Page 78 - SAMENA Trends - May 2025

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission contradictions in the policy could lead to regulatory confusion,
(BTRC) has released a draft policy aimed at reforming the particularly concerning mobile operators’ ability to offer wired
country’s telecom network and licensing framework. Titled the services and inconsistent foreign ownership limits. The three-stage
“Telecommunication Network & Licensing Regime Reform Policy migration process will begin in 2025, with full implementation by
2025,” it seeks to consolidate the fragmented licensing system 2027. The BTRC’s focus is on promoting fair competition, efficient
into three main categories, eliminate minor intermediaries, and resource utilization, and improving the quality of service. Shahed
promote infrastructure sharing to reduce operational costs. The Alam from Robi Axiata and Rakibul Hasan from Link3 Technologies
policy also includes a migration plan to phase out obsolete licenses welcomed the policy draft, emphasizing the need for mergers
by 2027, introduces lighter frameworks for small-scale operators, and acquisitions to drive service quality improvements and lower
and deregulates certain telecom sectors. However, several costs. (April 25, 2025) www.meatechwatch.com

Egypt

The Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. efforts to expand talent pools and attract investment,”. Talaat
Amr Talaat, officially inaugurated the new office of IGT Solutions at highlighted the diversity and sophistication of services provided,
Maadi Technology Park in Cairo. IGT Solutions; a leading provider citing the Ministry’s strategy to expand the talent pool, strengthen
of digital and data-driven transformation solutions is expanding its digital infrastructure, and enhance competitiveness in high-value
operations in Egypt as part of its strategic growth across different engineering services such as embedded systems, automotive
markets. The event was attended by IGT Solutions’ Global CEO software, semiconductor and electronics design. “Egypt continues
Katie Stein, ITIDA CEO Eng. Ahmed El-Zaher, IGT Egypt Managing to attract top-tier outsourcing investments thanks to its cost-
Director Mohamed Guemei, and senior officials from the Ministry effectiveness, skilled workforce, and modern infrastructure,”
of Communications and ITIDA. IGT Solutions entered the Egyptian noted Eng. Ahmed El-Zaher, CEO of ITIDA. He emphasized that
market in 2022 and currently operates a multilingual service center the agency proudly supports companies like IGT Solutions in
providing support in over eight languages, including English, scaling global operations from Egypt and contributing to the
Spanish, French, and German. The company plans to grow its growth of the local digital economy and Egypt’s thriving offshoring
local workforce from 450 to 2,000 professionals by 2027. Dr. Amr industry. “This expansion reflects the growing confidence in
Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Egypt’s strategic position as a regional outsourcing hub,” El-Zaher
stated that Egypt’s outsourcing industry is witnessing rapid growth: added, highlighting Egypt’s competitive edge in multilingual talent,
“Egypt’s outsourcing industry has tripled its global delivery centers advanced infrastructure, and favorable operating costs.
in the past three years, reaching over 200 centers thanks to our (April 10, 2025) www. meatechwatch.com

Iraq

Iraq is emerging as both a major digital and commercial transit hub that connect to Asia-Pac via Oman. Unlike some neighboring
connecting Europe and the Middle East. Its geographic advantages countries, Iraq has seen a decade or more of stability and an
make it an ideal bridge between Europe and the Middle East. For opening of global trade. At the same time, the Red Sea has seen
too long it has been overlooked or underappreciated as a critical growing congestion with many subsea cable systems running in
connectivity option for global carriers, regional service providers parallel through the Suez Canal. Telecom Egypt estimates that 17%
and hyperscalers. Multi-billion-dollar investments are fueling of the global internet connects via the Suez Canal, making it one of
growth across Iraq’s industries. Continued investment in digital the most concentrated centers for subsea cable infrastructure in
infrastructure spanning Iraq has created a digital corridor that the world. Houthi rebel activity saw cables in the Red Sea damaged
provides terrestrial routes from key hubs in the Kingdom of Saudi in early 2024, disrupting connectivity between the Middle East
Arabia (KSA), UAE, and Bahrain, as well as cable landing stations and Europe. One of the many challenges is that repair ships have

78 MAY 2025