<h1>Samena Telecommunications Council seminar on building sustainable Internet business model</h1><h2 class="summary" id="summary"><font><a href="http://www.ameinfo.com/samena-telecommunications-council-seminar-building-sustainable-301760">http://www.ameinfo.com/samena-telecommunications-council-seminar-building-sustainable-301760</a></font></h2>
<h2 class="summary" id="summary"><font>Samena Telecommunications Council
(Samena), a tri-regional industry association of leading
telecommunications organizations, and European Telecommunications
Network Operators' Association (ETNO) held the annual Samena Chairmen
and CEOs seminar in Hong Kong under the theme "Internet Policy Dynamics:
Shaping the Future - How consensus between The Policy Makers, Content
Providers and Operators can lead us to Sustainable Digital Economies". </font></h2>
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More than 65 chief executives and chairmen from leading telecom
operators discussed and debated the importance of collaborative efforts
in building sustainable Internet business models. <br><br>HKT, Hong
Kong's premier telecommunications service provider, and PCCW Global, an
operating division of HKT which provides international connectivity to
enterprises and service providers worldwide, were co-sponsors and hosts.<br><br>Samena
and ENTO stressed that generating additional income is important for
global telecom operators, considering flat revenues from traditional
services, ever-increasing competition, very high CAPEX costs, and
regulatory pressures. Telecom operators need to rethink their Internet
business models in light of the recent trends which illustrate that
Internet traffic has experienced exponential growth and is expected to
continue in the foreseeable future. <br><br>Samena Telecommunications
Council's Content Committee has been exploring a number of possible
future models that can assist operators to potentially offset the great
imbalance between their CAPEX and ROI. <br><br>The Council released a
position paper on "Perspectives on Meeting Massive Growth on Bandwidth
Demands" to provide operators with a collective framework conducive to
building a sustainable Internet business model jointly. <br><br>Mr.
Sheikh Mohamed Isa Al Khalifa, Group CEO of Batelco and Chairman of
SAMENA Telecommunications Council, said, "The ICT ecosystem is very
dynamic and the telecom operators should unite to address the changing
elements in the industry, specifically in areas such as international
telecommunications regulations (ITRs) as well as the building of the new
sustainable Internet business model. The telecom operators are facing a
critical point in the evaluation of requirements for additional CAPEX
investment versus the potential realistic timely return on the same
investment from broadband margins." <br><br>Luigi Gambardella, Chairman
of ETNO's Executive Board, said, "It is essential that both Samena and
ETNO work together to encourage the development of policies that support
investment in new infrastructure by stimulating the emergence of a new
Internet eco-system that encourages commercial agreements on specific
quality of service levels in order to meet customers' needs.
Differentiated offers based on QoS would foster investment by telecoms
operators while providing for a better user experience for Internet
services." <br><br>Mr. Alex Arena, Group Managing Director of HKT, said,
"Telecom service providers face commoditization in their core access
businesses, and have therefore looked to content, applications, and
other transactional services to find new revenue growth opportunities.
Simultaneously, many content providers are seeking other means of
distribution using OTT (Over-The-Top) Internet hoping to maximize their
revenues."<br><br>Mr. Arena added, "The Samena Telecommunications
Council is actively working towards the development of a viable
framework which contemplates a number of forward looking collaborative
business models to achieve a successful and mutually valuable working
relationship among the parties. HKT is much honored to be hosting this
year's Samena Chairmen and CEOs Dinner in Hong Kong, bringing a
significant number of key telecommunications executives from around the
world to discuss and debate these framework proposals. HKT welcomes
everyone to participate in the event while leveraging Hong Kong's global
ICT leadership position as a platform for new business."
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