News

Tuesday 3 April, 2018 | News

Mats Granryd, the Director General of the GSMA recently visited the Middle East  and North Africa Region. He was accompanied by the Chief Regulatory Officer , John Giusti, Jawad Abbassi, the Head of the MENA region and Ammar Hammadien, the Head of Strategic Engagement for ...

Monday 29 January, 2018 | News

In a 2016 blog, we argued that smartphones have the potential to drive innovation in product and user experience (UX) design, in addition to supporting increased competition in the mobile money industry. Last year, to understand how growth of smartphone customers will change ...

Monday 9 October, 2017 | News

Latest GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index Tracks Global Progress on Mobile Internet Adoption Dubai: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has increased its overall score on the GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index by five points over the last two years, according to new data published today ...

Monday 12 June, 2017 | News

This recent conference gathered all of Jordan’s mobile operators and the ICT industry to discuss big data and the IoT. Jawad Abbassi, GSMA Head of MENA, called for a horizontal approach to regulations and regulatory modernization to best prepare for the IoT era. The GSMA ...

Monday 12 June, 2017 | News

Jawad Abbassi, GSMA Head of MENA, attended WEF MENA on 19-21 May in Jordan and provided an overview of the GSMA’s Humanitarian Connectivity Charter which supports mobile operators in improving disaster preparedness and resilience. The government officials, industry ...

Friday 26 May, 2017 | News

Jawad Abbassi, GSMA Head of MENA attended the conference in Muscat, Oman on 16 March and presented on ‘the requirements for successful digital transformation’. The talk encompassed issues of regulatory modernization, spectrum pricing and the prerequisites for a successful 5G ...

Tuesday 10 January, 2017 | News

In 2016, Jordan became the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to have implemented interoperability of mobile money services. The Central Bank of Jordan has developed a regulatory framework for mobile money and has begun to develop a national financial ...

Friday 14 October, 2016 | News

The 12th Annual Telecoms World Middle East show took place on the 27-28 September in Dubai. Jawad Abbassi, GSMA Head of MENA and Acting Head of Africa, attended the event and moderated four sessions, focused on the importance of harmonized adequate spectrum and regulatory ...

Friday 14 October, 2016 | News

The GSMA’s Head of MENA, Jawad Abbassi, along with the Africa policy team attended the 1st African Telecommunications Union (ATU) preparatory meeting for WRC19 in September in Nairobi, Kenya. We made a series of recommendations which discourage premature exclusion of any ...

Thursday 12 May, 2016 | News

The event was hosted by Jordan’s Telecommunications Regulatory Commission at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Amman. There were over 90 delegates from 12 out of the 22 Arab States. Some of the regulators that were present were the Arab International Telecommunication Union office, ...

Thursday 12 May, 2016 | News

This conference took place on 4 April in Amman, Jordan. The GSMA gave two keynote speeches; one on Mobile Money and the other on Mobile Connect. The GSMA’s Jawad Abbassi also moderated a panel discussion on ‘Payment Systems Interoperability: Factors promoting and inhibiting ...

Thursday 12 May, 2016 | News

The main objective of the ITU Regional Development Forum was to present the ITU Arab Regional Office operational plan proposals for the next two years as well as review and discuss what has been achieved in the five Arab Regional initiatives during 2015 and the activities of ...

Tuesday 1 March, 2016 | News

Oman’s TRA invited GSMA to attend the forum which was held in Muscat between 9 and 11 February. Jawad Abbassi, Head of MENA, attended the event and networked with the Omani regulator and the operators present. Read more

Tuesday 1 March, 2016 | News

The conference was held in Beirut Lebanon on March 1, 2 and 3. Jawad Abbassi, the Head of MENA, Government and Regulatory Affairs attended and presented about the state of the mobile industry in MENA. Read more

Thursday 25 February, 2016 | News

This year’s Mobile World Congress saw Etisalat pick up 2 Glomo Awards: “Best Mobile Innovation for Health” and “Connected Life Champion”. The Etisalat Virtual Mall was showcased as a part of the Digital Commerce stand in GSMA Innovation City and ...

Monday 1 February, 2016 | News

This cornerstone annual report continues to share the latest insights from the Mobile Money programme and delivers the key numbers to help you understand the impact and reach of mobile money. Download report

Wednesday 20 January, 2016 | News

In January 2016, GSMA Strategic Engagement facilitated a meeting with all 3 operators in Jordan, which led to an executive commitment to collaboratively carry out a beta trial of Mobile Connect. This trial will test the market appetite for a basic login and authentication ...

Monday 11 January, 2016 | News

The GSMA’s Claire Scharwatt has been profiled in an interview on mobile money in MENA in Bearing Point’s MFS report. Read more

Sunday 10 January, 2016 | News

The GSMA attended Ericsson’s Change Makers Forum on 10 January 2016 in Dubai whose speakers and delegates encompassed an array of industry leaders across the region. http://www.ericsson.com/ae/thecompany/events/change-makers-forum-2016