Based on the lecture and discussions in the session, select top challenges and future prospects in the telecom industry. Map the current gap in Egypt. Use your own experience as well as Orange facts, and other online sources. You may use Orange or other telecom companies in Egypt.
Your response is suggested to be a ½ to a one page. It shall be posted on the UES Course Website
Urban & Environmental Studies 
At Orange Egypt our focus is reaching net zero CO2 emissions by 2030 which can be achieved by achieving two main KPIs: Energy and Circular Economy
1. Energy encompasses energy efficiency at headquarters, data centres, sites and renewable energy (solar cells for some of our sites) and solar panels at our headquarters).
2. Circular Economy including reuse/resale/refurbishment of network equipment on our network and between affiliates and reuse/repair/recycle/refurbishment of customer devices. However, this is a quite a challenge in Egypt due to regulations. Regulations prohibit import of used mobile devices for the objective of trade. Circular Economy is a challenge in terms of regulatory framework and business model for Orange Egypt and is currently at the top of its agenda as the inflation calls for alternative affordable devices to meet consumer’s needs.
One of the essential mechanisms that will help us meet our KPIs is raising awareness amongst suppliers on circular supply chains to optimise costs and resources.
Aside from these two main KPIs we tend to inject initiatives linked to
– water optimisation,
– implementation of a building management system,
– fleet management solutions,
– using upcycled plastic waste as giveaways to raise awareness,
– collecting WEEE for sale at auctions to certified recyclers, and
– working towards zero waste management by reducing and hopefully eliminating paper, separating waste through recycle bins, learning how to implement a food composter, collecting cigarette butts for recycling and using biodegradable plastic for shopping bags in our stores.
And yet, I believe that unless all stakeholders get together to engage in dialogue and build sustainable partnerships/business models; i.e. Orange Egypt, Ministry of Telecom, Ministry of Environment, NTRA and Ministry of Planning and Economic Development along with organisations, public and private sectors get together to shape public policies and develop business models considering end to end lifecycle.
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To portray the challenges within the telco industry I have used Orange Egypt as a use case.
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I believe that the telecom operators are in good place interms of own operations, where we now able to quantify our impact interms of CO2e & waste which could be step 1 in determining the actions toward the goal , however from my opinion we have a true challenge in the supply chain which has the major impact & we don’t have enough control or governance specially in Egypt with the local suppliers which don’t adhere to any social & environmental standards & I can’t swap them with international ones due to multiple factors such as business case
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I think that one of the big challenges here in the telecom industry in Egypt is how to deal with the government ( NTRA ) .
For example E-sim , IPhone 15.
The regulations that are implemented here in the Industry doesn’t match and fit with real needs for the consumer.
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Use of Renewable Energy:
This is one of the top challenges in Telecom industry, the Transformation from the current setup to Clean and renewable sources will require a Financial struggle specially with current devaluation and spike of prices, meanwhile there’s no formal enforcement to adopt such changes, which still somehow driven internally from Operators under Corporate responsibility towards the community or coping with the International trend of change.
Either way this should be supported by Regulatory framework that encourage a speedy change over a short term ,since time is a critical factor when it comes to sustainability and Climate action.
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