IIC Legal Counsel Forum – Telecoms Security Update

Andrew has over 20 years of specialist TMT experience in a sophisticated legal and regulatory environment. He is a telecoms expert and has become one of the leading specialists in the Middle East on cloud-based technology deals, including government procurement and information security requirements in regard to cloud services.  Andrew frequently interacts and holds strong relationships with local federal government departments and regulators.

Andrew has advised major clients on a variety of complex contractual issues and commercial transactions, especially in connection with the launch of new platforms and services.  He has assisted government departments and government-owned entities in diversification projects that invest in technological developments and improve innovation.  He also provides important UAE local law advisory services to multinationals (either directly or through international law firms) in respect of their TMT sector plans in the Middle East

Andrew is a key part of our growing data protection team, advising on the extra-territorial application of GDPR, the introduction of new data protection laws and broader regional privacy and cybersecurity issues. He also has considerable experience in advising on competition law issues in the telecommunications industry, having represented both incumbent and new entrant parties in interconnection and other regulatory court related proceedings. Andrew has acted as external legal advisor to two telecommunications regulators in the region.

Prior to joining Al Tamimi & Company, Andrew was a TMT Partner at a prestigious New Zealand law firm. He moved to the UAE in late 2013 and has been recognised in Who’s Who Legal UAE for Telecoms and data since 2016.

Andrew is a contributing author to various international publications on topics such as e-commerce, software protection media, advertising and entertainment law.

George Abi Saab is the General Counsel at Ooredoo Group since 2020, where he plays a pivotal role in managing and overseeing all legal aspects of the Group.

One of George’s notable achievements was leading Ooredoo’s M&A expansion such leading the acquisition in Iraq, Tunisia and Kuwait as well as obtaining a license in Myanmar as well as leading many corporate finance work such as a USD 1.25 billion sukuk issuance.

Currently, George is at the helm of a transformative project involving the sale and leaseback of up to 30,000 towers in Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, and Jordan. This initiative represents a significant step towards establishing a jointly owned independent tower company through a cash and share deal. In addition, Georges is also leading the adjacencies carve out in Data Centre and Fintech.

Prior to his current role, George served as the Senior Director and Head of Corporate Governance at Ooredoo Group. During his tenure, he spearheaded the development of the Corporate Governance policies and procedures framework. This framework was designed to enable the function to effectively meet its objectives and targets, in alignment with overall risk policies, procedures, and the Group’s strategic direction.

With extensive experience in the legal and M&A fields, George has held significant positions in the industry, including Senior Associate at Baker & McKenzie in Saudi Arabia and Legal Affairs Manager at M1 Group. His contributions extend to the drafting of policy papers and laws, such as Lebanon’s Consumer Protection Law and the Lebanese Trademark Law.

George’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of La Sagesse, Lebanon. Furthermore, his commitment to lifelong learning is evident in his completion of a mini MBA in Telecoms, AI Essential for Business from Harvard Business School Data Privacy & Technology from Harvard Business School, Emotional Intelligence and Maturity from Tomorrow’s Architect, AML and Compliance Regulatory from Qatar Chamber of Commerce and in in Intellectual Property Rights from the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva.

Lynn Robinson became Director General of the International Institute of Communications (IIC), in March 2020.

Lynn is an experienced senior director and trustee / non exec-director, having held key senior leadership positions in the technology, built environment, regulation, accreditation and dental industries. She has extensive experience of professional membership bodies working within the full spectrum including, Regulatory bodies, Industry associations and Chambers of Commerce. Lynn is a well-known and established ambassador in these areas having led on many strategic programmes to aid engagement, growth, retention, change management, stakeholder and political engagement.

Nina Cummins is an EU antitrust and telecoms regulatory lawyer, with over 20 yrs’ multi-jurisdictional legal experience. She graduated from the University of Nottingham, England and Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) Germany, where she specialized in EU law. She has a Masters of Law degree in EU antitrust from RUB. She is admitted as a lawyer in England & Wales, Republic of Ireland, N. Ireland and Germany. She was a partner in international law firm Osborne Clarke, leading UK & EU telecoms regulatory issues. And also worked as senior legal and policy adviser at the Telecoms Regulatory Authority in Bahrain, dealing with complex strategic projects, legal separation of the incumbent fixed telecoms provider, as well as proposals to revise the prevailing communications sector regulatory framework.

Ms Cummins re-joined Facebook (now Meta) in Oct 2019  where she is a Policy Director and Head of Connectivity Strategy (Global),  covering a broad range of regulatory issues regarding OTT regulation and regulation of emerging technology, net neutrality rules, infrastructure and subsea cable projects, spectrum frameworks and accessibility.