HUAWEI, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, partnered with an array of thought leaders from the telecoms sector during the company's first Middle East installment of its worldwide Broader Way Forum held during ITU Telecom World 2012. In addition to being a platinum sponsor of the overall ITU Telecom World 2012, Huawei's Broader Way Forum was one of the paramount sessions investigating how to expand the socioeconomic benefits of national broadband networks (NBN) within the Middle East and abroad. As national broadband networks become more affordable and efficient, its importance to other systems such as transportation, education and power – cornerstones to overall social prosperity – has become more pronounced. Broadband can also play a central role in addressing today's most challenging issues such as poverty and unemployment. However, because of varying degrees of broadband penetration in different countries and regions, the projected social economy benefits are not uniform in scope or scale. More than 30 countries have made national broadband commitments worldwide—including nations such as UAE and Qatar—with experts at research firm Booz & Company earlier this year predicting the number of broadband lines in the MENA region to reach more than 150 million by 2015. Paul Michael Scanlan, Huawei's Vice President of Solution Sales and Marketing and Huawei's panelist for the Broader Way Forum, said: “Huawei's involvement in eight of the nine global national broadband networks demonstrates how we apply innovation to ensure that profitable and sustainable benefits are realized by the operators of these networks." – SG
