4th annual North Africa Com Conference and Exhibition opens in Cairo

Hosted by the JW Marriott hotel in New Cairo, North Africa Com is set to offer participants a wide range of multi-stream presentations, seminars, case studies and interactive Q&A sessions over the course of two days, according to event organizers Informa Telecoms & Media, also the leading provider of business intelligence and strategic marketing solutions to global telecoms and media markets. New topics for this year include Data Services and Broadband, Opportunities for Converged Services and Triple Play.

The conference also features a number of keynote speakers from the region who will share their companies' strategies to sustain growth in North Africa and present innovative technologies to improving operators' efficiency. These speakers include Hassan Kabbani, CEO, Mobinil, Egypt, Tamer El Mahdi, CEO, Orascom Telecom Algeria (Djezzy), Hatem Dowidar, CEO, Vodafone Egypt, Dr. Benhamadi Moussa, Chairman & CEO, Algerie Telecom Group, Sami Ayoub, Deputy-CEO, Tunisie Telecom, Jean-Carl Mazigi, Chief Strategy Officer, Wataniya Telecom Algeria (Nedjma), Charles-Henri Levaillant, Director of Telecoms Sector Marketing, Group Strategy & Development Unit, Vivendi Group, France (owners of Maroc Telecom), Mohammed Bouhelal, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Kanartel, Sudan, , Ahmed Ossama, Managing Director, TE Data, Dr Olfat Abd El Monsef, VP for Policies, NTRA, Egypt, to mention only some.

"North Africa's vast potential make this a must-attend event for businesses looking to grow or enter new, lucrative markets,"

says Veronika Pete, Informa Telecoms & Media's Marketing Executive of the Com World Series.

"The conference, with the theme 'Strengthening Operators' Positions in North Africa with New Technologies & Services', is designed to deliver market insight, practical solutions and best-practice benchmarks for doing business in fast-growing regional markets like Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia," she says.

"We forecast mobile subscriptions in North Africa will exceed 121 million by 2012. This represents a 40% increase compared to figures at the end of 2007. Penetration rates in the region are forecast to grow between 2007 and 2012 as Egypt, Algeria and Morocco continue to mature," Pete adds.

Delegates are also taking advantage of the latest trends in telcom technology at the conference's exhibition featuring 40 stands from leading international vendors in between the event's many opportunities to network and foster new partnerships.

"The market in North Africa is a key driver of growth for the whole of Africa. Egypt is forecasted to overtake South Africa as the second fastest growing market in the African continent by the end of 2009," says Emily Cottam, Senior Researcher for Informa Telecoms & Media.

The North Africa Com event is part of Informa Telecoms & Media's Com World Series, the longest-running annual series of telecommunication conferences and exhibitions focussing on emerging, high growth markets. The event is being sponsored by key industry players such as Nokia Siemens Networks, SmartTrust, Celcite and Huawei, Qualcomm, eServGlobal, VNL and more.