Walid Irsahd Elected as Vice Chairman SAMENA

by Ahmed Rayyan

Walid Irshaid, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) CEO & President, has been elected as the new vice chairman of its board of directors at SAMENA Telecommunications Council.

He succeeds Riad Bahsoun of Telecommunications Information Technology (TIT).

In his capacity as vice Chairman of SAMENA, Irshaid will aid SAMENA’s relationship-building efforts with policy circles in the SAMENA region. He will assist Sheikh Mohamed bin Isa Al Khalifa, Group CEO of Batelco Group, SAMENA chairman.

“Walid Irshaid’s election to the board adds to the leadership support said Chief Executive & Executive Managing Director SAMENA, Tom Wilson.

“SAMENA is making strides on multiple fronts, of interest to our operator membership, and Irshaid’s leadership and experience in the regional ICT are precisely what SAMENA’s membership will gain from,” he said

SAMENA board of directors now comprises 11 major regional operators, including Batelco Group, Omantel Group, Saudi Telecom Group, Etisalat Group, Orange-Jordan Telecom Group, Qtel Group, Turk Telekom Group, PTCL, VivaKuwait, and Bravo.

“It is a great honor for me to have been entrusted with this esteemed position,” said PTCL CEO & President, Irshaid. “This new honor for PTCL actually reflects SAMENA’s recognition of our Company’s frontline role in fostering and leading the telecommunications revolution inAsia.”

As SAMENA Vice Chairman, I envision this as a great opportunity for PTCL to expand its outreach with both regional and global players, thus puttingPakistanfirmly on the international map as a global telecom market leader, he said

An international information and communications technology (ICT) expert, Irshaid has more than 30 years of professional experience in the Middle East, North Africa andSouth Asiaregions. Throughout his career, he has led a multitude of high-value telecom projects in several markets. His previous international stints include Emirates Telecom (Etisalat ), Datanet (Lebanon), Paltel (Palestine), and FLAG (Middle East & North Africa).

SAMENA Telecommunications Council is a tri-regional, non-profit telecommunications association that represents over 40 telecommunications operators in 25 markets, representing an aggregate subscriber base of 700 million mobile users, 79 million fixed-line users, and 22 million broadband users in Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.