Passionate Global Telecommunications Expert
This September 2023, we get to know Ekow Nelson, Vice President, Head of Global Customer Unit e& and Pakistan and Country General Manager at Ericsson. He is a multi-traveller telecom executive who found his home in the UAE and at the Swedish global company Ericsson approximately a decade ago. Ekow is playing a vital role at Ericsson Middle East and Africa to develop the important 5G in the region with a dream to create the enabling environment for everyone to realise their full potential.
Ericsson is one of the leading providers of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to service providers. They enable the full value of connectivity by creating game-changing technology and services that are easy to use, adopt, and scale, making their customers successful in a fully connected world.
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Ekow Nelson, Vice President, Head of Global Customer Unit e& and Pakistan and Country General Manager at Ericsson
Who is Ekow Nelson?
By way of introduction, I am a Telecommunications Media and Technology (TMT) executive and a thought leader and I lead Ericsson’s global business with e& and in Pakistan. I am also Ericsson’s Country General Manager for the United Arab Emirates. Beyond selling and delivering large-scale telecoms networks, Cloud platforms and IT solutions to create value for my customers, I operate at the confluence of business and digital technologies with a proven track‐record in strategy and advisory, product and sales management, large-scale technology-driven business transformation and technology innovation.
At a personal level the best way to describe myself, borrowing from a veteran American journalist who like me spent most of her adult life in Britain, is as a vestigial African. My formative years were spent on the continent that is the cradle of mankind, in Ghana specifically, but for much of my adult life, I have lived and worked in many countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Over the past decade or so, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been my home away from home in England where my family – my wife and our two wonderful children live and work.
Professionally I began life as a software engineer, in a small family-owned business in Waterbeach, near Cambridge in England writing firmware for networking personal computers. After my postgraduate education at University College London, I joined Uniplex Software Limited in England then the global leader in office automation on Unix, developing electronic communications and collaboration applications (such as e-mail, e-calendar, document management), leading software development teams and later as Head of Sales for Asia-Pacific which gave me the opportunity of extended stints in places like China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand.
I joined Coopers & Lybrand (later PwC) as a management consultant and became part of the team at the forefront of the burgeoning e-commerce and e-business era ushered in by the Internet and the worldwide web. As mobile telecommunications transitioned from voice to data with 2.5G and later 3G, I was among the pioneering team that established the global mobile business consulting practice for PwC across Europe Middle East and Africa. For a decade or so I held senior sales, telecom industry and thought leadership positions at IBM Corporation before joining Ericsson in 2012.
In my spare time, I write and contribute articles to various business and industry publications on the telecom, IT and media industries and technology convergence.
You started at Ericsson in 2012. What made you join Ericsson in the first place, and how have you seen your career develop during these almost 12 year?
Having spent a couple of decades working with largely IT companies in engineering and sales roles, I decided, with the looming convergence between Telecom and IT, to make a career move to bolster the telecom part of my background. It was a matter of joining a Communications Service Provider (CSP) or a Network Equipment Provider (NEP) - as we used to call them.
Coincidentally Ericsson had also made a strategic decision to move the other way, from telecom into IT for a share of the spoils of large-scale IT-driven transformations. I was hired as Head of Sales for Consulting and Systems Integration to work with Etisalat who were undertaking a transformation of their legacy business and operational support systems in the UAE. The objective was to reduce complexity, increase agility and responsiveness and improve time to market. I had the opportunity to work with and get to know, many of the Executives at Etisalat in the UAE, Egypt and in Mobily in Saudi Arabia. Many of these relationships remain intact till this day.
After a successful three years I was asked to lead global consulting at Ericsson with over 500 consultants in operations and technology advisory. While technology is at the core of many transformations it was increasingly obvious that successful outcomes depended on the ability to align business processes and organizations to exploit the new capabilities more effectively.
We delivered lots of advisory work from pre- and post-merger consolidation, target operating model design, to defining customer journeys and business process alignment. It was a great opportunity to spend time at the mothership in Stockholm. I improved my understanding of the company and its culture, accelerated my integration and it afforded me the opportunity to expand my network which has been a most incredible resource base for my growth and development.
Next stop was India where I took responsibility for the newly established IT and Cloud Unit. When I arrived in India in 2016, there were roughly 6-8 Service Providers. The newest entrant was Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio which was just about to launch in September 2016. A 4G-only network, Jio had the ambition to enroll 100m subscribers within the first six months of launch. A frenetic set of activities were set in motion to achieve that goal and for me, that involved a lot of travel between Delhi and Mumbai and a ringside seat to witness industry transformation at full speed.
At the same time, the market in India began to consolidate with a flurry of mergers that saw the number of CSPs shrink to three main ones. It was incredible to be part of that journey with opportunities to consolidate large scale networks (involving disparate spectrum assets and hundreds of thousands of sites) and IT platforms.
In 2018, the opportunity to lead the Global Customer Unit for Etisalat and Pakistan came up and I moved back to Abu Dhabi to lead that business for Ericsson. In June 2022 I also became Country General Manager for Ericsson UAE as a natural extension of my role.
You have worked with many countries throughout your career, how do you see the UAE differentiate itself from others?
The UAE has an incredible story to tell. It is a beacon of inspiration for nations seeking the path of accelerated development. When the British decided in 1971 to give up governing the then Trucial states it came as a sudden surprise. With no national army to defend it from external aggressors or a semblance of a local civil service, the UAE had to form an autonomous functioning nation in short order. Under the leadership of the founding father HH Sheikh Zayed of Abu Dhabi, and leaders from the other Emirates, they painstakingly wove together a new Union that formed what is today’s UAE. And it hasn’t looked back since.
The first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, famously wrote ’From Third World to First: The Singapore Story 1965 – 2000’, describing the then unparalleled transformation of his city-state to a prosperous nation that gave us the world's best airline, busiest airport, and active trading ports. Today, that remarkable transformation story is the UAE’s, whose bold, visionary leaders have created a modern metropolis brimming with the most daring and confident architecture supported by worldclass infrastructure.
A harbinger of digital government, it boasts the highest household penetration of fibre network deployment anywhere in the world, the fastest mobile communications network and expect one in four cars on their roads to be driverless by 2030. It also has some of the most advanced universities in the Middle East, even the world; and has sent a man into space.
The UAE knows that the world does not stand still and is determined to be at the forefront of technological innovation by harnessing the talents of its people – local and foreign - who have something to contribute to its progress. In a country where every nine in ten of the population is foreign, the relative peace and harmony in which we all live is beyond remarkable. It is a country of a tolerant mix of cultures and rich in diversity.
Having lived here on and off for over a decade, I know that the country’s achievements are not accidental. Much of what the world sees is grounded in the long-term vision of its leaders and enabled by a steely and unwavering determination to be simply the best. On the few occasions when I have had the privilege to meet some of the UAE’s national and business leaders, I have been blown away by their far sightedness, supreme confidence, and a belief that nothing is impossible. More than this, it is their ability to dream and imagine possible, coupled with the willingness to create the enabling environment for growth and advancement, that sets the UAE apart.
What is more remarkable is that these great strides have been achieved without jettisoning the past. In response to Wilfred Thesiger’s question about whether the UAE’s modern renaissance might not lead to the loss of innocence and the country’s naturalness of yore, the late Sheikh Zayed said this to his old friend, whom he described as an adventurer and traveller passing by: “We want our people to possess all the reasons of power and civilization and at the same time we will not abandon our past and history”. And they haven’t! This ability to blend the old with the new; to be authentic and progressive at the same time, is one of the hallmarks of this remarkable, young nation.
When looking towards the future of telecom, how do you think it will evolve, and what are some of the new trends?
Modern communications technology has already revolutionised the way we connect. Previous generations of mobile technology help us collapse time and distance. I believe that in the future, advancements in mobile communications, broadband and the internet will continue transforming our lives and opening new possibilities.
With its faster speeds, reduced latency, and increased capacity, 5G will enable seamless connectivity and new forms of interactions. This will bring ground-breaking innovations, like Apple Vision Pro that blends digital content with physical space, into the mainstream. Instead of smartphones, we may communicate via wearables.
These new devices and interaction models will impose greater capacity and performance requirements on ICT networks. Processing will be offloaded to the edge/cloud to keep devices lightweight and reduce heat dissipation. This will drive the need for ultra-fast connectivity. 5G and the cloud will enable new immersive experiences, whose disruptive impact will be felt across multiple sectors – from healthcare, transportation, and education to retail and financial services.
What are some of the proud initiatives you have driven during these years?
Ericsson and e& have a shared commitment to technology leadership. As one of the early adopters of technology, the UAE has always provided a platform for us to try out new things. Among these are launch of the first of 5G in the region and as well as a global first with native 5G voice (aka VoNR). Another is our collaboration with Etisalat by e& to demonstrate an uplink data peak rate of 2 Gbps on a commercial network using 5G dual connectivity (DC) and carrier aggregation. This was the first time such a high data speed had been achieved in the MENA region.
As we head towards COP 28 to be hosted in the UAE, I am especially proud of our partnership with Etisalat by e& to build more sustainable network and the success of our initial deployment that resulted in a substantial reduction in energy consumption of up to 52% without compromising the network quality and customer experience. One of the first projects of my early tenure in the role is the record time in which we deployed the mobile financial services platform that powers e& Life’s e& Money service. We have since extended this to e&’s subsidiary in Saudi Mobily with the launch of MobilyPay in the Kingdom’s vibrant fintech market.
Another initiative worth mentioning is the Together Apart Hackathon that has been running in various countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, since 2021. The competition invites young innovators to present their innovative solutions showcasing the power of connectivity and 5G. A part of the grand prize was a visit to our headquarters in Sweden to exchange ideas with our technology experts and gain inspiration for future projects.
On the educational front, I am proud to have played a role in the launch of our Fresh Graduate Program in the UAE and Pakistan. As part of our commitment to building ICT leaders of the future, the initiative has created an open ecosystem for research and implementation of innovative projects powered by 5G, and a healthy pipeline of young talent for our operations.
We are proud to be a member of the Champions 4.0 Network, an initiative spearheaded by the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) that aims to accelerate the integration of Fourth Industrial Revolution solutions across the industrial sector.
What are your interests and hobbies and who are your greatest influencers?
Although I studied Computer Science and later an MBA both of which have dictated the trajectory of my professional career, what defines me is my natural affinity for history and world affairs and in particular, an inexhaustible passion for the history of postcolonial Africa, interests in all things political, literary, track and field sports and of course, Arsenal Football Club.
I was hugely influenced by soul music and R&B growing up and enjoy modern hip-hop too. But I also adore the sacred music of JS Bach, the operas and concertos of WA Mozart, the grand symphonies and sublime piano works of Ludwig van Beethoven and revel in the effervescent popular musical genres of the Congo, Ghana, and Nigeria.
In terms of heroes, I don’t have many because all human beings are flawed. Still, there are a few whose visions, actions, and example, alter the course of mankind and of history and these I call my change makers. Preeminent among them is Kwame Nkrumah who led Ghana to become the first African country to achieve independence from Britain. It was no surprise that at the turn of the last century in 2000, he was voted 'Africa's Man of the Millennium'. I have since coming to the UAE added the late Sheikh Zayed to my very short list. His visionary leadership and best example of leader-as-servant of his people, is admirable and reflected arguably in the most remarkable transformation of any country.
My favourite movie of all time is 'Shawshank Redemption' a riveting story about an escape from a notorious prison, with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. I also, for sentimental reasons, loved Richard Attenborough's 'Cry Freedom' with Denzil Washington as the late anti-apartheid activist, Steve Biko who like Nelson Mandela sacrificed much for the freedom of their people.
As a student of history, I have been influenced by many writers too many to list. Among those whose works i have most admired in recent times are David Blight, the eminent Yale University Professor of American Civil War and Slavery and biographer of the great abolitionist, Frederik Douglass, a man born into slavery with no formal education, but blessed with an extraordinary gift of communication, he wrote prodigiously and persuasively on many subjects from law, philosophy to political science and art. Like Sheikh Zayed, Douglass said he would never forget his “own humble origins”, nor cease “while Heaven lends me the ability to use my voice, my pen or my vote, to advocate the great and primary work of the universal and unconditional emancipation of my entire race”.
I have always been fascinated by the pioneers of my industry - from the folks who created the first public packet-switched computer network at ARPANET and those at the highly innovative Xerox PARC, to today’s so-called magnificent seven tech giants - who have given us the tools to improve and transform our lives in ways that were simply unimaginable a few decades ago.
It is no surprise, therefore, that Margaret O'Mara's 'The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America' at the intersection of history and technology, a book I'd love to have written myself, is a clear favorite. It traces the history of Silicon Valley from the barren land it was in the early 20th century, to today's haven of hyper-innovation and enormous wealth created through human ingenuity yes, but also enabled by careful and deliberate interventions by governments in search for a countervailing response to the growing technological advancement of the Soviet Union in electronics and space technologies.
The Valley has gone on to change much of our world. Among its greatest shapers who stand out for me are Bob Noyce (co-inventor of the integrated circuit) and Gordon Moore his partner at Intel; Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak for the Apple Mac and everything afterwards; Bob Metcalfe and Charles Thacker for Ethernet networking; Bob Khan and Vint Cerf for inventing the TCP/IP protocol that underlies all modern communications systems; and Andy Bechtolsheim of Arista Networks, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, formerly of Cisco and the man who gave Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google their first US$100,000 in 1998. The rest, as they say, is history!
What are your dreams in life?
My dream in life is to create the enabling environment for everyone to realise their full potential. That is why I am so passionate about technology because it enables change and empowers us to do many more things wherever and whenever we want to. We no longer have to go to the theatre to watch a movie or a concert hall to listen to music; we don’t have to go to the shops for essential purchases and in the future, we may not have to sit in our cars to drive them.
One of the most pressing challenges the world faces is climate change, and my hope is that we will be able to harness the power of technology to reverse the tide. But technology alone cannot solve this global challenge; it will also require changes in behaviors that derive from recognizing our stewardship towards the environment. That means not continuing to plunder the earth’s resources and treating its vast oceans as a waste bin. We each have a role to be more environmentally responsible and together we can assure a more sustainable world for future generations.
Above all my dream is for a more just and fairer world; that the many opportunities I have been privileged to enjoy are more widely available to anyone who so desires.
In the end, I dream of making time for what former British politician Denis Healy called one’s ‘hinterland’ – my absorbing passions and interests outside professional work - of writing about history, politics, and technology.