Etisalat opens GSM 3G Middle East conference

Nasser bin Obood, Etisalat's Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, delivered the keynote address at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, forecasting massive growth in subscribers fueled by demand for broadband Internet connectivity, new devices and pervasive communications services.

"One of the most exciting opportunities for the telecommunications industry comes from mobile broadband - a service we have now deployed in Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Mobile broadband will drive growth in existing and new operators. It will also encourage new innovations in the future,"

said Nasser bin Obood, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Etisalat.

Mobile broadband subscriptions in the Middle East and Africa are forecasted to grow from 1.5mn at the end of 2007 to 48.3mn by the end of 2012 with HSPDA-enabled devices expected to dominate. The number of network deployments in the region, as well as the large number of HSPA-enabled devices, more than 630 on the market, support this prediction.

Nasser continued, "The drivers for mobile broadband are the same as for fixed-line ADSL. Of these, the major two are a need to compete - either as a new entrant taking on an entrenched incumbent. Or, as the incumbent looking for ways to increase revenues and profits when faced with falling ARPUs in other areas of their business."

Etisalat cited figures showing the penetration of broadband in the Middle East and Africa remains very low, but demand is expected to rise faster than existing operators can cope with. This provides a compelling argument for the introduction of broadband services via wireless technologies such as WiMAX, HSPA and CDMA 1xEV-Do.

Nasser bin Obood also discussed the importance of content and related services: "Mobile TV and downloadable content is exciting for operators today, but for the future the trend for the mobile Internet will follow the same trajectory as we found with the fixed-line. Mobile social networking is therefore an exciting area, which should become a major driver of growth."

Nearly 30 million subscribers for mobile social networking services are expected globally by 2012. Blogging, photo and video sharing, location-based socialization services, games and messaging are expected to form the major component of these services, all of which will converge to deliver a complete social networking experience on the handset.

Now in its 13th year, GSM 3G Middle East is the region's leading communications conference and exhibition. This year it has broadened its focus beyond mobile to reflect convergence in the Middle Eastern communications market. 2,500 decision makers from across the whole communications value chain - mobile and fixed line operators, internet service providers, regulators, investors, telecoms solution vendors, content providers and more are gathering to participate in the event.