holds a Degree in Engineering and has addressed several conferences on Telecommunications and Electronic Information Services, Mobile Telecom and the Internet in the Middle East (Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE), Japan, the USA and Europe.

In 1997, Osman Sultan joined France Telecom Mobiles International (FTMI) as Vice President for Business Development in charge of the Middle East and the Arab World.

That same year he was in charge of putting together the MobiNil consortium bid for a GSM license in Egypt. The consortium succeeded in acquiring 68% of Egyptian Company for Mobile Services.

 
  Mr.Yagoub Al Sulais




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Dr. Samer Taha
General Manager,
Waseela for Integrated Telecommunications Company

Samer Taha received his Ph.D. degree from the Pennsylvania State University in Electrical Engineering in 2001 with distinguished performance. Between 1999 and 2001 he was a member of the Center for Information and Communication Technology Research, Pennsylvania, USA (www.cictr.ee.psu.edu) where his research work focused on QoS issues in next generation wireless networks. At the same time, between 2000 and 2001 he worked as a consultant for Ameritech (Southwestern Bell now) to evaluate next generation networking technologies, such as DiffServ, MPLS, and MPOA. In 2001 he joined Intel Corporation R&D department (www.intel.com) in Oregon, USA and he stayed with Intel till beginning of 2006. While at Intel he was involved in architecting solutions for advanced telecommunications R&D initiatives including wireless mesh, high-throughput WiFi, cross-layer optimization over wireless systems, and QoS enhancements for Mobile WiMAX. He also managed a team of R&D engineers working on the WiMAX Industry Enabling Program that included driving the WiMAX certification specifications at the WiMAX Forum, joint research collaboration with other WiMAX vendors, and supporting WiMAX trials with leading operators. At the beginning of 2006 he joined the startup team of du (Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, www.du.ae) in UAE to establish the Broadband Wireless department and lead du’s broadband wireless strategy and roadmap. While heading the broadband wireless department at du he designed and managed the implementation of du’s Public WiFi Network (most feature-rich in the region), du’s Pre-WiMAX Network, and three WiMAX Trial Networks. In addition, he designed du’s Nationwide WiMAX Network and architected its broadband wireless strategy. In October 2007, he was elected by the board members of Waseela for Integrated Telecommunications Company as the General Manager; Waseela is a regional system integrator specialized in advanced wireless technologies based in Amman – Jordan (www.waseela-net.com).

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Mr. Mikkel Vinter
CEO FRiENDi mobile

Mikkel Vinter is CEO of FRiENDi mobile based in Dubai Internet City in UAE, currently in the process of rolling out a pan-regional MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) company in the MENA region.
Mikkel has held a number of senior positions in the telecommunications industry over the last 15 years. The last 4 years have been in the MENA region, and prior to joining FRiENDi mobile Mikkel held the position as Chief Commercial Officer for second GSM operator Nawras in Oman, where he spearheaded all commercial activities for this highly successful new operator launched in March 2005.
Before moving to this region, Mikkel has worked for leading international mobile operators in Scandinavia, Western Europe and Asia, where he has held senior management roles for successful market-leader as well as start-up organisations.

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