Agenda
Please find a final copy of the conference programme below. For any questions, please contact Heather Stewart on spectrummena@forum-global.com or +44 (0) 2920 783 027.
Thursday 11 December, 2014
Morning
08:00 – 08:30
Coffee and Registration
08:30 – 08:35
Introduction from Conference Rapporteur
Mark Colville,
Principal,
Analysys Mason
08:35 – 08:50
Keynote Presentation - Conference Priorities Ahead of WRC-15
Francois Rancy,
Director, Radiocommunication Bureau,
ITU
08:50 – 09:05
Keynote Presentation - WRC-15: The Regional Perspective
Tariq Al Awadhi,
Chairman,
Arab Spectrum Management Group
09:05 – 09:20
Keynote Presentation - WRC-15: A neighbouring country's perspective
Syed Ismail Shah,
Chairman,
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)
09:20 – 10:30
Session 1: WRC-15: What are the key agenda items for the MENA region, and how can it be ensured that the needs of spectrum users in the region are fully represented and protected?
WRC-15 is considered by many to be the most important for many years, with many crucial spectrum and band plan issues up for discussion in prime spectrum bands. The MENA region (along with the rest of the world) is currently seeing exponential growth in demand for wireless broadband, and finding the spectrum capacity t… Show more
Daniel Hamadeh,
Director, Spectrum Policy and Regulatory Affairs Middle East and North Africa,
Motorola Solutions
David Hartshorn,
Secretary General,
Global VSAT Forum (GVF)
Fabien Migneret,
Senior Manager, Government Affairs Middle East North Africa,
Qualcomm
Peter Lyons,
Director of Middle East and North Africa,
GSMA
Said Aljane,
General Director,
Topnet and Consultant, Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU)
10:30 – 10:50
Morning Coffee
10:50 – 12:20
Session 2: Unlocking the potential of the digital dividend bands – analogue switch-off and future band plan strategies
Most of the Arab countries from GCC have planned an analogue switch-off of the analogue television and a reshuffling of the digital broadcast channels by 2015. This means that with the decision at WRC-12 for the allocation of 700MHz band for mobile services in region 1, come 2015, the region will be implementing two se… Show more
Moderator:
Amit Nagpal,
Partner,
Aetha Consulting
10:50 – 11:05
A roadmap for the MENA region to ensure a smooth digital transition
Tim Miller,
Director,
Plum Consulting
11:05 – 11:20
CASE STUDY: The Analogue Switch-off
Laith Hamad,
Convener,
The UAE Communications and Media Industry Group (UCMIG)
11:20 – 11:35
Bandplan strategies and priorities across the 700 and 800 MHz bands - a regulatory perspective
Abdoulkarim Soumaila,
Secretary General,
African Telecommunication Union (ATU)
11:35 – 11:50
Bandplan strategies and priorities across the 700 and 800 MHz bands
Shiv Bakhshi,
Vice President, Industry Relations,
Ericsson
11:50 – 12:20
Discussion with session speakers
Afternoon
12:20 – 13:20
Lunch
13:20 – 14:50
Session 3: Meeting the growing demand for wireless broadband – technological and regulatory solutions
Driven by increasingly data-savvy consumers across the region and the significant growth of Arabic-language content and applications, demand for wireless broadband in the Arab world is growing nearly twice as fast as it is in other regions. Video content in the region now represents more than 50% of the total data traf… Show more
13:20 – 13:35
Future Spectrum Demand
Mohammad Sadeq,
Spectrum Affairs Manager,
CRA Qatar
13:35 – 13:50
C-Band ecosystem development for IMT Heterogeneous Networks
Göran Berntson,
Secretary General, 3.5GHz Interest Group; and Director, TDD Industry Development,
Huawei
13:50 – 14:05
How much of a part can spectrum sharing play in increasing efficiency?
Fabien Migneret,
Senior Manager, Government Affairs Middle East North Africa,
Qualcomm
14:05 – 14:20
SDL for the LBand – An opportunity for innovative mobile broadband services the MENA Region
George Salama,
Senior Manager, Public Policy,
SAMENA Telecommunications Council
14:20 – 14:50
Discussion with session speakers
14:50 – 15:10
Afternoon Refreshments
15:10 – 17:00
Session 4: Best practice for spectrum awards
Market mechanisms, such as auctions, trading and incentive pricing, are increasingly used by regulators around the world to promote efficient use of spectrum. To date, however, use of such mechanisms in the MENA region has been relatively limited. For example, some regulators in the region considered using auctions for… Show more
15:10 – 15:25
Spectrum allocation mechanisms and delivering mobile broadband policy objectives in MENA region
Soren Sorensen,
Senior Consultant,
NERA Economic Consulting
15:25 – 15:40
The cost of spectrum auction distortions
Stefan Zehle,
CEO,
Coleago
15:40 – 16:05
Can you remove complexity from spectrum auctions?
Simon Edkins,
Senior Economist,
Copenhagen Economics
16:05 – 16:20
Presentation - the regulatory perspective
Sultan Al Balooshi,
Engineer - Spectrum Policy,
TRA, UAE
16:20 – 16:35
Best practice for spectrum awards and valuations - an industry perspective
Frédéric Bonnin,
Deputy Director, Group Spectrum Office,
Orange
16:35 – 17:00
Discussion with session speakers
17:00 – 17:20
The Last Word! - Final Summaries and Conclusions Ahead of WRC-15
Led by the conference rapporteur, this wrap up session will look at the day's discussions in the context of WRC-15, and at what conclusions can be drawn as we move towards finalising the common regional positions and priorities.
Mark Colville,
Principal,
Analysys Mason
Tariq Al Awadhi,
Chairman,
Arab Spectrum Management Group

Logistics
When
Thursday 11 December, 2014
09.00 to 17.00
AST
Where
Al Nahda School Street
Airport Road
Doha
Qatar
Tel: +974 4402 3333
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