Deregulation and increasing competition driving adoption of mobile messaging platforms in the Middle East says Derdack

Evidence from the UAE and Qatar to Oman and Bahrain indicates that many different industry sectors and business applications are looking to exploit the power and flexibility of mobile messaging platforms as a means of increasing revenue, improving efficiency and expanding communication capabilities.

The economic and financial climate in the Middle East has proven fairly resistant to the effects of the credit crunch. Feedback from Derdack's customers indicates that demand for new services continues to grow. There are a number of factors influencing this, including regulatory demands for mobile confirmations and mobile payments in the banking industry and increasing competition in the telecoms industry forcing operators to innovate and offer new services.

Matthes Derdack, Managing Director of Derdack said, "Another factor is deregulation in the telecoms industry which is a key objective for Middle East countries to gain entry into the World Trade Organisation. Existing operators have also reacted to more agile competitors by offering easier access to their networks for application developers or entirely new services such as mobile instant messaging. Having a scalable, cost effective and highly reliable mobile messaging platform is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage."

Mobile messaging has traditionally been viewed as a tool for one to one mobile communication via SMS. However, its potential is now being tapped as a low cost, targeted and responsive communication and content delivery channel, with banks amongst the quickest to appreciate its capabilities for two-way SMS communications and bulk marketing. Additionally, telecoms operators are reliant on mobile messaging platforms to support innovative rich media services that integrate mobile messaging with the TV and internet.

Another key trend is the growing value of revenue from messaging and data services compared to revenue from voice services. This is a major change that will have a significant impact on existing business models for telecoms operators. It represents a potentially vast opportunity to develop services aimed at securing a share of the non-voice revenue stream.

"Derdack's expertise in implementing mobile messaging platforms ensures that we are well positioned to benefit from growth in the Middle East. Derdack works closely with channel partners and this model combines the partner's local expertise and support capabilities with Derdack's robust mobile messaging platform. It extends Derdack's reach and capabilities in this dynamic and expanding market," concluded Derdack.

Derdack's mobile messaging platform is proven in use across the Middle East in diverse business applications ranging from ground transportation communications in Qatar, systems to manage two way SMS-email communications and business-critical alerts for energy companies, an SMS feedback and communication platforms for a major radio station network in Dubai and SMS banking in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the UAE.