Al Arabiya news channel joins pillars of telecom industry to discuss the future of telecom

Regional industry leaders participated in the forum and debate panel session that was moderated by Nadine Hany, Al Arabiya's business news anchor, to discuss two main topics: Telecom after the Crisis; and The Road Ahead for Regional Telecom Companies. The debate was aired the next day, 5th of November, on Al Arabiya news channel.

CEO of 'Zain' Kuwait, Dr. Saad Al Barrak said the financial crisis has cast a shadow on the consumption rates for telephone services, pointing out that revenues in the price war between the companies will reduce their efficiency.

He further pointed out that the average time spent in communication via mobile phone in Kuwait is four times the rates recorded in Europe and elaborated about mergers and competition between companies on a regional level, and not local scale, within the next five years.

From his side, the Chairman of 'Showtime Orbit', and Vice-Chairman of the Board of 'KIPCO', Faisal Al Ayyar, said that there is immense convergence between media companies and telecommunication services through the presentation of 'TRIPLE PLAY', that combine phone services, media and the Internet.

He mentioned the willingness of KIPCO Holdings to expand and provide better services via the purchase of media information and mergers, assuring the uniqueness of 'Showtime Arabia' in providing advertising content and material.

As for AsiaCell and through the participation of the Chairman of the Board Faruk Rasool, he talked about the challenges of the telecommunications sector in Iraq, pointing out that the current investments are concentrated in the expansion of the network, adding that the number of subscribers reached seven million two hundred thousand subscribers. Moreover, Rasool said that the company still faces challenges of security and other energy-related challenges for the operation of the network, apart from other struggles of access to financing from the banking sector to secure the costs of expansion.

As for CEO of 'du' Osman Sultan, he spoke about the impact of the financial crisis on the telecommunications sector, pointing out that the crisis has stalled or slowed mergers and acquisitions between telecommunication companies. Sultan further pointed out to the need for cooperation between enterprises of content and communication, despite differences on the distribution of revenues resulting from the common services.

Adding to the debate, Managing Director and CEO of Mobily in Saudi Arabia, Khalid Al Kaf, spoke via satellite about the new applications in the mobile services, and that the sector awaits a new era of communication, and called for the need to develop applications compatible with the wishes of the community, via localization of their needs and demands, considering that the transfer of applications from the West will not always work.

Furthermore, CEO of 'Mobinil', Hassan Kabbani said that the prices of telecommunications services in the Egyptian market was originally low and very cost-effective even before the financial crisis, and therefore it represents a fractional part of the customers income. He also expects that consumers will play a major role in determining the quality of services to be provided by telecommunication companies in the future.

Via Satellite, the Chairman of Egypt Telecom, Akil Beshir, referred to the decline in the growth of fixed telephone services, mentioning that companies that depend on these services alone are at risk. He urged companies to diversify their fixed-line services by expanding into new geographical areas in order to survive.

As for the Partner at 'Booz & Company', Ghassan Hasbani, he said that the communications sector was the least affected by the financial crisis among all sectors, particularly in terms of consumption, however was affected by securing funding from banks. He further encouraged partnerships between media and telecom industries especially that the former benefited from the global expansion of recent and reliable transfer of their services at the lowest cost possible.

Finally, and for his part, President and Founder of 'DAMA Ventures' and the former CEO of 'UMNIAH' Jordan, Michael Dagher, said revenues of telecommunication companies slowed down and the future requires integration between them. He added that investment companies are focused on mobile telephone services, while they should be directed towards research for better innovation and development.

Following the forum, Chairman and CEO of MBC Group, Sheikh Waleed Bin Ibrahim Al-Ibrahim, exchanged talks about the future of the telecom and media sectors with the participants, during a luncheon hosted by Al Arabiya news channel.