Etisalat shares insights on all IP enabled commerce at eCommerce Middle East Summit

Abdulla Hashim used the key note address to lay down a challenge to business owners and managers to develop strategies based on an All-IP, Broadband Everywhere future, where the consumer is a continuous participant in an endless series of negotiations and purchase decisions.

'Today's consumer is no-longer the defensive, unwilling, target for marketing communications - but the active and omnipresent participant and collaborator in a perpetual series of ongoing negotiations involving themselves, friends and also - completely unrelated individuals and companies,'

said Abdulla Hashim, Vice President Marketing - Enterprise Solutions.

Etisalat's Vice President described the evolution of trade and commerce from traditional retail outlets - commerce v1.0, through early electronic innovations to modern day, permission-based marketing which uses social networking sites such as Facebook.

'The future of commerce will be based on a consumer who is continuously connected with the world - with their friends, with the news and with pervasive and rich multimedia. This will be driven by interoperability of communications technologies - an All-IP future - and the advances in mobile data connectivity and the progression to Broadband Everywhere.'

Abdulla Hashim then explained why the UAE was in a prime position to gain first mover advantage on this evolution. 'The UAE is highly rated amongst all the countries in the world for its level of technical advancement - not just in the Middle East. This means that companies in the Emirates have the opportunity to access the latest technologies first, giving them the opportunity to innovate rapidly. They are also able to tap into one of the largest electronic communities in the region valued at around Dhs3.3bn in 2007.'

Etisalat revealed the latest research and statistics from the fields of electronic commerce and mobile commerce, and Abdulla Hashim explained how mobile financial services were taking off in emerging markets as successfully as might be expected in more developed countries. 'In Africa as well as Asia, mobile financial services are proving highly popular especially amongst those who have limited incomes and access to legal documents or transport to major population centres. We expect our mobile remittance services to the Philippines and to India will prove extremely popular with our customers and form good case studies for further projects.'

Mr. Hashim discussed how in Congo a country where there are only 30,000 traditional bank accounts, CelPay a mobile bank, is recording 500,000 transactions a month. He also highlighted research conducted by Loudhouse which surveyed 90 banks around the world and reported that 66% of banks think that mobile banking provides greater opportunities and that 53% of US banks will open a mobile service within the next 2 years.

'In the same way that companies cannot operate without a Web site or e-commerce strategy today, in the near future, companies will have to have an All-IP strategy, leveraging all possible consumer touch points. This will require an understanding and respect of the customer far deeper than what is known today, and an investment in flexible, scalable and adaptable business and technology infrastructures.'

Etisalat's Vice President predicted two changes that would be seen in the new evolution of commerce. 'One of the first changes we will see will be driven by Near Field Communications, effectively creating a form of electronic 'Mobile Money'. The industry has already seen how the popularity of security hall-mark protected digital cash can be, such as E-Gold , now, with advances in mobile communications we will see more person-to-machine and person-to-person electronic cash movements without the need of an intermediary bank.' Etisalat's Vice President also announced that the company is in the initial phases of a pilot project to launch a Near Field Communications solution with a UAE bank, details of which will be announced shortly.

Near field communications case study

At C1000 supermarket Holland 100 customers were chosen who would be able to pay their bills at the supermarket through their mobile phones for six months. The mobile phone was also used as a repository for bottle refunds. This enabled the users to receive, save and transfer their refunds.

A report on the project says all customers who had been invited to participate in the pilot adapted to the new technology very quickly. Some of them actually forgot to carry their debit cards even while shopping at other places

Mr Hashim continued:

'The mobile will be the key that unlocks the potential of e-commerce. Given that the mobile phone is with you wherever you go, and is your most convenient access device to the Internet and general connectivity, it is the most logical commerce tool for the future. It will interact with local wireless devices, providing you with information on products that you usually buy, or generally instructing the environment on how to make you in a mood to buy.'

Etisalat has constructed an All-IP Next Generation Network across the UAE and is in the process of laying the final cables to residences and office buildings. This will enable a television to operate as a telephone or Internet device, and vice versa.

'Electronic shops can be with us anywhere we go, either through widgets or other applications yet to be developed,' Abdulla Hashim concluded.