Ericsson announced the appointment of Rafiah Ibrahim as President and Head of the newly created Market Area Middle East and Africa. The appointment follows a review of the Ericsson's business strategy and changes to the Executive team. Ibrahim, who has led Region Middle East since July 1, 2014, stepped into the role from April 1, 2017 as a new member of Ericsson's Executive Team.
In line with the announced business strategy Ericsson is simplifying its organizational structure by removing the two-tiered leadership structure, Executive Leadership Team and Global Leadership Team, and forming a single Executive Team. In addition, the geographical setup with ten regions will become five market areas, and the business areas are re-defined and reduced to three. The new Executive Team roles and the new organization will take effect April 1, 2017.
CommScope and Kathrein, industry leaders in network infrastructure solutions, have entered into a long-term global agreement to cross-license portions of their patent portfolios, increasing each company's ability to develop new solutions, serve customers and compete in the global market. Under the agreement, both companies can access and implement the other company's patents and technologies globally. The cross-license agreement relates to passive base station antennas, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and filters.
Nokia issued its latest Threat Intelligence Report, revealing a new all-time high in mobile device malware infections, a sharp increase in compromised smartphones and major IoT device security vulnerabilities.
Mahindra Comviva, the global leader in providing mobility solutions has appointed Rafael Olivares as the new chief executive officer (CEO) for Latin American Operations. The appointment is effective from April 1, 2017. With this appointment, Mahindra Comviva is aggressively focusing on extending its footprint across Latin America.
Nokia has completed the first pre-standard testing of 600MHz on commercially-available hardware, creating a test bed for terminal ecosystem development and availability.
US telecoms giant Verizon recently announced a new operating structure to better serve rapidly changing customer needs and accelerate the deployment of next-generation technology. The former CEO of Ericsson, Hans Vestberg, has been appointed vice president for Verizon's new Network and Technology team, effective April 3.
Broadband is the "most important technology" today because of the transformation to society that it can bring, said Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, Ericsson's SVP and Chief Sustainability Officer, at the launch of Ericsson's Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Report at MWC 2017. Using the UN SDGs as a framework, the report highlights how the telecommunications industry can positively evolve through use of responsible business practices, reducing energy consumption through 5G, and providing internet for all.
Gerardo Canta, managing director, Accenture, Communications, Media and Technology lead in Middle East, Africa, Russia and Turkey
SAP had a strong presence at Mobile World Congress this year, featuring a connected car demo, a connected stadium demo, and an announced collaboration with Apple to deliver the expanded SAP Cloud Platform SDK for iOS. In addition, SAP named its new Head of Telco for the MENA region, Mr. Bulent Unsal, who said the Middle East and North Africa is an important region for the company where it has formed partnerships with local telcos to implement smart city solutions.
