Impact of liberalisation on Middle East telecoms sector is key agenda of discussion at CONNECT - The International Telecoms Summit in Dubai

The consequences of competition on incumbent operators' market position, and the impact this will have on the pricing and value-added services offered to customers will be the prime focus of discussions at CONNECT - The International Telecoms Summit.

The Summit, that is being organised by IIR Telecoms and Technology at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dubai, from May 30 to June 2, 2004, will serve as a platform for leading regional and international operators and telecoms experts to share their opinions on the dynamic changes expected in the telecoms sector.

Sabine Enthammer, Executive Director, IIR Middle East stated, "Liberalisation will throw open several challenges as well as new market opportunities for all players in the telecoms sector. Each operator will have to define its own positioning based on the services offered and pricing; which will ultimately deliver better choice to the customer. By bringing industry-wide telecoms players together, CONNECT - The International Telecoms Summit will offer a preview to what can be expected in this dynamic market scenario."

Karim Sabbagh, Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton, stated, "The telecommunications landscape in the Middle East has witnessed considerable change in recent years, moving from an overtly monopolistic and static environment to one that is spearheading change and, in the process, exhibiting unprecedented growth as well as contribution to the broader national economies."

"With multiple telecoms operators to choose from, an escalation of customer expectations will be among the most significant developments. Customers will come to demand improved applications functionality, ease of access of multiple services, price competitiveness, and overall network performance. Technology progress will also drive increased accessibility, and, more importantly, affordability of telecommunications services. To illustrate, future converged networks are expected to offer a plethora of benefits versus traditional network with deployment costs lower by up to 50 percent and, similarly, operational costs lower by 25 percent," he continued.

The impact of technology advancements is already noticeable in the mobile sector, where the cost of core infrastructure elements in 2nd Generation technology (2G) has witnessed a 90 percent drop over a period of 5 years, moving from an average aggregated cost per subscriber of US$ 2,000 in 1998 to less than US$ 200 in 2002-2003. Furthermore, significant upgrades that are complementary to the prevailing 2G technology have now become available at a fraction of the initial investment, providing in the process marked improvements in capacities and functionalities. Thus, the net impact of these advancements is a 'democratization' of telecommunications services.

Liberalisation will also have a positive impact on the economies of participating countries in the Middle East. Referring to the Kuwaiti model, Sabbagh stated, "The Kuwaiti liberalization experience, which started in 1983 with the launch of Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC), provides clear findings on the benefits of early liberalization." In a joint study by Booz Allen Hamilton and INSEAD presented at the World Economic in 2002, Kuwait ranked along with the United Arab Emirates as a 'fast-track' market in terms of ICT readiness and application in the Arab world. This score was due, to a large extent, to the level of development of its telecom sector.

CONNECT, with its focus on 'Maximizing Profitability in Competitive Telecoms Markets' will help bring these issues to the fore. The Summit, supported by Etisalat, sponsored by Motorola, and endorsed by UMTS Forum, Global Billing Association and the Telecommunications UK Fraud Forum, will feature 28 case studies and presentations from 19 regional and international operators. Participants at the Summit will also have a chance to win one of two V600 Motorola mobile phones by entering a lucky draw.