By Marc Van den Broucque and Feroz Khan

Instant messaging (IM) applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Line have had a turbulent relationship with telecom operators and are widely blamed for the decline in operators’ revenue over recent years. However, recent trends show an increase in partnerships between the two, which begs the question, why are telecom operators now choosing to embrace their former enemies?

Marc Van den Broucque is a director in Delta Partners’ Corporate Finance business in Dubai

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Connectivity is the key to the development of smart cities, giving way to the emergence of the smart customer

Burhan Kamal is managing partner of Vector Technologies

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Last year Zain Group established the Zain Digital Frontier and Innovation (ZDFI) business unit, which is charged with expanding the reach of the group into the digital space, and developing new innovative businesses and income streams.  Emre Gurkan, the company chief strategy and business development officer, addresses the opportunities that the advent of smart cities, IoT and M2M will present and Zain’s role in the emerging ecosystem

Emre Gurkan is Zain Group’s chief strategy and business development officer

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Where citizen needs meet governance and socio-economic service delivery, all powered by technological prowess

Guy Zibi is managing director, of Xalam Analytics, analytics on AME digital infrastructure markets

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There are deep misconceptions about smart cities that we find within the industry. One of the most common is the idea that a smart city is a ‘finalised product’ rather than the process of harmonising infrastructure with technology. While it is possible to build a smart city ‘from scratch’, it is also possible (and necessary) to upgrade existing cities to become smarter. This perspective underscores two critical points about smart cities – their primary purpose is to improve the lives of citizens, and they are an inevitable part of our future

Telcos could become the future ‘town square’ – a meeting place for people to co-create and innovate

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