Telecom regulatory leaders meet in Dubai to assess frameworks for stimulating investment and growth

April 22, 2013 - PRLog -- Dubai, April 22, 2013 – Regional telecom regulation leaders, executives and financiers are meeting in Dubai on April 23-24 at the annual TMT Finance Middle East & North Africa 2013 (www.tmtfinance.com/mena) conference to discuss how new frameworks can stimulate growth in the communications sector.

The conference, now in its seventh year, features 10 leadership panels on telecom strategy and investment across two days, and attracts executives from across the region. Peter Lyons, Director of Public Policy, Africa & Middle East, GSMA, will chair the Policy and Regulation Round Table session on April 24, which features leaders from TRA Lebanon, NTRA Egypt, Etisalat, Ericsson and leading international law firm Dentons.  

Key areas for discussion on the Policy and Regulation Panel include: new regional licence opportunities for 3G and 4G spectrum and MVNOs; network ownership and infrastructure sharing; regulating data centric business models; incentivising foreign investment and consolidation, and stimulating competition and innovation.

“Telecom regulation is especially important in the Middle East and North Africa region where new policies are needed to stimulate more competition and growth,” said Dominic Lowndes, Managing Director, TMT Finance, the event organisers. “Issuing new 3 and 4G spectrum licences is critical to meet the demand for mobile broadband services, while new infrastructure sharing and consolidation frameworks are needed to support further investment by telecom operators. New market entry points, such as the MVNO licence auctions taking place in Saudi Arabia, will also help growth.”

The Network Consolidation and Infrastructure Sharing panel also forms a key session at the conference. The panel, which is chaired by leading law firm Clifford Chance, features chief executives from leading mobile infrastructure operators IHS Africa, Eaton Towers and Tasc Towers and investors Alcazar Capital.

Over 200 delegates are expected to attend the conference again this year including speakers from Vodafone Egypt, Emirates Investment Authority, Roshan Telecom, Du, Saudi Telecom (STC), Etisalat, Ooredoo, Barclays Capital, Morgan Stanley, Standard Bank, UBS, Noor Telecom, Analysys Mason, Gulf Investment Corporation, NTRA Egypt, Eaton Towers, Alcazar Capital, Intel, Ericsson, GSMA, PwC, Booz & Company, Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Xona Partners, Capital MSL, TRA Lebanon, Nokia Siemens Networks, Google, Yahoo!, iMENA, MEVP,  Neostratus, Orixcom and others.

The conference takes place at Mina A’ Salam Resort Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai and includes the TMT Finance Awards Dinner.

For more information on the programme and speakers http://www.tmtfinance.com/mena/programme

Register to attend at http://tmtfinance.com/mena/register/