Samena Telecom Council, the tri-regional telecom consortium has announced the appointment of Dr Mustafa Aykut as the new chairman and Bernadette Baynie the vice-chairperson of its Policy Board.

Dr Ayukt is Group Representative of Türk Telekom International Institutions for Policy, Standards and Regulations and Baynie is the chief legal and regulatory officer of Batelco Group.

The Samena Policy Board which includes representatives from Batelco, Türk Telekom, Etisalat, Omantel, PTCL, Orange Jordan, Qtel, Viva Kuwait, Bravo and Saudi Telecom, guides, advises and adopts strategic positions on issues arising within the ICT industry, both regionally and globally, for the benefit of the council and its members.

Dr Aykut said, “Samena has achieved a great capacity by extending its reach to the significant ICT players in a region covering South Asia and Mena in a relatively short period. It is now time to transform this capacity to an active capability by being effectively involved in crucial issues of the sector worldwide.”

“The Policy Board Committee of Samena will use its ability to help the members highlight the common interests as a single voice and generate optimum approaches having interactions with the stakeholders at national and international platforms.''

Baynie said, “Samena appreciates and values the important role that it performs on behalf of its members. It strives to be a leading and quintessential voice for them on significant telecommunication issues that impact their market presence and operations.”

“The vision of the Policy Board is to ensure that comprehensive policies are introduced in a timely manner which optimize telecom operators and service providers expansion of next generation access across the Samena region and beyond and enable them to establish new cutting edge business models that compliment technological advancements in the industry,” she added.

Thomas Wilson, chief executive & executive managing director of Samena Telecom Council said, "The Policy Board is highly indicative of the importance of Policy for Samena's membership and the industry itself, to address the consensus needs of the industry. We at Samena are looking forward to the leadership on the Policy activities of the Samena Council.” – TradeArabia News Service