Telecom, SEO and Digital Marketing Expert – How did I get here?
I never thought that I would be calling myself a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Digital Marketing Expert. How did I get here? I believe everyone’s life’s journeys is a fascinating subject. It is why we are so interested in autobiographies, documentaries and movies about people’s lives. It is because they remind us of ourselves.
The famous comedian Bill Hicks said that the world is just a ride. And it really is. Without the ups and downs, we wouldn’t feel alive. Without the tragedies and joys, the loves and hates– it’s a universe of duality, only with the illusion of being opposite, when in reality they are all the same–all one.
The Beginnings – IT
That said, I began my career in Information Technology (IT) around 2003. I had the bright idea of going to Iraq after President George W. Bush claimed victory in 2003 with his Mission Accomplished speech. It would take me a year to get over there, but I joined Ernst & Young Consulting and volunteered for the Iraqi Debt Reconciliation Project (which is still ongoing). I remained there until 2006 and left convinced that my luck of staying alive would eventually run out.
The Passion – Wireless Communications (Telecom)
One great aspect of being in Iraq was that I developed a passion for wireless technologies. With most of Iraq’s infrastructure destroyed, especially their fiber-optic infrastructure (which was one of the first targets of the war), meant that communication– even for contractors– had to be through wireless means.
At around the time I was in Iraq, laser point-t0-point (wireless) links were perfected in Canada and the United States– but they were prone to interference. However, the military declassified and gifted the public sector millimeter-wave radio technology. This technology was not prone to interference and still communicated in gigabits-per-second, but with a concentrated pencil-beam-radio-wave–mimicking a laser beam.
The Idea – High-Speed Wireless Internet (Telecom)
Back in 2006, I began thinking about bring Internet to the Middle-East region through wireless means, utilizing the backhaul technologies I just identified. This idea came before the release of the Apple iPhone in 2007, and way before the release of 4G/LTE. Furthermore, the internet (especially broadband internet) penetration rates were extremely meager, hovering below 10 percent.
I moved to Jordan in 2006 and began lobbying the Jordanian Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) to allow millimeter-wave-technology into the country with a “soft licensing regime” since the technology was reusable and the links would not interfere with each other–even at close proximity.
The approval of the technology was paramount to the success of the business plan and to bring broadband to the masses on a city-wide (ultimately country-wide) scale. I attracted the attention of like-minded telecom professionals that had a similar business plan for the region. We eventually joined forces and Kulacom formed.
Industry Disruption – Kulacom
Kualcom had many world and regional firsts. In 2007, we won the bid for the 3.6Ghz frequency in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The license was technology agnostic, so WiMAX was the best choice for the time. Recently, the 3.6Ghz is poised to be a 5G frequency with T-Mobile pushing for it in the United States.
That said, Kulacom launched the world’s first wireless end-to-end Mobile WiMAX network in 2009. We also had a partnership with SK Telecom of Korea to make sure that the network was the best that it could be. If that wasn’t enough, we built and developed the largest Data Center in Jordan at the time, and became one of the first members of the Open Data Center Alliance. The Data Center was so good that it won the Best New Entrant Award at the Data Centre Strategies Middle East Conference in 2010.
Our focus on high-quality broadband products was a success, but the disruption did not go unnoticed by the competitors. 3G was launched in 2009 by Orange Jordan followed by the rest. This encroachment of the incumbent operators into wireless broadband significantly ate into our business, because they began offering similar products focusing on broadband.
Industry Overhaul – LTE and Beyond
4G and LTE, which are the norm today, were being developed in 2010. 3G was just not cutting it. To get apps working correctly, and for phones to connect with low latency, 4G/LTE was the only way to go. WiMAX, as a technology, was very similar to LTE, but eventually, LTE won the “battle of standards” with LTE being adopted worldwide. Just looking at network maps today, we see that LTE is ubiquitous in its implementation across the planet.
Just like we foresaw the eventual take over of Mobile Broadband of the wireless industry back in 2006, we foresaw the revolution that LTE would bring to the world economy. So, we began (with the help of outside investors) to lobby the government of Jordan for a 4th Mobile Operator license. We would focus the license to be for 4G/LTE, because it would be a natural evolution of our business and our network. We already gained the expertise in designing, building, and operating high-speed-wireless networks, so it made perfect sense–and the government agreed.
We came close. Very close. And it really was a lost opportunity for the country.
Today – Telecom, SEO & Digital Marketing
Today, I focus on SEO and Digital Marketing. The Internet has taken over the physical world of Human commerce, and businesses are waking up to the fact that they need an SEO and Digital Marketing strategy to be competitive. Since 2014, I am involved in improving the SEO ranking of companies through digital marketing white-hat tactics that include Content Marketing planning and implementation.
In such a highly connected world with so many ways to connect and share, companies now have a global audience of potential customers. My keen curiosity for future trends remains very high, and to succeed in today’s world, you must be very serious about SEO and Digital Marketing. It is not just a Google Ad campaign that you should focus on, but on keyword strategies and relevant content on your site and social media platforms to reach your target market and potential customers.
I encourage you to reach out to me here or here and see what I can do to help, because your business will rank higher in search engines and it will have an increase in traffic from relevant sources.
I can also be hired on Upwork.