Vinod Sharma (www.vinod.i8.com)( )Experienced – Value Added Services (Telecommunication) Professional

Dealing Room Technology Conference 25‐ 27 Sept‐2012

Johannesburg – South Africa

Vinod SharmaE‐Mail – vinod.vins@gmail.comMobile ‐ +254 – 731 – 707 – 707Current Location : Nairobi ‐ Kenya

W k E iWork ExperienceSr. Tech Lead : Comviva Technologies Ltd (Work Location : Kenya) – Since July - 2011Customer Facing Role as Hub Lead for East & Southern Africa for Airtel Africa MS VAS Operations

• Sr. Vas Consultant – Axis Indonesia (3G Operator) Project - (Work Location : Indonesia)–Sr. Vas Consultant Axis Indonesia (3G Operator) Project (Work Location : Indonesia)Tech Mahindra Ltd (March-2008 to June 2011)

• Project Deployment / Management for new VAS System & Solution Design and Architecture Work Area -: Huawei IN, EVC ,Fundamo Mobile Money , Acision SMSC , Syniverse USSD

• Tech Lead – British Telecom Project – HCL Technologies Ltd (Feb-2007 to Feb 2008)j g ( )• Team & Technical Escalation Management , New Product Solution/Architecture Review, Vendor Management.

• Tech Lead – Linksys(Cisco )Project – vCustomer Services (Nov-2002 to Sept 2006)New Products Review & Testing , Handling L3 Issues for Cisco Wireless Network Devices

• Certification : MCP , MCSE, CCNA,CCNP,ITIL,Price2• Trainings : NSN-SADM , WAPGW , MMSC, IBM-F5 , PMP• Highest Qualification : Masters of Computer Applications -MCA• Traveled To : England, Scotland, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Tanzania , g , , , g p , y , , g , ,Kenya, Malawi , South Africa & Madagascar

Panel: Exploring the options for partnering with service providers•Which stakeholders are better positioned to lead in connectivity improvements

h h b l f l d b•Choosing the correct partners, reputation, capability, functionality and business•Managing your strategic partners, how to get the most out of telecom service providers•Building your infrastructure to cope with the future demand for both capacity and speed•Thinking out of the box Options for improved broadband identifying alternative solutions•Thinking out of the box - Options for improved broadband, identifying alternative solutions•The telecoms industry, vision for 2013 and beyond, challenges to overcome

Exploring The Options For Partnering With Service ProvidersPartnering With Service Providers

There is a scramble to roll out both 3G networks that can support mobile broadband and 4Gradio technologies such as WiMAX According to the WiMAX Forum Africa was the world’sradio technologies such as WiMAX. According to the WiMAX Forum, Africa was the world smost active region with 101 deployments in July 2009, 21% of the global total.

All this is encouraged by the arrival on the East African coast the TEAMS fibre optic cableg y pand SEACOM, which have brought a dramatic drop in the price of connectivity. “Effectively,the market has already got prices now which were a tenth of the price they were before.The key issue is whether people pass that onto the retail customers.

Network to prepare for the arrival of SEACOM and TEAMS and has bought 2.5Gb of spaceon each cable.

The cables are already reaching inland into Rwanda and Tanzania, but the bigger operatorsare still investing in more and linking Madagascar, Mauritius and La Reunion to high-speedinternational networks.

Fibre optic presents new challenges for Africa’s satellite providers but mobile operators arenot abandoning satellite entirely.

Strategic alliances are a quick way to help a small business grow beyond its known sphere.They are usually formed so that you can:y y y

Gain access to new markets.Develop new products or skills.Respond to changing markets quickly.Reduce risks and costs.

You are dead wrong if you assume other people are as high energy and as ready "to doh t it t k t t th j b d " I i it' t t twhatever it takes to get the job done" as you are. In my experience, it's smart to get

references from people who have worked with the potential strategic partner.

Once you've identified a possible partner -- one you think fits a profile of what could beOnce you ve identified a possible partner one you think fits a profile of what could besuccessful -- it's also wise to ask yourself the hard Question:

Could I get someone even better?

Don't sell yourself short or "settle." If you do, you're going to be spending a lot of time andenergy holding up your end of the relationship. If you have a big-name strategic partnerthat doesn't live up to promises of bringing in customers or making managers available tothe alliance you may find yourself in a bind Take time to make sure you are choosingthe alliance, you may find yourself in a bind. Take time to make sure you are choosingwisely.

Think transformational rather than transactional : We should approach our strategicpartners in a transformational manner. This results in a team approach to mutual benefits.p ppThis includes payment terms, quality and performance issues.

Tweak your communications strategy.: You likely won't change their business processes,b t ti t k th d t k it i f th t d l ithbut you can sometimes tweak your own methods to make it easier for them to deal with you.Contact them and say, "I respect what you are doing and see opportunities for a beneficiallong term relationship. What can I do on my end to ensure we help you save time and bemore profitable.

Don't try to change your partners: Always strive to understand the psychological andpractical implications of working with one partner vs. another. You should never try to changeyour partners to be more like you this will fail and frustrate everyone involvedyour partners to be more like you—this will fail and frustrate everyone involved.

Be clear about expectations and accountability: When structuring a strategicpartnership, always build in a communication system (conference call 1x per week, face topartnership, always build in a communication system (conference call 1x per week, face toface quarterly) and accountability system (results reviewed and expectations adjusted.) Theemployee you work with at the partner company may not always be there, so make sure yourexpectations and accountability is in a written document

C lt tt Y t t t h lt ith t i iti WhCulture matters: You want to match your culture with partners or acquisitions. When youboth share the same mindset for quality and speed, it sets a consistent bar for the rightshared metrics or scorecards. Do seek out thought leaders who are different because Icould be left behind from an innovation standpoint if I surround myself with only those inmy industry.

Determine value vs. cost: When working with strategic partners that slow down theprocess because of red tape the key is patience It can be frustrating but you have toprocess because of red tape, the key is patience. It can be frustrating, but you have toweigh that against the opportunity the partnership provides. Is it worth it? That is aquestion only you can answer for your personal business needs. Just like every otherbusiness decision: The value vs. the cost.

The challenges are worth the benefit: Teaming with a larger, established strategicpartner has many benefits. It also has its challenges, like longer time frames to makedecisions or to get paid Three things to keep in mind: 1 They give you leverage anddecisions or to get paid. Three things to keep in mind: 1. They give you leverage andcredibility; 2. Clearly understand and provide solutions to their needs; 3. You need to bepatient, but once you're "in" and do a great job, you'll get more business opportunities.

When planning for infrastructureWhen planning for infrastructureConsideration should be made for future growth ie it should be scalable enough tohandle new traffic/demandScalability is another main feature for example , IP design. One of the barriers forScalability is another main feature for example , IP design. One of the barriers forfurther scalability is the shortage of address room in the current IP version 4 (IPv4)systems. As planning is done IP version 6 (IPv6), should be a key consideration forfuture as address shortage is address in IPV6.Fib ti h l it t hi h d i l l di tFiber optics have a large capacity to carry high speed signals over longer distanceswithout repeaters than other types of cables.Build or buy also needs further Consideration on Partner with , Outsourcing and Pay asyou techniquesy q

Broadband availability in Africa has been a major issue for both business and personalaccess to the cloud Fortunately African bandwidth has improved dramatically over the pastaccess to the cloud. Fortunately, African bandwidth has improved dramatically over the pastfew years—especially for businesses looking to connect to cloud resources elsewhere in theworld.

In many ways, Africa’s lack of wired infrastructure has been an advantage for cloudadoption. Broad adoption of mobile application services in Africa is already the norm, andadoption of some types of mobile applications For example, Safaricom’s M-PESA mobilepayment system, which allows customers to transfer money to each other via mobilepayment system, which allows customers to transfer money to each other via mobilephones, has largely replaced cash transactions in Keny. According to a report from KPMGInternational—that’s over 40 percent of Kenya's adult population. Because of the wide-scaleuse of M-PESA, the majority of banks in Kenya have also signed on with the service.

Non-governmental organizations. and development agencies are also embracing the mobilecloud as a tool for aiding economic and social development in Africa One of the most visibleof these efforts is Apps4Africa, an ongoing series of development challenges sponsored inof these efforts is Apps4Africa, an ongoing series of development challenges sponsored inpart by the US State Department. Past winners include a grain supply management systemthat tracks grain production across Tanzania. 2010’s winner was a mobile social networkand livestock information system called iCow, now has 11,000 Kenyan farmers using it.

From just standalone voice and data communication, the industry has over the past few yearsj , y p yevolved to provide communication backbone for multimedia - voice, data, image and video. Todo so the initial battle between, wired (copper and optical) and wireless (multipletechnologies), cable has now become a driver for convergence and coexistence.

In the future, the business will be driven by the value that is available through seamlessconnectivity. It is very likely that connectivity will be taken for granted in fact like anycommodity could become free (see the cost of voice communication going southward).Different industries like entertainment ( mobile access to movies, music and games), financialinstitutions (secure and mobile access to money transactions, shares), manufacturing(seamless access to the supply chain) would drive telecom technologies and solutions. Therequirement of seamless access would vary from very small distances (the tele part ofrequirement of seamless access would vary from very small distances (the tele part oftelecommunication) to across the globe would be another driver. So these are exciting timesfor any one who can create innovative that provide tangible benefits to the end user who nowhas access to varied options of multi media connectivity.

Strong focus of QoS (Quality of Service) and QoE (Quality of Experience) [Ask for moredetailed document on QoS and QoE from me in separate forum] from business prospective togain new & top-up customers , up selling and increase to increase your market shareg p p , p g y

The future of the industry is simple. Look at what has happened over the last say 2 years.We have had an outstanding amount of devices and apps directed towards being able toconnect with others . But going deeper in to that will have to say that the future will not bein just cell phones or BB's or the iphone, We have to look deeper into it, think of a worldin just cell phones or BB s or the iphone, We have to look deeper into it, think of a worldwith readers, tablets etc , but at the same time being able to still connect our every day lifeinto these devices .The industry is evolving and a wind of change is coming too.

A foreseeable challenge & risk are on continues path as rise of wireless — it’s hard toimagine a world in 10 years that isn’t almost 100 percent wireless. If that’s the case,wireless carriers in Africa must be prepared to deal with a number of challenges, including alack of currently available spectrum and acquiring the investments that must be made tolack of currently available spectrum and acquiring the investments that must be made toupgrade to the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards (4G). Many of the changeswe’ll see in the future may relate to how people use wireless in areas like health care, retailand automotive. For telecom carriers, that may present a powerful opportunity to exploreother services that will provide long-term new business models and revenue sourcesother services that will provide long-term new business models and revenue sources.Examples include the development of data management, as well as security, privacy orcloud services. In 2013, as 4G expands, it will be exciting to see how carriers respond andhow these higher-value service models unfold.

Too much stress and pressure to shift the business model from minutes to bytep yAs value shifts from minutes(usage) to volumes(Bytes) of data, operators business need to moveaway from old strategies which focus on customer retention. Instead of Concentrating onfighting churn rates, operators need to target revenues from new vas services that tap into risingdemand and control a wider array of charging models to monetize (Give Legal Value) thesey g g ( g )services.

Lack of confidence in return on investmentIt is very much visible / clear that tight capex control can limit operators ability to grow newIt is very much visible / clear that tight capex control can limit operators ability to grow newservices quickly. So they need to maintain their commitment to investing in growth opportunities,while tracking technology and consumer developments closely to ensure they target theirfinancial investments at the right areas at the right time

Partial/Incomplete information to turn demand into numbersProfitable Customer propositions and Improve time-to-market for new services; operators needaccurate, timely and complete business intelligence (BI Projects and IT Projects should be treatedseparately as they are very different [Ask for Detailed discussion in separate forum] andcustomer analytics, underpinned by aligned and integrated operational support and modernbilling systems[IN or OCS]. These elements pave the way for efficient growth by enablingoperators to produce better business intelligence for decision-making, helping them understand

t h b f th i tit d ll i th t t k d t icustomer changes before their competitors, and allowing them to reuse network data incollaborative partnerships. Better information can also help operators reduce operational costsand ensure regulatory compliance.

Lack of regulatory certainly on new market structureg y yFor operators to form workable stances on a range of issues, including the increasing relationshipbetween fixed and mobile policies they needs to be clear over ambiguity over regulators’ approachesto new market structures is undermining their willingness to invest. It is increasingly crucial forgovernments and regulators to adopt pro-investment policies to sustain the sector’s momentum and.governments and regulators to adopt pro investment policies to sustain the sector s momentum and.At the same time, all these groups must work together to achieve greater clarity over regulatoryapproaches. The metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) that operators use to manage theiroperations internally and communicate their performance and prospects externally have not keptpace with the shift in business models from minutes to bytes. Many internal metrics are still service-pace with the shift in business models from minutes to bytes. Many internal metrics are still serviceand network-oriented, and do not provide enough granularity to improve the customer experience.Also, commonly used external metrics such as average revenue per user (ARPU) fail to give investorsa full picture. Operators urgently need to define a new and different set of metrics that puts thecustomer first and leads tocustomer first and leads to

Challenges to define new business metrics / new servicesControlling the costs of their network and technology platforms.Developing collaborative business models to share costs and drive new capabilities.Driving innovation and developing new and distinctive customer value propositions.

http://www.itp.netp // phttp://www.starafrica.com/en/news/detail-news/viewhttp://www.ntia.doc.gov/legacy/reports/telemed/telecom.htmhttp://www.openforum.comhttp://www.openforum.comhttp://www.inc.com/articles/1999/11/19511.htmlhttp://arstechnica.com/businesshttp://www.booz.com/global/home/what we do/industries/telecommunicationshttp://www.booz.com/global/home/what_we_do/industries/telecommunicationshttp://www.ictregulationtoolkit.orghttp://www.doc.ic.ac.uk

Thank You