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The Moto4U roadshow, held in Abu Dhabi on April 11 and 12, followed a two-day series of workshops and discussion groups about the business issues confronting the overall telecoms industry. It also provided a series of practical demonstrations of Motorola technology brought to the Gulf region especially for the event.
"Mobile telephone technology is one of the fastest growing areas within the communications industry, and the next five years will herald a dramatic increase in the range of services offered by communication companies in the Middle East," said John Everington, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media.
Etisalat's management and technical teams were given demonstrations on elements of Motorola's seamless mobility vision, including Unlicensed Mobile Access technology (UMA), which provides access to GSM and GPRS mobile services over unlicensed spectrum. By deploying UMA technology, service providers can enable subscribers to roam and handover between cellular and fixed (both public and private unlicensed) networks using dual-mode mobile handsets.
The emergence of mobile broadband technology was also a key theme during the Motorola demonstrations. As consumers demand faster and more reliable access to their data, Motorola anticipates significant regional adoption of mobile broadband solutions within the next 18 months.
Seamless Mobility in Action
As well as meeting with senior Motorola executives, Etisalat staff members were also shown a physical representation of the company's seamless mobility concept. Using a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag developed by Motorola, the user can move from the home, to the car, or to the office, with live multimedia content following the user seamlessly from one location to another.
Other applications shown during the Moto4U roadshow included Motorola's Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC) solution, where users can communicate directly with friends or family at the push of a button, by using their phones like a two-way radio.
"In order to continue providing our customers with the superior level of services they expect, service providers such as Etisalat will adopt the new mobile communication technologies being introduced," said Mohammad Hassan Omran, chief executive officer, Etisalat. "We thank Motorola for taking the time to update us on the exciting developments they have under way, as well as providing us with practical demonstrations on how some of them will work."
"A vital way that Motorola contributes to the development of the region's telecom sector is by exchanging information with key industry decision makers here. This week's events have provided an important forum to bring new services and concepts around seamless mobility to UAE consumers," said Hassan Tavakoli, vice president, Motorola Middle East and Africa.
In addition to providing the Middle East market with innovative handsets such as the thinnest-ever Motorola V3 RAZR, and a range of 3G-enabled mobiles, Motorola has built network infrastructures and provided solutions to the region's leading telecoms operators. In addition to Etisalat, the company counts Orascom, MTC, and the newly-launched Saudi operator Mobily among its network customers in the Middle East.
Posted by Anne-Birte Stensgaard, Senior News Editor
