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This week, reports suggest that the QIA has entered into discussions with state-run Telecom Egypt to acquire 20% of the latter’s 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt.
The discussions are wider investment by QIA in undisclosed assets owned by the Egyptian state, with a total combined value of around $2.5 billion.
Vodafone Egypt is the largest mobile operator in Egypt with a market share of roughly 43%. Vodafone Group owns a 55% stake in the business, with the remainder held by Telecom Egypt. Telecom Egypt, in turn, is 80% owned by the Egyptian government.
A formal offer has yet to be made, but sources suggest that an agreement could be reached by the end of the year.
Rumours that the QIA was negotiating with Telecom Egypt first began to circulate last month, but the Egyptian operator was quick to deny that discussions were taking place.
The stake sale, if it is agreed, will be the latest step in the thawing of Qatar and Egypt’s frosty relationship. Back in 2017, Egypt, alongside Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, severed diplomatic ties with Qatar due to the latter’s alleged support of terrorist organisations.
Money talks, however, and Qatari investments have continued to trickle into Egypt in the past five years. The QIA, for example, already has various investments in Egypt, much of which is centred around the country’s vital tourist trade, which has been heavily impacted first by the pandemic and today by the war in Ukraine.
In closely related news, Vodafone Group itself currently in the process of selling its 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt to Vodacom Group, with the deal being valued at roughly $2.7 billion.
The deal’s journey through the regulatory process in South Africa, however, is taking some time. Recent reports suggest that the deal has received the green light from the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority but is still awaiting approval from the Financial Supervision Department of the Reserve Bank of South Africa.
Also in the news:
The missing 3.2 billion…
New EXA investment serves customers across the Iberian peninsula
Startup stories: Facing up to cybersecurity risks
On the metro front, some FTTH news, an IX partnership, and a data center expansion project: … [visit site to read more]
![Porter's-5-Forces-[LauraKylePhotography]](https://i2.wp.com/blog.bicomsystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Porters-5-Forces-LauraKylePhotography.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1)
Similar to the 4Ps of Marketing, anyone who has taken an introductory business course has probably heard about Porter’s 5 Forces. Porter’s 5 Forces is a model companies use to identify the competitiveness of a particular industry. And just like the Ps in the Marketing Mix, you can revisit the five forces any time your company grows or the product suite changes.
This article will cover the five forces, share an example, and explore why those in the UC industry should try out this model.
As mentioned above, Porter’s 5 Forces cover five competitive forces that shape every industry. The concept was developed in 1979 by Michael Porter to assess and evaluate a business’s competitive strength and position in its specific sector.
Not only does the framework provide peace of mind regarding competition, but it also considers your suppliers and potential substitutions from end users.
When you understand the industry you are entering or actively working in, you can better position yourself, your brand, and your product amongst competitors. Each force has benefits to help you find your competitive advantage. Let’s explore them!
A new entrant is a company that produces a competing product for the first time. How likely would it be for a new company to enter the market? The threat would be low if you are in a specific industry requiring much knowledge and research. However, the threat would be high if the product is simple, like developing dog toys.
The threat of new entrants in the UC market is moderate. We measure the threat as moderate because new companies must provide innovative solutions aligned with industry standards. However, they can easily partner with established players that are the original software manufacturers of the products.
As a UC Reseller, think of how easy it is to enter the industry. It requires a niche expertise; however, not manufacturing your products is one significant benefit to reselling. By partnering with an experienced provider, like Bicom Systems, resellers avoid starting their business at square one. They also have the tools to meet the demands of many different customers across different industries.
Not to mention, trusted providers will support their resellers by providing branded marketing material, training courses, and case studies. Stay with a provider who is constantly updating their solutions and staying innovative.
Regarding unified communications, we can consider the threat of substitutes in two ways. One is the likelihood that your customers will switch away from your product. Or two, that they move away from UC services entirely.
The threat of substitutes is low when considering option two because no alternative services can substitute UC. On the other hand, with option one and your customers, the threat of substitutes is moderate.
Customers have the ability to switch to a new provider, but switching providers is not like changing laundry detergent. It takes time to transfer clients from one hosted solution to another. Many factors come into play when considering switching, such as price, features, customer service, etc.
To ensure your customers do not search for substitutes, look at our Bicom Systems Tips!
The bargaining power of suppliers depends on how much power and control a company’s supplier has over price and quality. Could the supplier raise their prices? Or reduce the quality of their services? Another factor to consider when determining this force is the number of suppliers a company can pick. The fewer suppliers there are, the more power they hold. Businesses are better positioned when there are many suppliers to choose from.
When we consider the bargaining power of suppliers, think of factors like:
In the technology industry, there is an unspoken rule that players must stay up to date with industry standards. On top of that, in the UC industry, very few vendors have their own cloud hosting. As a result of these two points, and keeping in mind UC Resellers are considering software manufacturers as suppliers, the bargaining power of suppliers is low.
Ensure you partner with well-established providers in the industry. When your provider is credible, you can trust they will not make dramatic changes with their support, prices, or quality of solutions.
On the other end of suppliers, we have buyers. This force allows customers to add pressure on providers and demand better prices and quality of products. The number of competitors in an industry that offers identical products increases the buyer’s bargaining power. It is best practice to consider the bargaining power of buyers to be high when there are many options.
As distributors in the UC industry, there are dozens of vendors that sell identical products at comparable prices. Since buyers have several options to choose from similar services, the bargaining power in the UC market is high. Customers are now searching for the best price, unique features, and ease of switching to another vendor.
A few strategies to consider to help you deliver unique value to your customers are:
Last, we examine competitive rivalry in the marketplace. This force is determined by the number and size of existing competitors in the industry. Think of it as the pressure market players put on each other.
Rivalry is considered high when many competitors are equal in size, power, and price. We determine competitive rivalry is high in the UC industry because competitors are not much different.
It is high because various industries introduce new technology and trends daily, directly increasing competition. Not to mention the similarities between major vendors in technology. As a US Reseller, protect yourself by having a competitive advantage. Position yourself as favorable, or the superior business, and you will stand out against competitors. Showcase your highly knowledgeable sales staff, unbeatable prices, or early access to new technology.
Now that you learned the basics of the model, you understand how vital identifying competitive forces are for long-term planning. Working through the five points is useful for examining your current competitive position and ability to move into other areas. The best part is that the forces can be revisited at any time, just like the Marketing Mix.
Learn why you should be a add title=”Become a UC Reseller” UCaaS Reseller and join this ever-growing, million-dollar industry by becoming a Bicom Systems partner today.
Let’s Connect.
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💻 www.bicomsystems.com/contact-us
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
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Ahead of Total Telecom Congress 2022, we caught up with Will Townsend, Vice President & Principal Analyst – Networking & Security Practices at Moor Insights and Strategy to hear his views on these business critical topics.
Can you tell us about your role at your Moor Insights Strategy?
I manage the networking and security practices for our firm and am considered an expert on 5G as a featured Forbes contributor and through other media outlets such as NPR Marketplace, CNBC and the Wall Street Journal.
From your perspective, how do telcos need to evolve to remain competitive in the modern connectivity ecosystem?
Find new ways to monetize their significant investments in next generation telco networks with an emphasis on enterprise service delivery. They must also embrace cloud native and virtualized platforms for scale and agility.
Given your experience working with major players in the industry – what, in your opinion, is the key challenge faced by telcos today?
Innovative service delivery for consumers and enterprises while managing opex and capex pressures and an ever expanding threat surface resulting from the continual disaggregation of network infrastructure.
You will be moderating a panel on O-RAN, the opportunities it can offer the industry and addressing barriers for successful O-RAN deployment. What’s your own view on this? What’s the key opportunity telcos should be looking at when it comes to O-RAN?
With disaggregation comes complexity so managing the integration while ensuring the highest levels of security, performance and resiliency over traditional RAN architectures.
What are you looking forward to at Total Telecom Congress next month?
Returning to an in-person event and the opportunity to meet and network with telco professionals from around the world!
Will Townsend will be chairing a panel on the O-RAN opportunity at Total Telecom Congress 2022 on 1st November. For more details on how to join Will and 1,000 senior leaders from the global telecoms industry, head to the event website.
In today’s hyperconnected world, consumers rely on telcos and multiple system operators (MSOs) for just about everything. They serve as a lifeline for healthcare, providing telehealth to communicate with the chronically ill. They act as the primary enabler of home schoolers, accessing the curriculum and collaborating with teachers and other students not enrolled in traditional school. And the entertainment and connection to friends and family that MSOs provide is critical to the quality of life. Telco and MSOs are technology intensive businesses that generate revenue by providing service to a diverse population of consumers. Success depends on simple formula – … [visit site to read more]
Vodafone Oman has added analytics, DevOps processes and an integration layer to its ongoing engagement with Netcracker. This latest expansion to the partnership will, says Netcracker, further add to the operator’s data-driven capabilities, allowing it to grow and enhance its business and deliver an improved experience for customers.
Vodafone entered the Omani market in December 2021 as the Sultanate’s third mobile operator, leveraging Netcracker Advanced Analytics to achieve end-to-end visibility across its business and operations and gain improved system availability and resilience. Netcracker DevOps Enablement includes a number of components to help Vodafone improve its DevOps processes as part of an overall operational transformation.
The operator will also utilize Netcracker Support & Managed Services to optimize and improve business performance and extend coverage for Netcracker’s products and surrounding third-party systems. Overarching these projects, says Netcracker, is a new integration layer that will be critical to improving customer management, including functions such as service onboarding.
“After a successful partnership with Netcracker to support the launch of our mobile business less than a year ago, we are taking the next step to leverage critical data and bring in DevOps and managed services processes to further improve our business and operations,” said Stelios Savvides, Technology Director at Vodafone Oman. “By using these functions alongside a robust integration layer, we are confident that we will achieve increased revenue, lower OpEx and improve our engagement with our customers.”
Vodafone’s Oman operation has clearly been busy in recent weeks. As we reported on 11 October, Ericsson is to provide the operator with AI-based cognitive software solutions for network optimization to facilitate data-driven decisions and support Vodafone in implementing zero-touch operations (ZTO) and anomaly detection capabilities.
Telxius, the leading digital telecommunications infrastructure operator, has teamed up with NJFX, the carrier-neutral Cable Landing Station (CLS) colocation campus in Wall, New Jersey, to give customers on-demand access to redundant subsea cable infrastructure across the Atlantic and Latin America. This collaboration allows Telxius to provide its customers with fully diverse global solutions through submarine cables landing at or nearby NJFX and serve subsea cable restoration needs between cable systems landing at NJFX and the Telxius’ Virginia Beach cable landing station.
Telxius is now offering a direct terrestrial fibre route between its CLS in Virginia Beach to NJFX’s campus. This new, unique route is the most direct link between NJFX and Telxius VA Beach CLS, extending the capabilities and services related to Telxius’ Marea, Dunant and Brusa subsea cable systems. Customers in key hubs in Chicago, Montreal, New York, Richmond and Toronto will benefit from multiterabit capacity, a wide range of advanced services on next-generation subsea infrastructure and enhanced diverse connectivity across international digital hubs. This vital link bypasses Ashburn, VA, satisfying the requirements of customers seeking diversity from overly dense infrastructure in Ashburn.
“We are continually finding new ways to enhance the reliability and resiliency of our global infrastructure. Our collaboration with NJFX gives customers rapid access to critical infrastructure and satisfies the diversity and low latency needs of some of the most demanding customers in the financial sector,” said Gerardo Bonilla, Head of Sales at Telxius. “NJFX has a track record of supporting some of the largest players in international networking and is continually growing its ecosystem. We look forward to growing together and offering ultra-reliable global connectivity.
Telxius’ new presence at NJFX will provide NJFX’s customers with direct access to the Telxius global submarine network consisting of over 80,000 km of high-capacity fibre optic submarine cables with diverse terrestrial backhauls. This will allow NJFX’s customers access to Telxius complete array of services Including Tier-1 IP Transit, global capacity, colocation and security solutions. Telxius’ low latency, diverse and robust Atlantic routes are powered by almost 100 PoPs in 18 countries, 25 landing stations and two communications hubs connecting to world-leading data centres. By joining the NJFX interconnection platform, Telxius and its customers gain direct, on-demand interconnection with Havfrue/AEC-2, Seabras-1, TGN1 and TGN2, providing diverse connectivity across both the Atlantic and to Latin America.
“Telxius provides customers with fresh connectivity options to crucial European digital hubs as well as Latin American markets that are expanding quickly. The ‘trusted middle mile’ of interconnected independent networks is improved thanks to our cooperation with Telxius,” said Gil Santaliz, CEO of NJFX. “It’s wonderful to see new redundancy to boost service quality throughout the Atlantic and Latin America as we work to increase uptime and lessen the effects of service interruptions. We are thrilled to have Telxius at NJFX and to be collaborating with them to provide clients with the finest services.”
Enterprise, content, media, government, and communications providers can take advantage of redundancy, decreased latency, and high-quality connectivity with fewer global points of failure thanks to NJFX. Through a physical presence and access to the Meet-Me-Room (MMR) within its Tier-3 CLS campus, NJFX ensures that each carrier network interconnection is designed and maintained with reliable architectural diversity. NJFX is home to some of the biggest and most cutting-edge companies in global networking.
Want to learn all the latest updates from the world of submarine connectivity? Join the experts in discussion at the upcoming Submarine Networks EMEA conference
Also in the news:
Understanding the telco’s role in the IoT market
Startup Stories: A new approach to telecoms consultancy
MTN Group joins the Telecom Infra Project’s Board of Directors
Infinera announced two customer wins so far this week, with subsea deals helping two consortium partners on the same cable system to better connect North and South America. … [visit site to read more]
