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Driving Mobile Growth: GSMA Advocates for Policy Reforms to Enhance Investment in MENA

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Vodafone Egypt Partners with GSMA to Propel Mobile Investment and Policy Changes in MENA; New Report Highlights Five Key Reforms to Expedite 5G Deployment and Digital Transformation in the Region

CAIRO, EGYPT Media OutReach Newswire – 28 April 2025 – Policymakers and regulators across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) risk missing out on significant economic growth driven by mobile technology unless urgent policy reforms are enacted, according to a new GSMA report presented today at a high-level CxO and policy roundtables hosted by Vodafone Egypt in Cairo. The report, Igniting Mobile Investment in MENA, takes a closer look at how well countries in the region are set up to improve and expand their mobile networks. It highlights key strengths and problem areas in current policies, offering practical ideas to help unlock more investment and enhance mobile access for everyone.

With the mobile sector projected to contribute over $200 billion to MENA’s GDP by 2030, the stakes are high. However, the report finds that outdated regulatory environments including fragmented licensing management, and high sector specific taxation are stifling the necessary investments to expand and modernise networks. At the same time, more than 250 million people remain offline despite being within coverage – underscoring the urgent need for policies that support both infrastructure expansion and meaningful digital inclusion.

“Governments in MENA have set bold digital transformation goals, but the investment climate still lags behind,” said Jawad Abbassi, Head of MENA at GSMA. “This report provides a clear roadmap for reform – enabling mobile to deliver the connectivity, services, and economic growth that societies across the region are counting on.”

At the reports core is the Infrastructure Policy Readiness Framework, a diagnostic tool developed by the GSMA to help policymakers assess the investment-readiness of their regulatory environments. The report evaluates mobile investment conditions in 13 markets across MENA, uncovering shared challenges such as:

  • Restrictive licensing models and too short spectrum licence durations
  • High and distortionary sector-specific taxes
  • Delays in approvals for infrastructure deployment
  • Lack of supportive frameworks for network sharing
  • Limited provisions for cross-border data flows and innovation


Five Priority Reforms to Unlock Mobile Investment

The GSMA has identified five top policy priorities essential to improving investment climates and accelerating network rollout:

  1. Modernise licensing framework to allow technology neutrality and increase spectrum license duration to provide clarity and reduce risk for investors
  2. Fair and investment-friendly taxation that encourages infrastructure investment
  3. Supportive frameworks for infrastructure sharing to lower costs and expand rural coverage
  4. Competitive, open market dynamics to enable efficient investment and consumer choice
  5. Regulation that enables innovation and emerging technologies, such as 5G, AI, and cloud computing

“These are practical, achievable steps that will pay dividends for years to come,” said Michaela Angonius, Head of Policy and Regulation at GSMA. “This isn’t just about building networks – it’s about creating opportunities for people, communities, and economies across the region. With the right policies, governments can unlock innovation, create jobs, reduce inequality, and empower millions to benefit from the digital age.”

A Shared Commitment to Progress
The report was presented during the GSMA MENA CxO Roundtable, bringing together senior government officials and industry leaders. The event highlighted growing momentum across the region for more collaborative policymaking and the importance of bridging the gap between ambition and action, emphasising that public and private sector collaboration is crucial for the successful digital transformation of the region.

“The telecommunications sector is a cornerstone of economic growth and digital transformation, offering immense opportunities to drive innovation and connect communities,” said Ayman Essam, External Affairs and Legal Director at Vodafone Egypt. “At Vodafone Egypt, we are committed to leveraging our expertise, including our 5G experience across 49 Vodafone markets, to address the region’s most pressing challenges. By collaborating closely with MENA operators and the GSMA, we aim to drive meaningful policy reforms and foster a supportive regulatory environment that enables sustainable growth across the region.”

The GSMA is now calling on governments across the region to adopt the report’s recommendations and deepen engagement with mobile industry stakeholders to realise shared digital ambitions.

Hashtag: #GSMA

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About the GSMA

The GSMA is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop, and deliver innovation foundational to positive business environments and societal change. Our vision is to unlock the full power of connectivity so that people, industry, and society thrive. Representing mobile operators and organisations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, the GSMA delivers for its members across three broad pillars: Connectivity for Good, Industry Services and Solutions, and Outreach. This activity includes advancing policy; tackling today’s biggest societal challenges; underpinning the technology and interoperability that make mobile work; and providing the world’s largest platform to convene the mobile ecosystem at the MWC and M360 series of events.

About Vodafone Egypt

Vodafone is the largest telecommunications company in Egypt. The company’s strategy is to shape the future of the new digital world while continuing to put our customers first. For more than 25 years, Vodafone has invested more than EGP 100 billion to make a tangible difference in the lives of over 50 million customers through its exceptional team of 10,000 employees. The company strives to strongly impact on the market with innovative products and services and seamless digital customer experience. They were the first to launch the Vodafone Cash mobile wallet, aiming to facilitate the lives of over 20 million Egyptians by providing access to digital solutions and financial services. In 2003, the company established the Vodafone Egypt Foundation for community development and invested EGP 700 million in high-impact projects, benefiting 11 million Egyptians. The company’s purpose is to connect for a better future by using technology to improve lives and businesses and help develop inclusive, sustainable societies. It is committed to operating 100% on renewable energy by 2025.

For more information, please visit https://web.vodafone.com.eg/en/home or connect with us on LinkedIn at

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Woodfibre LNG Marks 2025 as a Year of Construction Progress, Environmental Stewardship and Community Partnership

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SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 24 December 2025 – Woodfibre LNG recently marked 2025 as a year of significant progress across construction, environmental protection and community partnerships, as the project moved deeper into its development phase toward delivering responsibly produced Canadian liquefied natural gas to global markets.

Over the past year, the project advanced from planning into visible, on-the-ground execution. Major construction milestones included the pouring of foundations for key modules, continued progress on marine piling, and further implementation of modular construction techniques designed to reduce on-site footprint while accelerating delivery timelines.

These advancements were achieved through close collaboration with project partners, suppliers and contractors, and in partnership with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation).

In 2025, Woodfibre LNG, a member of the RGE group of companies founded by Sukanto Tanoto, continued to operate its floatel workforce accommodation solution, designed to minimise pressure on local housing and community services. As of November, two floatels were in active operation, providing high-quality, safe and comfortable living conditions for the project workforce while supporting construction efficiency.

Environmental protection remained a central focus throughout the year. The project’s Marine Mammal Monitoring Programme, which includes hydroacoustic monitoring, exclusion zones and shore-based observation posts, delivered measurable outcomes by enabling real-time operational decisions, including pauses to marine activities when marine mammals entered exclusion areas.

In parallel, remediation of legacy materials from the former pulp mill site continued, with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of historical waste removed. These efforts have contributed to improving site conditions for both local communities and marine and terrestrial ecosystems in Howe Sound.

Woodfibre LNG’s Operator Training Programme, delivered in partnership with the Squamish Nation Training and Trades Centre and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), progressed throughout the year. The programme’s first cohort of graduates transitioned into full-time roles, supporting the development of long-term, skilled local employment opportunities linked to the project.

Through its Community Partnership Programme (CPP), Woodfibre LNG continued to invest in local communities across the Sea-to-Sky corridor. In 2025, the programme surpassed $1 million in total grants since its inception, supporting initiatives in sports, healthcare, emergency services, arts and culture, and youth development.

Luke Schauerte, CEO of Woodfibre LNG, said, “2025 has been a year of significant progress for Woodfibre LNG. We are proud of what our team and partners have accomplished together and look forward to building on this momentum in the year ahead.”

With more than half of the project’s development now complete, Woodfibre LNG remains focused on advancing construction safely and responsibly, while maintaining strong partnerships with Indigenous communities, local stakeholders and regulators.

As the project looks ahead to 2026, Woodfibre LNG continues its work toward delivering lower-carbon, responsibly produced Canadian energy to international markets.

Hashtag: #RGE #PacificEnergy #PacificCanbriamEnergy #WoodfibreLNG #LNG #environment #partnerships #LNG #liquefiednaturalgas #energy #sustainability

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Woodfibre LNG

The Woodfibre LNG Project is owned by Woodfibre LNG Limited Partnership, owned 70 per cent by Pacific Energy Corporation (Canada) Limited and 30 per cent by Enbridge Inc. The Woodfibre LNG facility is being built on the site of the former Woodfibre pulp mill site, which is located about seven kilometres southwest of Squamish, B.C. Woodfibre LNG will source its natural gas from Pacific Canbriam Energy, a Canadian company with operations in Northeastern British Columbia. Pacific Canbriam is an industry leader in sustainable natural gas production. Woodfibre LNG and Pacific Canbriam Energy are subsidiaries of Pacific Energy Corporation Limited. Woodfibre LNG is the first industrial project in Canada to recognise a non-treaty Indigenous government, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), as a full environmental regulator.

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New Opportunities in Southeast Asia’s Digital Shift: Thailand Emerges as the New ASEAN’s AI Hub

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BANGKOK, THAILAND – Media OutReach Newswire – 24 December 2025 – As global attention remains fixed on the AI race, Thailand is now carving out a new identity as an emerging “AI Hub for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).” The government is steadily advancing its “Thailand 4.0” initiative, positioning the digital economy as the key driver of national transformation.

The expansion of AI and data centers (DCs) in Thailand is driving several transformative trends:

  • Changing data traffic patterns. As DCs multiply in Bangkok, Chonburi, and beyond, Thailand is evolving from a traditional data “transit point” into a regional “convergence hub.” East-west digital traffic is accelerating, with Thai DC clusters increasingly meeting the computing demands of Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific.
  • Optimized data routing. Data flows that once relied on submarine cables via Hong Kong and Singapore are gradually shifting to land-based digital corridors linking China, Laos, and Thailand. This route reduces data transmission latency from southwestern China to Southeast Asia.
  • Elevated business expectations. Demand is shifting beyond “sufficient bandwidth” toward “high-quality experience.” Thailand sits in a “latency sweet spot” for key Asia-Pacific markets, with latencies to Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia falling within an optimal range—a crucial advantage for latency-sensitive sectors like autonomous driving, telemedicine, and fintech.

New opportunities inevitably bring new challenges, and Thailand also addresses the following three challenges:

1. Massive traffic impacting existing networks: Compared with mature hubs like Singapore, Thailand has insufficient international submarine cables. A large volume of cross-border data still needs to be transmitted through detours. Meanwhile, as DC investments continue to accelerate, traffic will keep rising. Analysis shows that by 2029, Thailand’s DC capacity may reach 2000 MW, with cross-region traffic surging to 630 Tbps. The current network architecture is no longer capable of supporting such heavy traffic.

2. Latency advantages not fully realized: Despite its geographic advantages, Thailand’s network latency performance has yet to reach its full potential. Routes to key markets, like China, still require third-party transit. What’s more, traditional network scheduling lacks intelligent route selection capabilities, making it difficult to provide deterministic assurance for latency-sensitive services like financial transactions and real-time AI interactions.

3. Potential risks in network reliability: Thailand’s network reliability faces structural challenges. Single points of failure have previously caused hours-long interruptions to critical services, directly undermining enterprise users’ confidence.

To overcome these challenges, Thailand can take a systematic approach to upgrading its digital infrastructure, aiming to build next-generation AI-ready networks.

1. Building ultra-high-bandwidth “sea-land” connectivity. By actively introducing new submarine cables, Thailand can significantly enhance its connectivity with the Asia-Pacific region and the world. Meanwhile, accelerating the construction and expansion of key terrestrial cable routes—such as China-Laos-Thailand and Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore—will transform Thailand’s geographic advantage into a tangible connectivity advantage.

2. Optimizing network routes to create a regional low-latency core. Strengthening the Kunming-Laos-Thailand terrestrial cable route will continuously reduce transmission latency between China and Thailand, meeting the needs of real-time applications. In addition, the introduction of autonomous networks will enable automatic selection of the optimal, shortest route, shifting from “best effort” to “deterministic low latency.”

3. Designing a “never-interrupted” high-resilience architecture. Deploying active-active DC networks with millisecond-level switchover capabilities ensures the continuity of core services. Meanwhile, AI-driven intelligent O&M can reduce fault detection and diagnosis from hours to minutes.

Thailand’s booming AI and DC industries are driving rapid growth in regional and cross-border business demand. In this trend, network infrastructure construction centered on DCs is the core engine that drives AI transformation, propelling Thailand toward its vision of becoming the new AI hub for ASEAN.

Hashtag: #huawei

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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MyRepublic Launches Card Sub, Singapore’s First Subscription Service for Trading Card Game Fans

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SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 23 December 2025 MyRepublic today announced the launch of Card Sub, a new subscription-based service designed for Trading Card Game (TCG) enthusiasts. Card Sub offers subscribers a convenient way to receive Magic: The Gathering (MTG) products monthly, including access to premium booster packs not typically available through standard retail purchases.

MyRepublic Launches Card Sub, Singapore’s First Subscription Service for Trading Card Game Fans

Card Sub introduces a structured monthly subscription model in which customers pay a fixed monthly rate and receive up to 3 Play Booster packs or 2 Play booster boxes from the current MTG release. In addition, subscribers will receive free premium booster packs or boxes. These premium boosters may include Collector Booster Packs or Boxes, such as the highly sought-after Final Fantasy Collector Booster, which is constantly sold out worldwide which features the extremely valuable serialised Golden Chocobo card
“The trading card community in Singapore is incredibly passionate, and Card Sub is our small way of adding value to that ecosystem,” said Terry Williams, Head of Consumer at MyRepublic. “As TCG players ourselves, we wanted to offer something to the community to provide an easier access to the latest release every month, and the chance to secure premium packs that might not be readily accessible to players. We see Card Sub as a community-driven initiative, open to all who share a passion for growing the hobby.”
The subscription tiers available at launch are:
MyRepublic Card Sub Plans
MyRepublic Card Sub Plans

Card Sub will be available to both MyRepublic and non-MyRepublic customers. All product redemptions will take place in person at the upcoming Card Arena by MyRepublic, located at Suntec City. Customers will redeem their Premium booster or box in-store.

Card Sub is positioned to serve cost-conscious TCG consumers by providing reliable monthly access to boosters with the added benefit of premium packs or boxes at no additional charge. The inclusion of Collector Boosters in the premium pool provides an opportunity for subscribers to obtain higher-value products through a predictable monthly model. MyRepublic also plans to expand Card Sub to additional TCG franchises, including Pokémon.
Card Sub is open for sign-up at cardsub.net and available to everyone in Singapore. Monthly redemption of subscription items will be fulfilled exclusively at:
Card Arena by MyRepublic
Suntec City, 3 Temasek Boulevard, #02-323/324

Hashtag: #CardSub, #MyRepublic #MyRepublicCardSub #CardSubSG #TCG #GeeksUseUs





The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

MyRepublic

MyRepublic is an award-winning telecom operator whose values lie in the future of connectivity, the next opportunity to disrupt, and innovations that will make a real difference. The provider’s priority is to redefine broadband and mobile connectivity in the markets it operates and empower customers to understand what a true modern connectivity experience can be.
For more information, please visit
cardsub.net

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