Telecoms World South Asia 2008: October 7-9 2008: Bangladesh
 
our speakers
Speaker photo
Mehboob Chowdhury
Chairman
South Asian GSM Forum, Bangladesh
Speaker photo
Ricardo Tavares
Senior Vice President - Public Policy
GSM Association, USA
Speaker photo
S. M. Monir Ahmed
Commissioner
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)
Speaker photo
T R Dua
Senior Director
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
Speaker photo
Sameer Sharma
Senior Advisor - Asia Pacific Region
International Telecommunication Union, Thailand
Speaker photo
Omer Rashid
Chief Commercial Officer
Banglalink GSM, Bangladesh
Speaker photo
Pradeep Shrivastava
CMO
IDEA Cellular Ltd, India
 
Terrapinn

Programme

Day One, Wednesday, 8 Oct 2008
Day Two, Thursday, 9 October 2008 (Stream 1: Competition and Differentiation)
Day Two, Thursday, 9 October 2008 (Stream 2: Wholesale Carrier Partnership)

last modified: 28/07/2008

Day One, Wednesday, 8 Oct 2008
8.15am
Registration & Coffee / Tea
 

9am
Organiser’s opening remarks
 

9.15am
Chairman’s opening remarks
 
 
Mr Mehboob Chowdhury, Chairman,
South Asia GSM Forum

OPENING KEYNOTE SESSION
 

9.30am
Introduction, conference aims & objectives
 
 
Ms Anoja Obeyesekere, Chairman,
GSMA APAC

9.45am
Opening remarks and updates from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)
 
 
Mr S. M. Monir Ahmed, Commissioner,
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)

10am
Driving market growth in Bangladesh – The Grameenphone story
  • Key growth drivers in Bangladesh’s mobile market
  • Understanding the needs of the Bangladeshi mobile user : assessing varying market segments
  • Tariff and service plans critical in driving growth
 
Ms Rubaba Dowla, Director - Marketing,
Grameenphone

10.15am
Morning refreshments
 

KEYNOTES: STRATEGIES FOR THE SOUTH ASIAN REGION
 

11am
Affordable mobile broadband for all- lessons from 3G HSPA deployment in emerging markets
  • Early deployments of 3G HSPA in developing countries
  • Major drivers for subscribers' take-up
  • Spectrum for mobile broadband
  • Fulfilling the dream: Affordable mobile broadband for all
 
Mr Ricardo Tavares, Senior Vice President - Public Policy,
GSM Association

12pm
Impacting growth in South Asia with regulatory landmarks
  • Ensuring compliance, steady growth and competition with players in the South Asian telecommunications space
  • Extending the reach of telecommunication services in the region
  • Outlining emerging technologies and its’ potential: HSPA, WiMax, LTE, etc
 
Moderator:
Mr Ricardo Tavares, Senior Vice President - Public Policy,
GSM Association
Mr S. M. Monir Ahmed, Commissioner,
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)
Mr T R Dua, Senior Director,
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
Mr Wangay Dorji, Head – Telecommunications,
Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA)
Mr Samir Satchu, Chief Legal Counsel And Head Of Government Affairs,
Roshan Telecom

12pm
Defining and shaping the telecommunications environment in South Asia
  • Understanding consumer needs and determining the real business motivators for all stakeholders
  • What are the barriers to spurring usage in the marketplace?
  • Determining the challenges ahead and how operators in the region can best address this
 
Moderator:
Mr Mehboob Chowdhury, Chairman,
South Asia GSM Forum
Ms Anoja Obeyesekere, Chairman,
GSMA APAC
Mr Md. Mujibur Rahman, Managing Director,
Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd.
Mr Samir Satchu, Chief Legal Counsel And Head Of Government Affairs,
Roshan Telecom
Mr Syed Yamin Bakht, Director - Public Relations,
Grameenphone
Mr Tandi Wangchuk, General Manager - B-Mobile Division,
Bhutan Telecom

12.30pm
Networking luncheon
 

EXPLOITING TECHNOLOGIES FOR FURTHER GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
 

2pm
Propelling South Asia into the next generation
  • What are the global trends in IP?
  • What are the regulatory challenges in VoIP?
  • How are countries are dealing with VoIP and what is the way forward?
 
Mr Sameer Sharma, Senior Advisor,
International Telecommunication Union (Asia and the Pacific),

2.30pm
The COAI perspective: 3G/3.5G implementation in India
  • Assessing spectrum management, allocation and network expansion
  • Justifying network expansion to accommodate a predominantly low ARPU region
  • Lessons learnt from India and translating this to the rest of South Asia
 
Mr T R Dua, Senior Director,
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)

3pm
Scaling new heights of growth with WiMax access to the Indian population
  • Examining the motivators for serving the customer with a wide bouquet of telecom services with WiMax inclusive
  • Meeting the need for focused efforts and planned initiatives to bridge the rural-urban digital divide ICT sector
  • Understanding regional usage patterns and matching this with the WiMax proposition
  • Lessons learnt from BSNL’s WiMax rollout in India
 
Mr Rajesh Kumar, Joint Deputy Director General (CMTS),
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL)

3.30pm
Afternoon refreshments
 

4pm
Introducing broadband: investment conditions, regulatory challenges and addressing QoS
  • Setting the right foundations for a budget-broadband-network business
  • Reviewing the complexities and bottlenecks : backbone, circuit switch vs. packet switch
  • QoS monitoring approaches: regulator centric, user centric, test methodology, regulatory comparisons, metrics
 
Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, Executive Director,
LIRNEasia

4.30pm
Revolutionising the Bhutan ICT sector with 3G technology
  • Addressing the need to roll out a state-of-the-art network cost-effectively to provide Bhutan customers with the best possible communication experience
  • Issues for consideration in the network expansion plan to W-CDMA/HSDPA
  • Ensuring QoS in the simultaneous delivery of voice and data: seamlessly linking subscribers from the 3G service footprint areas to EDGE /GPRS networks without call or data drops
 
Ms Yeshey Tshogay, Manager - IN & VAS, B-Mobile Division,
Bhutan Telecom

5pm
Leveraging on next generation technologies to extend the service offering
  • Reviewing the rationale for technology selection: striking the right balance with the required capital investment
  • How are the regional South Asian markets looking in terms of cutting edge next-gen services for the future?
  • Ensuring QoS & QoE with new technology implementation i.e. WiMax, HSPA, CDMA, etc
 
Moderator:
Mr Sameer Sharma, Senior Advisor,
International Telecommunication Union (Asia and the Pacific),
Mr Kabir Hasan, General Manager - System Engineering,
Teletalk Bangladesh
Mr Rajesh Kumar, Joint Deputy Director General (CMTS),
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL)
Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, Executive Director,
LIRNEasia
Ms Yeshey Tshogay, Manager - IN & VAS, B-Mobile Division,
Bhutan Telecom

5.30pm
End of conference day one followed by evening cocktail reception
 

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Day Two, Thursday, 9 October 2008
Stream 1: Competition and Differentiation
 

8.15am
Registration & Coffee/Tea
 

8.45am
Stream Chairman’s opening remarks
 
 
Mr Mehboob Chowdhury, Chairman,
South Asia GSM Forum

VOICE & DATA SERVICE INNOVATION
 

9am
The operator VAS strategy: Extending beyond mere tariff
  • What are the requirements from operators, vendors and various stakeholders
  • Addressing the challenge of high growth- low spend demographics
  • Segmented product design for targeted segments: Lessons from MyGang Card offering
 
Mr Pradeep Shrivastava, CMO,
IDEA Cellular

9.30am
Branding and marketing as a new entrant in a competitive emerging market
  • Outlining a winning marketing strategy and addressing the challenge of high growth - low spend demographics
  • Identifying the needs of the customer and strategies to motivate stickiness and loyalty
  • The marketing communication approach to the marketplace
 
Mr Zeeshan K. Huq, Senior Manager - Marketing,
Warid Telecom International

10am
Extending mobile and IP offerings to Indian and South Asian customers
  • Energising revenue streams through interactive mobile content services
  • Challenges and barriers to penetration of these offerings
  • Which services will have a higher chance of achieving success in the region?
 
Mr Rohit Gupta, AVP - Value Added Services & Enterprise Market Planning,
Tata Teleservices

10.30am
Morning refreshments
 

11am
Driving growth through tariff innovation
  • Analysing usage demographics of existing price plans
  • Identifying profitable segments in the mobile market and strategies to motivate stickiness and loyalty
  • Determining tariff through coverage and QoS

11.30am
Gauging operational efficiencies and benchmarking for customer satisfaction & retention
  • Assessing the role and implementation of best-of-class operational models: Six Sigma, industry benchmarks, digital performance measurement
  • How can operators optimize statistical analysis for better operational visibility and strategic decisions?
  • Maximising business process re-engineering to align performance in the face of a fast changing environment
 
Mr Shahid M. Chughtai, Head – Corporate Quality Assurance,
Warid Telecom (Pvt.) Ltd.

12pm
Strategies to motivate subscriber growth in the region
  • Examining the evolving business drivers in the marketplace: what are the relevant services for the region?
  • Reviewing effective marketing techniques, QoS and tariff structures
  • Exploring network variations, pricing bundles and partnership models
 
Mr Omer Rashid, Chief Commercial Officer,
Banglalink GSM
Mr Pradeep Shrivastava, CMO,
IDEA Cellular
Mr Rohit Gupta, AVP - Value Added Services & Enterprise Market Planning,
Tata Teleservices
Mr Shahid M. Chughtai, Head – Corporate Quality Assurance,
Warid Telecom (Pvt.) Ltd.
Mr Zeeshan K. Huq, Senior Manager - Marketing,
Warid Telecom International

12.45pm
Networking luncheon
 

SERVICE INNOVATION & M-COMMERCE
 

2.30pm
M-Commerce: micro-payments and regulatory challenges in developing nations
  • Micro payments and remittance market opportunities in developing nations
  • Reviewing various business models in operation: Making a viable business case
  • Regulatory landscape and handling key challenges
 
Mr Azad Delwar Hossain, Dy. Director & Head - Financial Services,
Grameenphone

3pm
Mobile payments expansion in India– A Bharti Airtel case study
  • Reviewing Airtel’s mobile payment services: mChq & mChek
  • Understanding consumer requirements and how the mobile payment platform can address this
  • Lessons learnt and how other South Asian operators can replicate on Airtel’s successes
 
Mr Pallab Mitra, Head of Commerce, Marketing Innovation,
Bharti Airtel

3.30pm
Afternoon refreshments
 

4pm
Creating a revolutionary and consumer centric dimension to mobile payments and inclusive banking
  • Empowering consumers with the ability to perform electronic transactions whilst on the move
  • Bringing about fundamental change to transform the way society does business
  • Lessons learnt from the eZ Pay initiative : South Asia’s first mobile commerce initiative
 
Mr Gehan Dias, AVP – Cards & Alternate Distribution Channels , Cards & Alternate Distribution Channels,
NDB Bank
Mr Druvi Sirisena, Unit Manager, Mobile Commerce Group Commercial,
Dialog Telekom

4.30pm
Tapping the benefits of mobile commerce and mobile financial services for the South Asian subscriber
  • Serving the unbanked: elaborating on pockets of opportunity in this area
  • Incorporating South Asian consumer behaviour into the mobile commerce strategy
  • Determining the best business models for partnership as a key driver for success
  • Outlining the regulatory and operational framework: what needs to be in place for this service to take off
 
Moderator:
Mr Muhammad Aslam Hayat, Consultant - Regulatory & Interconnection,
Grameenphone
Mr Azad Delwar Hossain, Dy. Director & Head - Financial Services,
Grameenphone
Mr Druvi Sirisena, Unit Manager, Mobile Commerce Group Commercial,
Dialog Telekom
Mr Ahmad Tabshir Choudhury , Project Director - IT ,
Premier Bank Limited
Mr Pallab Mitra, Head of Commerce, Marketing Innovation,
Bharti Airtel
Mr Gehan Dias, AVP – Cards & Alternate Distribution Channels , Cards & Alternate Distribution Channels,
NDB Bank

5pm
Close of conference
 

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Day Two, Thursday, 9 October 2008
Stream 2: Wholesale Carrier Partnership
 

8.15am
Registration & Coffee/Tea
 

8.45am
Stream Chairman’s opening remarks
 

OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES IN SOUTH ASIA
 

9am
A critical moment: transitioning to an all IP world
  • Charting the industry transformation - assessing the evolution towards an all IP world
  • Building a full IP network - the highway to new solutions and new territories
  • Selecting the correct type of solution for each user
  • Fully implementing new services and business models by measuring the challenges that lay ahead
  • What can the traditionnal players can bring to the industry
 
Ms Claire Paponneau, Executive Vice-President - International Wholesale Solutions, International Wholesale Solutions,
Orange

9.30am
Meeting the needs of Bangladeshi customers with broadband provision
  • Reviewing market demand for high bandwidth and reliable Internet, Intranet and Corporate Broadcast services
  • Using state-of-the-art systems to allow economical deployment of quality high speed internet/intranet access
  • Adopting satellite, wireless and fiber optic technologies to achieve high performance
 
Mr Zain Omar , CEO,
Access Telecom (BD) Ltd.

10am
Capitalising on the immense potential in South Asia’s growing marketplace
  • Distinguishing business opportunities in wholesale and fixed-line
  • Exploring financing avenues, regulation and legalities
  • Wireless broadband: how can operators best respond to the wide array of technology options
 
Moderator:
Mr Nikhil Shah, Board Member – VP International Development,
IP / MPLS Forum
Mr Zain Omar , CEO,
Access Telecom (BD) Ltd.
Mr Daniel Lo, Head - Next Generation Network Development,
Hong Kong Broadband Network
Mr Russell T Ahmed, Chief Operating Officer,
Aamra Networks
Dr Sankassa Senevirathna, Senior Manager - QoS and System Administration, Department of Projects and Planning,
Lanka Bell

10.30am
Morning refreshments
 

EXPLORING TECHNOLOGY & INFRASTRUCTURE OPTIONS
 

11am
Mobile backhaul: Challenges and opportunities for carriers and mobile operators
  • Increasing backhaul expenditure due to increasing demand for mobile broadband services
  • Mitigating legacy backhaul techniques (ATM,TDM) to packet based backhaul
  • Increasing efficiency of operators’ backhaul network while ensuring optimum QoS for subscribers
 
Mr Nikhil Shah, Board Member – VP International Development,
IP / MPLS Forum

11.30am
Delivering innovative internet services to corporate Bangladesh
  • Meeting the corporate demand for high bandwidth and reliable internet access
  • Utilising WAN, VPN & IPLC connectivity for service provision to customers
  • Understanding the need to invest in new emerging technologies for further innovation
 
Mr Russell T Ahmed, Chief Operating Officer,
Aamra Networks

12pm
Getting real profit from future-proof FTTx Network
  • Overcoming the FTTB / FTTH provisioning challenges in a metropolitan environment - Starting from scratch : developing a FTTB / FTTH infrastructure without the burden of a legacy platform
  • Hybrid deployment of Metro Ethernet and GPON with practical examples
  • Leveraging FTTB / FTTH to create a reverse digital gap : Up to 1 Gbps broadband access, VoIP, Broadband TV for the mass market
  • Building an 1Gbps-to-the-home network for US$130/home pass
  • Achieving a positive free cash flow and net profit as a result of increasing revenue/ARPU and decreasing churn
 
Mr Daniel Lo, Head - Next Generation Network Development,
Hong Kong Broadband Network

12.30pm
Networking luncheon
 

INSIGHTS FROM THE REGION: THE CARRIERS’ PERSPECTIVE
 

2pm
Delivering integrated communications in a high-growth low-ARPU market
  • Identifying growth opportunities in rural Bangladesh: SOHO, FTTH, etc
  • Developing a flexible business model for future growth in the broadband market
  • How can Bangladeshi carriers capitalise from the wholesale marketplace in the face of further deregulation?
 
Mr Ghalib A Ansari, Chief Executive Officer,
True Communication Ltd

2.30pm
Addressing the growing broadband demand in Pakistan
  • Examining the motivators to offer broadband Internet, modern telephony and digital video services to business and home users in Pakistan
  • Benefiting from fiber optics to deliver multiple services : voice, video and data
  • Providing the customer with scalability, service neutrality while preserving QoS and manageability with the FTTU network
 
Mr Wahaj us Siraj, Chief Executive Officer,
Micronet Broadband

3pm
Expanding the digital network with CDMA technology
  • Growth drivers in the Sri Lankan fixed-line market
  • Key advantages with the introduction of CDMA technology
  • Bringing innovative services like SMS, CLI, Prepaid, premium voice and data based content to fixed-line connections
 
Dr Sankassa Senevirathna, Senior Manager - QoS and System Administration, Department of Projects and Planning,
Lanka Bell

3.30pm
Afternoon refreshments
 

4pm
Addressing Bangladesh’s broadband needs with innovation and the ability to serve valued customers
  • Examining internet usage trends in Bangladesh: enterprise and residential users
  • Adopting DSL and wireless technologies to meet customer satisfaction
  • Benefiting from enhancing network capabilities and affordable package plans
 
Mr Sumon Ahmed Shabir, Managing Director,
BDCOM Online Ltd.

4.30pm
Facilitating in the transformation of Sri Lanka into a knowledge-based information society– The Suntel Story
  • An overview of the Sri Lankan fixed-line landscape
  • Connecting thousands of residential customers and businesses through an all-digital network
  • Meeting the demands of corporate customers in Sri Lanka with innovative thinking and customised telecom solutions
 
Mr Manjula Pathiranage, Head – Operations & Maintenance,
Suntel Limited

5pm
Developing a successful business model for the carrier
  • Regulation and market liberalization: Identifying opportunities in the fixed-line market
  • Benfiting through technology, service commitment and industry expertise
  • Achieving benefits to justify investment with new technology implementations?
 
Mr Ghalib A Ansari, Chief Executive Officer,
True Communication Ltd
Mr Sumon Ahmed Shabir, Managing Director,
BDCOM Online Ltd.
Mr Wahaj us Siraj, Chief Executive Officer,
Micronet Broadband
Mr Manjula Pathiranage, Head – Operations & Maintenance,
Suntel Limited
Mr Thinley Dorji, Managing Director,
Bhutan Telecom

5.30pm
Close of conference
 

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Why attend
  • Specially designed conference programme - delivering premium content to ensure in-depth insights to help pave a path for your business endeavours
  • Excellent networking opportunities - an operator-led event guaranteeing a decision making audience for increased business effiencies
  • Full industry recognition - from BTRC and South Asia GSM Operators Forum
  • Exhibition showcase - explore the latest services and products available to the market
 
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