Infonas will remain a strong player in telecom: Al-Amer

Infonas is a global carrier providing local and international telecommunication services throughout the Middle East. Established over a decade ago, Infonas has a proven track record designing first-rate telecommunications solutions to businesses large and small. Its fibre optic network runs through the GCC, from Kuwait to the UAE, and links Points of Presence (PoPs) in Frankfurt, London and New York, an amazing achievement for the company. Hamad Al-Amer, who joined Infonas as Managing Director in February 2016, speaks about the company’s products and services, diversification plans and its vision to become a truly global company. Excerpts

What made you join Infonas as the Managing Director after a long and successful diplomatic career?

Having spent many years as a diplomat serving my country in a variety of locations, I decided to retire in 2015 after a long and successful career. However, I continued to remain actively advising in many capacities.  In February 2016, I was asked and given the opportunity to take up the position as Managing Director for a newly established local/international telecom company Infonas W.L.L.  I found this a very interesting and exciting challenge being able to deal with people face to face daily and still being able to continue my relationships with the various government authorities was something I was very much looking forward to doing.  My vision was to deliver a quality and reliable service not only locally but also regionally and globally in support of HRH Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa the Crown Prince’s vision of 2030 for the Kingdom to become a central hub for telecommunications, and to also support the government and all its relevant authorities within the Kingdom to achieve this.   One of my first major tasks within Infonas was to manage the process of acquisition of a local telecoms operator to bring Infonas clearly on the map.  In June of that year, I am pleased to tell you that Infonas W.L.L. successfully completed the acquisition and then proceeded with its journey of success. 

What does Infonas mean to you?

Infonas and all its staff are one big family and it is through these valued staff members that have made Infonas the successful company that it is today; a company with huge potential within the telecoms industry, delivering the quality of service and transparency to all it has business with.  It has the next-generation technology and a global reach to serve every corner of the globe in the professional arena and is supported by its amazing portfolio of products and services that can only complement and help the company move forward to great heights.  I am proud to be the Managing Director of Infonas and would like to thank the Board of Directors and its shareholders for giving me their support and empowering me to achieve all the set-out ambitions for the company and its staff.  I would also like to take this opportunity to assure all our valued customers that these successful journeys would not be possible without their continued support, and it is because of them that we strive to achieve.    

What are some of your proudest achievements since the inception of Infonas in 2016?

Firstly, I must say that the deployment of our fiber optic network which runs through the GCC from Kuwait to the UAE and links us to our Points of Presence (PoPs) in Frankfurt, London and New York was an amazing achievement, from the time the equipment arrived in Bahrain it took us just 3 weeks to install, test and get up and running, the team worked so hard.  Another exciting thing I would say was becoming a certified Amazon Web Services (AWS) partner, both a Consulting and Public-Sector partner, and has allowed us to bring one of the most prestigious government banks The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), to the AWS Cloud, which we are confident will help us bring other financial and government entities also to the Amazon cloud.  Finally, I am very proud that Infonas is one of the direct providers to the US Government via their Global Network Services (GNS) Primes supporting them from Bahrain. 

What next for Infonas?

What next is a very good question. Having already achieved in the past 20 months some remarkable milestones, we as a company will continue to grow and move forward with the vision for diversification by development of new products, services and technologies ensuring that our customers will always benefit from the most recent and up to date services that the telecoms industry has to offer at that time.

The telecoms industry is a very fast evolving market do you have any concerns in general?

As a company I have no concerns whatsoever, I am very confident that we will continue to grow from strength to strength and be part of the ever-changing telecoms industry and that Infonas will remain a very respected name for many years to come.  I understand that there is big competition out there and that there are many companies and individuals that also see this as a competitive market and may wish failure on people’s success and achievement, but it is with these kind of companies and individuals that companies will gain their strength and determination to continue their success story to grow.   

Where do you see yourself/Infonas in the next 5 years?

I would like to see Infonas as one of the leading names in the industry, with a portfolio of products and services that will carry them from strength to strength for generations to come, but this will require a lot of focus, determination and support from all involved and in my opinion I certainly have that to offer and I am confident we have the same qualities the valued members of staff within the company.  With this kind of attitude and determination, I forsee Infonas to remain a strong player and certainly to continue to have the same successful leadership team and ever supportive Board Members behind it for many years to come.