Page 15 - SAMENA Trends - May 2025

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

e& and Digicel Group Announce Strategic Partnership to Enhance
International Voice Services Across the Americas

e& and Digicel Group have announced a strategic partnership to Miami as one of our key locations for the region, this collaboration
enhance Digicel’s international voice services across the Americas. reinforces our commitment to delivering high-quality, secure, and
Under this collaboration, e& will serve as Digicel’s partner in 24 innovative telecom services across the Caribbean, Americas and
markets for inbound and outbound international traffic, optimizing beyond. Together, we are setting new benchmarks in international
operations and elevating service quality. As fraud threats within voice traffic management and fraud prevention, ensuring long-
the telecommunications sector continue to grow in scale and term growth and scalability for both organizations.” With its
complexity, Digicel and e& are reinforcing their joint commitment deep industry knowledge and technical capabilities, e& will play
to protecting the industry through the deployment of cutting- a key role in supporting Digicel’s ambitions to enhance customer
edge, AI-driven fraud detection and prevention technologies. This experience, improve operational resilience, and future-proof its
strategic initiative will empower both companies with real-time international voice services. “Our partnership with e& enables
monitoring capabilities, proactive threat mitigation, and enhanced us to optimize operations and elevate the quality of services
security protocols—protecting customers, operators, and the we deliver to our customers. It also opens the door to broader
broader telecom ecosystem. By combining their global expertise partnership opportunities across international business lines -
and technological leadership, Digicel and e& are setting a new creating value for both our organizations and the customers we
benchmark in international voice traffic management and fraud serve.” Said Digicel Group Chief Business Officer, Liam Donnelly.
resilience. This collaboration marks a significant step forward in
establishing more resilient, secure, and trusted ecosystem for the
telecommunications industry. By adopting an innovative approach,
Digicel continues to refine its wholesale strategy in response to
evolving industry trends, including the rise of OTT services and
VoLTE. This partnership will enable Digicel to optimize costs,
streamline infrastructure investments, and strengthen its market
position. “Leveraging our extensive expertise in international voice
solutions, our partnership with Digicel Group is fully aligned with
e& Carrier & Wholesale’s strategy to expand our global footprint
and deliver next-generation voice services across key international
markets,” said Nabil Baccouche, Group Chief Carrier & Wholesale
Officer at e&. “As we establish our Wholesale’s strategic hub in

e& Drone Tower Inspections Set for Take Off in UAE

e& UAE revealed it would begin using drones for tower inspections, live feeds from the unmanned vehicles, oversee flight progress,
providing the means for real-time data analysis and AI technology to verify safety protocols and ensure accuracy. In a statement, the
provide safer and more efficient assessment of the infrastructure. operator noted unlike traditional means of checking towers, the
Information is relayed to an operation center where staff can track drones are able to navigate complex environments autonomously
and operate in extreme weather conditions. During inspections AI
analytics tools are abetted to detect factors including structural
anomalies, providing the information for proactive maintenance
of the assets. e& UAE acting CTIO Marwan Bin Shakar said use
of the drone system would enhance “the safety and accuracy
of telecom tower inspections while enabling faster, data-driven
decisions that futureproof our infrastructure”. The unmanned
vehicles are also set to play a more general role in emergency
response in the country, supporting the delivery of critical support
and resources where they are needed. The Drones Operations
Centre where the vehicles are controlled is a collaboration with the
UAE Cyber Security Council and General Civil Aviation Authority.
In October 2024, the operator announced a plan to work with
authorities on the use of 5G drones for various civil use cases.

15 MAY 2025