Info2cell.com gears up to capitalise on fast-growing mobile penetration rate in the Arab world

Recent Madar Research figures show that the average mobile penetration rate in the Arab countries has increased to 28 per cent in 2005 from 17 per cent in 2004.

The study shows that Bahrain and the UAE achieved the highest mobile penetration rates with 107 and 96 per cent respectively. Mobile phone subscriptions overtook fixed line subscriptions across the Arab world in 2005, with the ratio of mobile phones to fixed lines almost ten-fold in some countries.

Bashar Dahabra, Founder and CEO, Info2cell.com, said,

"The expanding mobile phone subscriber base in the Middle East region is a reflection of the overall progress and development of the Arab world. From Info2cell.com's point-of-view this translates to a wealth of opportunities. We are well-positioned to offer our range of innovative, value-added services to a fast-growing mobile phone user base in the region, and we look forward to continuing with our strategy of partnering with various telecom operators and media organisations in the region."

Industry experts expect around 200 million mobile phone subscribers to be added by 2008 to the current pool of subscribers in the Middle East and Africa. They will constitute 20 per cent of mobile phone subscriber growth in emerging markets, which in turn will account for 80 per cent of growth in the global market.

Madar Research revealed that the UAE registered 4,534,500 mobile subscriptions by end 2005; bringing penetration up to a high 96.48 per cent, up from 85.65 per cent in 2004. Notably, mobile phone penetration in the country's commercial hub, Dubai, rose to 130.71 per cent at end 2005, with subscriptions reaching 1.83 million against the emirate's population of 1.4 million.

Dahabra also pointed out that liberalisation of the mobile market in the Arab world has been a major contributor to the rising mobile phone penetration rate in the region.

"Liberalization of mobile markets in the Arab world has resulted in significant benefits to customers in terms of lower rates, better packages, more advanced features and higher quality of services, which in turn has contributed to a notable increase in mobile phone subscriptions. As a leading Mobile Application Service Provider, Info2cell.com has been able to make the most of this market situation by leveraging the power of technology to provide innovative mobile content services, and we are keen on introducing more value-added services to the region's fast-growing customer base," said Dahabra.

Over the years, Info2cell.com has been partnering with several leading media organisations to provide high quality content to customers. It recently announced a tie-up with Turner Broadcasting System Europe Limited to deliver news content from Cable News Network (CNN) and mobile content services from Cartoon Network mobile subscribers across the Arab world.