Iraq-based mobile operator, Korek Telecom, offers network coverage to the entire country through the use of its cutting-edge technology and is currently the country’s fastest growing operator which serves the 18 provinces of Iraq. The operator has, time and time again, overcome tremendous challenges over the years as Iraq has been subject to political unrest.
At the 13th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit, Telecom Review managed to secure an interview with Korek Telecom’s Chief Operating Officer, Ahmed Diwan, to discuss the prospect of 5G and the potential use cases for it within Iraq.
“This is a one day event but it is indeed a very well-organized and intense event. The event hosts some of the ICT industry’s major players and it acts as a sort of workshop where we could sit together, discuss and exchange ideas on the best practices and gain some insight into the visions of some of industry’s bigger players for the telecoms market of the future,” he said, in reference to the Telecom Review Summit, which is in fact, the industry’s largest VIP gathering.
“We have been talking about 5G all day and I think that its deployment is yet to come but it is very challenging on so many levels. There’s the regulatory factor as well as the issue of infrastructure preparedness and standardization which will impact the implementation of use cases.”
Indeed, vendors and service providers are currently striving to present feasible 5G use cases to their customers so both industries and the everyday consumer could reap the rewards that will emerge from this next generation network.
In reference to this, he said, “This is an issue because 5G is not just a technology meant to be used by individuals only, but for industries and enterprises too; which is why we need to convince industries to reform the ways in which they are working and formulate their own strategy to ride the digital transformation wave. This is going to be particularly difficult unless you have very powerful use cases to suggest.”
When asked about his opinion on the most beneficial use cases for 5G in Iraq, Diwan stated, “The general use cases we are going to see are wider deployments of smart city technologies in transportation and healthcare. For the time being, these are just some of the general use cases which have been proposed and I believe that as we edge closer to our 5G rollout, more effort will be put into making these use cases more convincing and useful to several industries and the lives of people alike.”