decisive coverage of telecommunications strategy sailing

2015 Barcelona Mobile World Congress Special Feature

Decisive coverage of telecommunications strategy

Sailing forward, together

june 2012 1

Zain Group - SailinG Forward, toGether

ContentSRising above 2

2014 represented a start of a new era for Zain group’s operational and commercial activities as the company’s group chairman, asaad al Banwan, said Zain exhibited a strong commitment to the latest technologies and services through the upgrade and expansion of its networks, which served 44.3 million customers at the end of the year

Controlled progress 4

scott gegenheimer has been Zain group ceo for just over two years now, and in that time has come to know and understand the business intimately. What he and his executive management team are now in the process of doing is taking the learnings of the last couple of years and implementing a strategic transformation of Zain group

Community stalwart 8

Zain has established a deep relationship with the middle east and africa that extends beyond the businesses it conducts, and it remains very proud of this fact. as the company continues to evolve and grow, Zain’s organisational ambitions become even more deeply embedded in its operating markets

Dedicated approach 14

Zain group’s overall twelve-month performance to the end of 2014 was materially affected by currency translation impacts, and social instability in a number of its countries of operation, though Zain is being pro-active in developing strategies to mitigate these negative impacts and continue growing

2 4

8Remaining relevant 18

for a number of years now, Zain group has been saying how it is looking to evolve from being a mobile operator to becoming an integrated digital lifestyle telecommunications provider that also has a strong enterprise sector focus. in 2014 the company took this vision further by detailing a five-year transformation agenda, aimed at generating incremental revenue streams and reinvigorating the company’s outlook

Shared vision 22

innovation and technology leadership have been a part of Zain group’s identity since it began offering telecom services over 30 years ago

Zain Group participated in the 2015 eFG Sailing Arabian - The Tour (SATT) competition, and partnered with global technology provider Huawei and global law firm Clifford Chance

Published by Contact [email protected] or call +971 50 378 8796

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There is no denying that the telecom sector globally is becoming more challeng-ing to navigate, and in the Middle East in particular,

macro and micro, economic and social factors add additional pressures to operators’ abilities to grow and deliver positive results. Despite this backdrop, Zain performed satisfactorily even in the face of overwhelming odds such as those found in Iraq, where several million people were displaced and a significant portion of the network suffered from interrupted function-ality during the course of 2014.

“Zain’s ability to manage and maintain a competitive edge within its markets

allowed the company to navigate the year constructively and continue to innovate, providing for our custom-ers’ needs and aspirations,” said Zain Group Chairman, Asaad Al Banwan.

Zain Group continues to invest signifi-cantly in its infrastructure, and during the course of 2014 launched state-of-the-art networks, while remaining focused on the rollout of new products and services to maintain the loyalty of its customer base. Capital expenditure (CAPEX) for the year stood at KD209 million (US$730 million), representing 17 per cent of revenues. Additionally, in Saudi Arabia the management there oversaw the investment of US$211 million in CAPEX in 2014, while the

Group also committed to invest US$307 million in Iraq as a licence fee for 3G spectrum, and a further US$270 mil-lion licence fee for 4G LTE and ad-ditional 3G frequencies in Jordan.

“Throughout 2014, Zain Group was agile in implementing and offering the latest technologies and services to our customers, exploiting developments in the industry. Given the ever-growing adoption of smartphones and tablets along with data services, competition has become more aggressive than ever,” Al Banwan commented. “Industry competition last year was so intensive that Zain operating companies had to become more inventive in the launch of marketing campaigns and bundles

2014 represented a start of a new era for Zain Group’s operational and commercial activities as the company exhibited a strong commitment to the latest technologies and services through the upgrade and expansion of its networks, which served 44.3 million customers at the end of the year. With the launch of 3.9G services in Iraq at the turn of the New Year and the introduction of 4G services in Jordan, Zain is confident 2015 will be the year it make the most significant progress to date towards its digital lifestyle provider aspirations

RiSing aBove

Zain Group Chairman, asaad al Banwan said Zain performed satisfactorily in 2014 despite challenging macro and micro, economic and social factors

Zain’s ability to manage and maintain a competitive edge within its markets allowed the company to navigate the year constructively and continue to innovate

june 2012 3


exceptional growth rates in due course.One of the biggest growth opportuni-

ties within the Zain Group for 2015 and beyond is in Iraq, given the pent-up demand for mobile broadband ser-vices in the country, and the launch of 3.9G services by Zain for the first time in the country at the start of 2015.

“To maintain our dominant market position in our countries of opera-tion, Zain relies on several key ele-ments; namely, efficiency and quality in everything we offer and do, and we expect such an approach to serve us well going forward,” Al Banwan said.

for voice and data offerings, while the Group leveraged the benefits of its people, brand, networks, synergies, and regional experience to excel.”

Making sure its networks are able to cope with the rise in the consump-tion of mobile digital content, Zain has been successful in the deployment of 4G LTE services across a number of its markets, with revenues from non-voice services (excluding SMS and value added services) witness-ing growth of 13 per cent during the course of 2014, representing 16 per cent of total revenues for the year.

4G LTE services are deeply en-trenched and popular in Zain op-erations in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, justifying the company’s large and continual investments in those respec-tive networks. Zain Group’s opera-tions in Jordan and Lebanon are still at early stages of their deployment of the high-speed service, however, the company expects them to also witness

In Iraq, where Zain recently celebrated its 10th year of operation, the company expects substantial growth from data services given the launch of 3.9G at the beginning of 2015

Zain Group also strongly believes that success in business continuity stems from the capability to actively react and deal with developments and changes. Through its ability to look beyond the business operations and into the eyes and lives of the communities it serves, Zain managed to maintain its position as a leader in sustainability and corpo-rate responsibility. Creating loyal part-nerships with different stakeholders in its various communities, Zain adopted a clear stand in 2014 in terms of support-ing business continuity and assuming a dynamic role in social responsibility.

Throughout 2014, Zain group was agile in implementing and offering the latest technologies and services to our customers, exploiting developments in the industry. given the ever-growing adoption of smartphones and tablets along with data services, competition has become more aggressive than ever

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Zain Group Ceo, Scott Gegenheimer says Zain is focused on improving the way it serves its customers, and is keen to monitor and benchmark how well its customer touch points are performing

Controlled progressScott Gegenheimer has been Zain Group CEO for just over two years now, and in that time has come to know and understand the business intimately. What he and his executive management team are now in the process of doing is taking the learnings of the last couple of years and implementing a strategic transformation of Zain Group centred on driving operational efficiencies, exploring new growth opportunities, enhancing the customer experience, and developing and retaining talent

Part of Zain Group’s success over the decades has been in being able to overcome challenges, and

so Scott Gegenheimer and his man-agement team remain confident this is precisely what they will be able to do, and there are already positive signs in the business to support that outlook.

Zain’s 4G network in Kuwait has con-tinued to deliver on the promise of the offer of new and compelling services, and the flagship operation witnessed growth in all its key financial indicators during 2014. Kuwait’s healthy ARPU of US$36 and high EBITDA margin of 48 per cent for the year vindicates the ongoing investment in the network.

Another key indicator during 2014 was how Zain Saudi Arabia continued to show healthy growth, narrowing net losses by 23 per cent and significantly increasing its EBITDA by 24 per cent to reflect a 17 per cent EBITDA mar-gin. Data consumption and its subse-quent revenue growth of 37 per cent for the year has also been a source of encouragement in the Kingdom, becoming an important contributor to the Group’s overall service revenue.

Scott Gegenheimer said, “Despite a challenging year (2014) in overall financial terms, it is pleasing that we remained the market leader by cus-tomer numbers in Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Sudan, South Sudan, and Lebanon.

Over its more than 30 years of opera-tion, Zain has consistently sustained itself as a pioneer in regional innova-tive products and services, and 2014 was no different as we took immediate action in adapting to market forces.”

Gegenheimer continued, “In 2014 we devised a clear strategy that we

intend to implement over the next five years that will take advantage of our competencies, which include our people, networks, and geographic coverage, while looking to develop new areas and become an inte-grated digital lifestyle operator.”

Zain has developed a matrix of six

june 2012 5


strategic initiatives, namely customer experience; cost optimisation; talent development; Zain Digital Frontier and Innovation (ZDFI); customer value man-agement and enterprise, all with the aim of supporting the company’s target of generating billions of dollars of incre-mental revenues in the coming years.

Over the years Zain has remained at the forefront of mobile innovation partnering with leaders in the ICT field to push the boundaries of what is pos-sible for our customers. The Group has also taken pro-active steps to future-proof its networks as Zain Kuwait began testing both LTE-Advanced services and VoLTE (Voice over LTE) during the year, with plans to launch these state-of-the-art technologies in 2015. Addition-ally Zain has a roadmap to explore the implementation of 4.5G technol-ogy ultimately seeking to implement commercial 4.5G services within the next three years based on technology standards developed on the global level.

In Saudi Arabia, Zain took the un-precedented step of signing network

expansion and upgrade agreements totalling SAR4.5 billion (US$ 1.2 billion) with five leading global technology companies in 2014. The agreements aim to enhance Zain Saudi Arabia’s customer experience and to improve and expand Zain’s network capacity, coverage, and speed. The operator aims to provide 4G LTE coverage to over 90

In Saudi arabia, Zain took the unprecedented step of signing network expansion and upgrade agreements

totalling SaR4.5 billion (US$ 1.2 billion) with five leading global technology companies

per cent of the population, providing existing and new customers with real high-speed mobile Internet connectivity.

“Zain’s investments in improving net-work service are just one aspect of the company’s drive to provide an optimal customer experience,” Gegenheimer commented. “To ensure it is on the right track, Zain continuously engages with and listens to its customers in order to measure their satisfaction with the company’s performance and offerings.”

Zain Group’s enthusiasm to be a technology leader is driven by the company’s ambition to remain rel-evant and create value within the fast-evolving telecom eco-system.

Looking to the future, Zain is set to continue investing in the core net-work, while also evolving its focus to consumers, and to service and busi-ness model innovation. The Group is focused on improving the way it serves its customers, and is keen to monitor and benchmark how well its customer touch points are performing and to be faster to respond to issues.

in 2014 we devised a clear strategy that we intend to implement over the next five years that will take advantage of our competencies, which include our people, networks, and geographic coverage, while looking to develop new areas and become an integrated digital lifestyle operator

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june 2012 7

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Community stalwart Zain has established a deep relationship with the Middle East and Africa that extends beyond the businesses it conducts, and it remains very proud of this fact. As the company continues to evolve and grow, Zain’s organisational ambitions become even more deeply embedded in its operating markets. Impactful sustainable and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities; targeting the deficits in its countries of operation, and sustaining its progress in reducing its environmental impact are some of the ways in which it is achieving its goals

Towards the end of 2014 Zain Group announced the pub-lication of its latest annual

Sustainability Report; which for the fourth consecutive year recounts the strides and achievements made by the company in CSR. The company’s leadership position in the areas of social, economic, and environmental performance within the region remains unrivalled, and Zain continues to be firmly committed to operating respon-sibly, ethically, and transparently. Ranked by Transparency International as the most transparent company in Kuwait, Zain Group maintains the highest levels of international report-ing and communication standards.

The company is also acutely aware that as the use of mobile technolo-gies continues to spread and expand across the world, the prospects for communications services to foster socio-economic development are enormous. Information and commu-nication technology has the potential to empower communities through the spread of essential information, education, health, and economic op-portunities. These services in turn stimulate innovation, employment, and more prosperous societies, with Zain’s goal of fostering “A Wonderful World” tying in directly to the potential benefits the telecom industry powers.

2014 was a year in which a number of Zain operations faced great challenges as a result of political upheaval. The hardships felt by the Palestinian popu-lation of Gaza; the civil conflict in South

UNeSCo Goodwill ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation, Forest whitaker (left), continues to work with Zain in South Sudan through his ‘The whitaker Peace and Development Initiative’

Zain Bahrain continues to be pro-active in its support of disadvantaged communities both within the Kingdom and outside of the country

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Sudan where approximately 1.3 million South Sudanese were displaced inter-nally and into neighbouring countries; and the advent of radical insurgency groups in Iraq and Syria had a negative impact in Iraq and Jordan. However, Zain’s CSR initiatives continued forging ahead, providing invaluable contribu-tions across the various communities.

On the humanitarian front, Zain Group contributed towards the alle-viation of the plight of the Palestinian

population in Gaza during the conflict by contributing US$500,000 towards first aid supplies and food packages, with the logistical details being han-dled by Zain Jordan. Zain Group also partnered with Ericsson and RefUnite to provide a unique service to Syr-ian refugees based in Zaatari camp in Jordan, allowing refugees to ac-tively look for loved ones who have become separated during the conflict.

From an introspective perspective,

Zain Iraq teamed up with UNICeF to launch a national campaign against polio, after some reports suggested polio cases have been detected in some adjacent countries

Zain Group pledged US$ 500,000 worth of medical supplies and food to help

alleviate the plight of Palestinians in Gaza

Zain Group launched its ‘Drive Zain’ road safety corporate social responsibility campaign, at mobile world Congress 2014, which went on to garner over four million views on social media

Zain in cooperation with Pricewa-terhouseCoopers Advisory Services Company (PwC) released a thought leadership report entitled “The Socio Economic Impact of Mobile Telecom-munications in the MENA Region”, in which insights into stimulating socio-economic growth and innova-tion in the MENA region through the use of telecom were discussed.

During the course of 2014, Zain Group launched phase 4 of the ‘Drive Zain’ initiative, a road safety campaign fulfilling the company’s responsibility towards addressing dangerous conse-quences of the improper use of mobile devices, and promoting the responsible use of mobile phones while driving.

The latest campaign, which included highly impactful videos and print ad-vertisements, placed an emphasis on social media platforms. The campaign was promoted online across all social media channels and has garnered over four million views to date.

june 2012 11

advertorial

Forest whitaker, founder of the ‘whitaker Peace and Development Initiative’ for South Sudan with partners UNeSCo, Zain, and ericsson moving from Torit to Nimule

Zain and Ericsson enabling a better future through joint corporate responsibilityToday, an increasing number of

telecom players are applying their competencies and solu-

tions to global challenges in order to shape a more sustainable world.

This rings especially true at Ericsson. The fact is, we consider sustainability and corporate responsibility (S&CR) to be central to our core business and our commitment to the triple bottom line, which includes responsible financial, environmental and socio-economic development. In the Networked Society, where everything that can benefit from a connection will be connected, we are the leading advocate of Technology for Good – our S&CR platform through which we use our technology to transform societies and create positive impact.

Patrik Melander, Head of Global Custom-er Unit Zain at Ericsson says: “A common interest in using the power of technology

to enhance the lives of people around the world is found with our longstanding partner, Zain Group. Our shared ap-proach to S&CR is guided by an unflinch-ing desire to ensure that our technology is a force for good and lasting change.”

In line with this vision, Ericsson’s relationship with Zain Group, a leading mobile telecommunications operator in the Middle East has, over the years, been punctuated by a string of S&CR milestones.

In November 2014, and as part of the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI), Zain and Ericsson established in Torit, South Sudan a Computer Centre where Ericsson deployed 10 laptops connecting them to the Ericsson Cloud via Zain 3G connectivity. Earlier the same year, another Computer Centre was established in Nimule, South Sudan deploying the same technology. This peace-building programme directly

impacts hundreds of youth in the region while indirectly impacting thousands in their local communities through a series of programmes including peace-building, conflict resolution, life-skills, technol-ogy, and vocational skills trainings.

In February 2014, Ericsson and mobile operators in the Middle East announced the launch of the RefUnite service aiming to help reach the nearly 800,000 Syrian ref-ugees residing in Jordan and Iraq. Hence, Zain and Ericsson joined forces to use mobile communications as a means of ex-panding the family reconnection service in Jordan as well as help those separated to locate each other via a mobile search tool.

Melander concludes: “Through these and various S&CR accomplishments, we have, without a doubt, cemented our dedi-cation to conducting business responsibly, in compliance with the highest ethical, environmental, and social standards.”

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Dedicated approach Zain Group’s overall twelve-month performance to the end of 2014 was materially affected by currency translation impacts, and social instability in a number of its countries of operation. A number of these factors are likely to persist for the foreseeable future, though Zain is being pro-active in developing strategies to mitigate these negative impacts and continue growing

In Kuwait, in spite of the fierce compe-tition and high penetration rates that reached 221 per cent at the end of

2014, the operation grew its base by six per cent during the year to serve 2.7 million customers, and remains the most profitable Zain Group mobile operation.

In Saudi Arabia, Zain is focused on expanding its network as well as undergoing a significant restructuring and transformation in many areas.

The Group’s operation in Sudan con-tinues to retain a leading position in this market. Furthermore, financial indicators (in local currency terms) achieved decent growth rates in 2014; even though the collapse of the local currency against the US dollar continued to impact Zain’s accumulated financial results adversely. There is a hope and expectation that the local currency in Sudan will stabi-lise or appreciate in time, resulting in a stronger operational performance there.

With regards to Zain Iraq, the year marked one of the most challenging times in the country’s and company’s recent history given the escalat-ing conflicts that plagued vast areas within the country, which caused a massive relocation of civilians and made portions of the company’s network unreachable for repairs.

Accordingly, Zain Iraq witnessed a significant decline in revenues and net profit, which had a knock-on ef-fect for the Group as a whole.

In Jordan, Zain continued to maintain

its leadership position in one of the most competitive telecom markets in the Middle East. With the attainment of a 4G licence and additional 3G frequencies in the country, Zain expects to record significant growth in data revenues in the coming years from the Kingdom.

In Bahrain, Zain invested US$101 million to totally revamp its net-work and now offers customers a superlative mobile experience on its nationwide 4G network.

Zain Bahrain also undertook the first Initial Public Offering in

the Kingdom since 2010, fulfill-ing its license agreement.

In the course of undertaking its business, Zain continued to receive numerous awards and accolades for its operations, and the atten-tion did not go unnoticed by Zain Group CEO, Scott Gegenheimer.

“I must express a heartfelt congratula-tions and thank you to every colleague in Zain for their dedication, which has re-sulted in the company being recognised in so many different ways,” Gegenheim-er said. “Amongst some of the prestig-

During a Customer Day event held at Zain flagship operation in Kuwait, Ceo omar al omar (right) received calls at the company’s contact centre

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ious accolades we received in 2014, the Zain brand was selected as the telecom ‘Best Brand’ in 2014 by the esteemed judging panel of the prestigious Middle East Telecoms World Awards 2014.”

Zain has been a recipient of the ‘Best Brand’ award in the past, but in 2013 and 2014 its success was driven by the real changes the company has been driving in people’s lives, and the positivity and goodwill that is generated by its brand presence.

During the course of the year, Zain Kuwait was awarded the ‘Best Middle East Operator of the Year’ accolade by respected regional telecom publication CommsMEA, marking a significant peri-od for Zain Kuwait as it was also award-ed the ‘Best Telecom Operator in Ku-wait’ accolade at the Arabian Business Achievement Awards held in Kuwait.

Zain operations in Jordan, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia also received multi-ple industry awards for products and customer services they rolled out, as did Zain South Sudan, which picked up three major awards in the coun-try’s first ever telecom ceremony.

Looking to the current year and beyond, Zain’s enthusiasm to be a technology leader will be driven by the company’s ambition to remain relevant and create value within the fast-evolving telecom eco-system.

Today’s consumers utilise more mo-bile services in their lives, and smart-phones are becoming smarter. SOHO,

small and medium-sized enterprises, and larger enterprises are all making use of cloud services and finding new ways to consume and offer information technology. As a leading operator, Zain is in a key position to be able to leverage its network connectivity assets to create and enable new services for its custom-ers and enable growth for the company.

Zain believes that in order to achieve this, the company and the industry need to change their fo-cus to consumers, and to service and business model innovation.

With respect to innovation and evolv-

The Zain brand was selected as the telecom ‘Best Brand’ in 2014 by an esteemed judging panel of the middle east Telecoms world awards

ing business models, Zain is looking to explore new areas, and this requires investments into new skills and capabili-ties. Zain is looking to develop smart pipes on top of which services can be added to the connectivity the company offers. Zain is keen to continue to grow its business and thus is considering op-portunities in the telco industry as well as in adjacencies to its core operations, and this may take the form of an ISP, data centre, or a smart city specialist.

Additionally Zain is actively look-ing to diversify into the enterprise and M2M markets, and the move into

i must express a heartfelt congratulations and thank you to every colleague in Zain for their dedication, which has resulted in the company being recognised in so many different ways

Zain Kuwait and Huawei inaugurated a first-of-its-kind Joint Innovation Centre in the middle east, to serve as a research hub in June 2014

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TEOCO – SIMPLY SMARTERSoftware solutions to plan, assure, analyze and optimize

your network, your business and your customers.

Visit us in Hall 2 at Mobile World Congress 2015

ARE YOU MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR DATA?

www.teoco.com

Customer Data• Account Information• Demographics• Preferences• CDRs, IPDRs, xDRs• Purchases & Transactions• Social Media

Business Data• Products, Content &

Services• CRM & Care Data• Partner Agreements• Inventory &

Confi guration Data

Network Data• Alarms & Errors• AAA Records• Performance Data• Signaling & Control Records• RAN Logs• Geolocation Data

206x270mm_Data_advert_feb15.indd 1 11/02/2015 11:31

other vertical markets is as an op-portunity for it to generate strong incremental revenue growth.

Having experienced an increase in consolidated mobile data revenues for the Group of around 13 per cent in 2014, and with non-voice data accounting for between 20-30 per cent of revenues in some operations, one of Zain’s recurring success factors has been its ability to bring new technologies to markets first.

On a longer-term outlook, it is likely that there will be telecom sector consoli-dation, given the regulatory environ-ment needs to take into account the evolving business model. Regulation needs to help the telecom industry to adopt over-the-top (OTT) and VoIP-type services, and legislation needs to guide how the sector will develop.

The period ahead is both challenging and exciting for mobile operators. On one level the industry’s core business is evolving rapidly through OTT services and market saturation and on the other there are many new opportunities that operators like Zain can bolt on top of its world-class networks and IT systems.

Zain agreed to use LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network on the

Internet, to enhance its employer branding and talent acquisition strategy

across the region

With respect to innovation and evolving business models, Zain is looking to explore new areas, and this requires investments into new skills and capabilities

His Royal Highness Prince Charles, The Prince of wales, was a special guest at the Zain Innovation Campus (ZINC) in jordan in February 2015

june 2012 17


TEOCO – SIMPLY SMARTERSoftware solutions to plan, assure, analyze and optimize

your network, your business and your customers.

Visit us in Hall 2 at Mobile World Congress 2015

ARE YOU MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR DATA?

www.teoco.com

Customer Data• Account Information• Demographics• Preferences• CDRs, IPDRs, xDRs• Purchases & Transactions• Social Media

Business Data• Products, Content &

Services• CRM & Care Data• Partner Agreements• Inventory &

Confi guration Data

Network Data• Alarms & Errors• AAA Records• Performance Data• Signaling & Control Records• RAN Logs• Geolocation Data

206x270mm_Data_advert_feb15.indd 1 11/02/2015 11:31

18 www.Comm.ae


Remaining relevantFor a number of years now, Zain Group has been saying how it is looking to evolve from being a mobile operator to becoming an integrated digital lifestyle telecommunications provider that also has a strong enterprise sector focus. In 2014 the company took this vision further by detailing a five-year transformation agenda, aimed at generating incremental revenue streams and reinvigorating the company’s outlook

Zain Group’s transformation strategy, which it detailed in 2014, is based on sustaining the

company’s position in its core business of mobile voice and broadband data services, whilst expanding significantly into the enterprise space and capitalising on the opportunities within the regional digital domain, all underpinned by solid customer experience and strong brand.

Customer experience has always been an area of significant importance to Zain, and the role it is set to play within the overall transformation of the company cannot be underestimated. Four main Group-wide initiatives were driven in 2014 to enhance customer experience:

VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER: This is a forum in which senior leader-ship is exposed to insights and analytics pertaining to customers’ experiences across all of the channels and touch points within each respective mar-ket. The aim is to highlight areas that work well and areas requiring attention through cross-functional deep dives.

CUSTOMER DAY: Each quarter senior leadership in each market spends half a day with core and indirect channels. The objective of this initiative is to symbolically role model customer centricity being at the heart of the leadership agenda. Customer actions from insights gained through these interactions are cap-tured and tracked to completion.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE METRICS: Zain has launched common metrics in all markets to be able to better as-sess both in-market and Group- level

performance when it comes to cus-tomer experience. The main focus is on customer satisfaction, customer effort and net promoter score (NPS).

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE APPROACH: Zain Group has been working with its op-erating companies to contribute to the de-velopment of their strategic approach and initiatives as they relate to the customer experience agenda company-wide. This has been an important step in continu-ing to drive the agenda strategically.

A COMMUNITY CREATED: Additionally, Zain Group created a customer experience community comprising of Zain personnel from each market who meet face-to-face twice a year and have regular dialogue in the interim via social channels. The purpose of this community is to:

� Share best practices and re-view market trends and issues � Participate in workshops to de-velop capabilities and skills � Benchmark data, customer insights,

and understand their implications � Provide senior-level guidance and decision-making for any future key shared projects that drive engagement � Agree on focus areas for key group initiatives and future roadmaps

Zain’s transformation is in line with the operator’s expectations that it is set to witness strong growth in data, enterprise, and digital; with voice and data remaining the most significant revenue pool for Zain for some time to come. Enterprise services are the logical extension for Zain, with other telcos already generating sig-nificant revenues from this area, as they are also from digital services.

Thus Zain is set to capture market opportunities and solidify its posi-tion as a telco and digital player in the Middle East through defending its position in mobile voice; expand-ing its position in mobile data; explor-ing fixed opportunities; enhancing its position in the enterprise segment; and becoming a significant digital player.

A number of initiatives have been identified to bring about these opera-tional improvements, with six trans-formational initiatives having already been scoped and launched; an exciting one being the Zain Digital Frontier and Innovation (ZDFI) business unit, which has been designed to create speed in decision-making; align the required culture; attract the right talent; and have an impact on public equity markets.

ZDFI will focus on the areas of innovation; digital services; corpo-rate venturing; and smart cities, with the ultimate aim of Zain becoming a regional innovation trendsetter.

Customer experience has always been an area of significant importance to Zain, and the role it is set to play within the overall transformation of the company cannot be underestimated

june 2012 19


TRANSFORMATION OF ZAIN INTO AN INNOVATIVE, INTEGRATEDTELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY SERVING CONSUMERS ANDENTERPRISES WITH A RICH DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERIENCE

Zain group Strategy

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Shared visionInnovation and technology leadership have been a part of Zain Group’s identity since it began offering telecom services over 30 years ago. These areas have become even more important in the modern age as they define the winners from the losers in an ever-evolving ecosystem, and Zain’s appetite for further strategic progress based on its technologies remains undiminished

Hosting a Q&a session during the Zain Technology Conference, emre Gurkan said the company’s initiative to roll out its own customer platforms is one way to protect

its existing revenues

In November 2014, Zain Group assem-bled an array of over 60 technology providers in Istanbul as part of its an-

nual Zain Technology Conference (ZTC). The theme of the conference was

‘Towards an Inspiring Digital Lifestyle Experience’, and the company took the opportunity to outline its techno-logical priorities in the coming five years and describe how it planned to achieve this ambition through a se-ries of presentations from Zain Group senior management, discussions with technology partners including Erics-son, Huawei and Nokia, and 92 dedi-cated break-out technical sessions.

Hosting a question and answer session during ZTC 2014, Zain Group CEO, Scott Gegenheimer, Group CTO, Hisham Al-lam, and Group Chief Strategy and Busi-ness Development Officer, Emre Gurkan, spoke of the disruption being orchestrat-ed by over-the-top (OTT) players in the telecom sector, and said Zain’s initiative to roll out its own customer platforms is one way to protect its existing revenues.

With respect to the billions that Zain Group intends to invest in CAPEX over the coming years to 2019, all three executives concurred that something in the order of 10 per cent of that cumula-tive amount is likely to be invested in

innovative areas that the company does not presently play in. He said partner-ships are set to play an essential role here, as quicker time-to-market can often be achieved through collabora-tion rather than doing everything alone.

The three executives also commented that two further areas that telcos shall need to be reactive to going forward is the rise of OTT application use in local environments, and the growing amount of network traffic that is en-crypted, preventing communications service providers from tracking cus-tomer behaviour and offering revenue-generating complementary services.

The past year has been punctu-ated by several technological ad-vancements, and below is a selec-tion of some of the announcements made by Zain Group in this regard:

MARCH 2014� Zain Bahrain launches its US$101

million 4G LTE network, expanding the coverage area and introducing ad-ditional features and services to Zain Bahrain’s portfolio, such as HD voice.

JUNE� Zain Kuwait and Huawei inaugu-

rate a first-of-its-kind Joint Innovation Centre in the Middle East, to serve as a research hub from which Zain will be able to further advance its mo-bile broadband network, services, and applications offered to custom-ers in Kuwait and across the region.

AUGUST � Zain Sudan launched ‘Hassa’, the

country’s first Mobile Financial Ser-

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His majesty King abdullah II of Jordan launched the first phase of the establishment of Zain’s 4G LTe network during a visit to the Zain Innovation Campus (ZINC), accompanied by Her majesty Queen Rania al-abdullah

vice with Bank of Khartoum. The easy, instant, and secure service allows all Zain customers in Sudan to complete a wide range of financial transactions and operations without the require-ment of opening a bank account.

� Zain Group selected Respon-seTekListening Platform™ to power its multi-channel, multi-country customer experience programme throughout its eight countries of operation. The platform collects and analyses feed-back and sentiment in real-time from customers interacting with a company’s website, call centres, retail or branch locations, and mobile/social platforms.

OCTOBER � In cooperation with Microsoft and

Vodafone, Zain Saudi Arabia launches ‘Office 365’ services, to the business sector, with a specific focus on SMEs. These services enable businesses to

enhance productivity, increase efficien-cy, and reduce costs. Zain Saudi Arabia became the first ‘Office 365’ syndicator in the kingdom and the GCC region.

NOVEMBER � HM King Abdullah II of Jordan

launched the first phase of the estab-lishment of Zain’s 4G LTE network dur-ing His Majesty’s visit to the Zain Inno-vation Campus (ZINC), accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah.

� Zain Jordan launches ‘Zain Fibre’ services in Amman, which is driven by (FTTH – Fibre-To-The-Home) technol-ogy providing premium quality and stable Internet with high speed that reaches up to 1 GB per second.

DECEMBER� Touch Lebanon (managed by

Zain) inaugurates ‘touch LAB,’ a pioneering concept store in the heart

of Beirut. This new and unique ser-vice center enables customers to experience firsthand telco products and services via interactive service demos and tech installations.

JANUARY 2015� Zain Iraq launched 3.9G voice

and data services across the country on January 1, 2015. The launch came following the finalisation of an agree-ment with Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission (CMC) in November.

FEBRUARY� Zain Jordan officially launched 4G

LTE services on February 14, mak-ing it the first and only operator in the kingdom to do so. The launch marks the fifth country that Zain has launched 4G LTE services across the region and the ninth country to introduce the technology in the Arab world.

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