Etisalat Academy GM urges operators to prepare for the next-generation battlefield of convergence

David Brennan explained:

"It is said, when at war prepare for peace, and when in peace prepare for war. With the state of regulation in the regional markets we can see that most countries are reaching a sort of equilibrium. Now we forecast that a new 'battle field' is developing - in a very strategic area which has major investment and revenue implications."

The Etisalat Academy's General Manager made his remarks during the first 'Quadplay and Beyond' conference, which is taking place at the Academy in Dubai, between 13th and 14th May. The event was attended by Nasser Bin Obood, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Etisalat, and a number of Etisalat's senior executives. The conference is set to discuss latest topics related to the strategies and best practise for the deployment of Quadplay services.

Brennan continued: "The technological boundaries that have separated the fixed-line and mobile environment are being brought crashing down through convergence."

Etisalat's Saudi Arabian subsidiary Mobily was given as a prime example of this. Its HSPA-based broadband subscriber base has grown quickly and at the end of 2008 Mobily recorded 422,000 daily mobile broadband users. These users consume 34 terabytes of data, making it the busiest mobile data network on the planet.

Also, later this year Etisalat UAE will introduce HSPA+ a service which can allow up to 28 Megabits per second (Mbps) downlink and 11Mbps uplink. Today, the fastest fixed-line broadband service from Etisalat's UAE competitor is 12Mbps in comparison. David Brennan continued: "With these wireless data services mobile operators are already competing with the fixed-line, and the local loop is no-longer an iron fence -more a walled garden which flexible operators can enter at will."

David Brennan also presented the challenge that alternative service providers from the television sector could place on the sector.

"Around the world, television companies have entered the telecommunications sector on the back of their existing and valued entertainment offering. Unlike with Internet and pure broadband connectivity, the television environment has visible, immediate and tangible benefit for the consumer through services such as Video on Demand, High Definition TV and interactive content."

One solution to prevent customer churn proposed by David Brennan is to package multiple services into one customer friendly bundle - through quadruple play or Quad Play.

And during the two-day conference representatives from the twelve foremost technology firms world wide, including Alcatel Lucent, Qualcomm, SoftAtHome, Avaya, LG-Nortel, Motorola, Ericsson, Huawei, Juniper, Kineto, Telcordia and Zhone will address the region's operators to discuss the different Quad PLay strategies and options for all players in the months and years to come.