2nd annual Media and Telecoms Convergence Conference 2005 to highlight new opportunities for media and telecom operators

The regional event, which aims at enhancing the cooperation between media and telecom industries is organized by the Arab Advisors Group and will provide the opportunity for attendees to share their vision and outline the roadmap to the coming together of two key sectors in the region by focusing on content, interactivity and delivery channels.

'Today competition is getting stronger in the telecom and media fields, with operators expanding their services to other countries and new TV and satellite channels opening in various countries. The opportunities available in the Arab market are huge, and thus the advanced mobile services and the convergence between these two sectors will be a key differentiator for further growth,' said Jawad Abbasi, founder and president of Arab Advisors. 'The success of last year's conference and the enthusiasm with which it was received from media and telecom operators has driven us to hold a second conference this year and we have decided to make it an annual event.'

The convergence of these two sectors kicked off a few years ago, with the launch of regional TV programs that enabled viewer participation through SMS and Interactive Voice Response (IVR). According to market surveys done by Arab Advisors Group, only 2% participated in SMS voting in Cairo, whereas in Jordan 1.9% of mobile users used SMS voting and in Saudi Arabia the highest rates were seen, where some 11.4% used SMS/IVR voting. On the other hand the usage of peer-to-peer SMS is very high in these three countries; according to the Arab advisors survey in 2004; in Jordan 93.2% use SMS (51% of those on a daily basis), in Cairo 93% use SMS (18% of those on a daily basis) and in Saudi Arabia, 91% use SMS (40% of those on a daily basis). Another survey by the Arab Advisors Group showed that the adoption of MMS is not very high bearing in mind that in Saudi Arabia, 32% of handsets support MMS and 24% of users do not know if their phone supports MMS. In Jordan 28% of handsets support MMS and 2.3% of users do not know if their phone supports MMS, in Cairo 23% of handsets support MMS. 5.3% of users do not know if their phone supports MMS.

'There are an abundance of opportunities in the telecom and media sectors, and the success of these joint efforts sectors will depend on services that offer contextual and compelling content. The media industry is well positioned to offer such content and the telecom industry (be it fixed or mobile or Internet and data operators) can offer the cost effective and useful delivery channels in addition to creating their own new non-voice services,' Added Abbasi.

Arab Advisors Group's Second Media and Telecoms Convergence Conference 2005 is the ideal forum for networking, discussions and debates on the convergence trends underway in the Arab media and telecom markets. It is being sponsored by prominent industry leaders in the media and telecoms industry. The main conference sponsor is Jordan's newest GSM operator, Umniah Mobile Company. The conference is also sponsored by Jawwal, the GSM network of Palestine, Xpress, Jordan's iDEN operator, Batelco Jordan, a leading communications provider in Jordan, Motorola, the world-class global communications leader, Jordan Telecom, Jordan's leading telecommunications solution provider, and Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL), the world's largest enterprise software company.

CEOs and Executives from over 50 regional and global companies have already confirmed their attendance at Arab Advisors 2nd Annual Media and Telecoms Convergence Conference. These organizations include (in alphabetical order) Arab Women Media Center, AL Bawaba, Abbassi Law Office, Al Ghad Newspaper, Amman Stock Exchange, AME Info , Arab Advisors Group, ARABSAT , Belgacom, Batelco , Bidaya corporate Communications, Comium Group , E-Vision, EJADA, ESKADENIA Software Solutions , ETISALAT, FastLink, FANN FM, France Telecom, Hadidi & Co. Attorneys, Harris Corporation, Housing Bank, IDEAL Systems, Info2Cell, int@j, Integrated Business Solutions, Jawad Sultan Technologies, Jordan Telecom, Jordan TV

Cable & Internet Services Co., Kalaam Telecom, Lightspeed Communications, Maktoob.com Inc., MBC, LLC, McCarthy Tétrault, McKinsey & Company, MENAFN , Mirsal, MobileCom, MobiNil, Motorola, Oracle, Palestine Celluler Comm. (JAWWAL), Qtel, Qualcomm Europe & MENA, Reuters, Satcoms Insider/Digital Television Times, Saudi Telecom Company, souq.com , Social Security Corporation, Spot On PR, SRPC, Syriatel, TE Data - Egypt, Umniah , Verizon and Xpress.