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Teletimes' Man of the Year:Triple threat shortlisted by awards committee

O3B Networks: Providing fiber like capacity and cutting edge backhaul

solutions in Pakistan through MEO satellites in partnership with Pak Datacom

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Thuraya Appoints Stephen O’Neill of Boeing as Board MemberReham Barakat

Sony tablets face tough sell on price, hardwareCarolina Milanesi

Samsung’s Smart TV launches strategic collaboration with STC’s Invision

Nokia Siemens Networks Names New Boss for Middle-East Region

Telecom firms 'facing multiple challenges'

Huawei wins sole provider contract for Hutchison and PCCW joint LTE network

Etisalat partners with Cobone.com to create exclusive daily deals websiteAasem A Alali

CommScope receives special public service award from CableFAX

Sierra Leone’s Communications Minister to host Commonwealth Rural Connectivity Forum in Freetown

Batelco announces the appointment of New Group Chief Executive Officer

Fraud cost operators billions of dollar every yearNicolaj Aaroe

Lower phone call rates in the UAE soon Etisalat and du seek TRA approval to reduce telecom tariff

Mobile telecoms set to finally take off in Algeria Ben Flanagan

PTCL Group declares profit of Rs 8.4 billion for financial year 2010 - 2011 Teletimes Report

ICET 2011International Conference on Emerging TechnologiesTeletimes Report

Nawras Goodwill Journey 7 concludes with gathering at Muscat main office

Doing away with artificial restrictions Mohsin Rehman

Continuity in holding of ITCN Asia for 11 years reflects potential of Pakistan’s ICT sector A proven platform for business and networking

In this issue

Research & Analyses13

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Major transformation in CEE TV Markets Shake Up Likely to ContinueDr. Karim Taga

A Digital Agenda Enabler in the Sky for Policy-Makers to TryIzhar Ahmad

Building Communities Around Digital HighwaysKarim Sabbagh, Bahjat El-Darwiche, Roman Friedrich, Milind Singh

Ad innovationsVlada Bravaya

3G Deployment: About timeGulraiz Khalid

Information SecurityA growing solicitude; Cause and Effects in relation to PakistanMohammad Amir Malik

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Special ReportsTeletimes' Man of the Year:Triple threat shortlisted by awards committee

O3B Networks: Providing fiber like capacity and cutting edge backhaul solutions in Pakistan Gulraiz Khalid

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Dear Reader,

Welcome to the latest edition of Teletimes International.

There a few different things I would like to talk about in this letter to our readers. First of all, as mentioned in the previous edition, the Teletimes Awards Committee has been working hard to choose the Teletimes’ Man of the Year award winner, and I would like to officially announce here that the committee has short-listed three CEO’s of high very repute, Mr. Ross Cormack (Nawras), Mr. Osman Sultan(du) and Eng. Saud Al Daweesh (STC). A write-up regarding this announcement is given later in this issue.

Busy times lie ahead and all the people from the ICT industry in the region can expect to see a lot of each other in the coming months, as there are 3 major ICT events in the next two months. Firstly, ITCN Asia, the biggest Pakistani ICT event, will take place for the 11th time during 20th-22nd September in Karachi. Secondly, a very important event, the “Telecoms World Middle East ‘11” is going to take place during the 3rd-6th October in Dubai. Thirdly, one of the biggest events in the GCC and on global level, the ‘GITEX technology week’ will be taking place during the 9th-13th Oct in Dubai World Trade Centre. Teletimes is the media partner to all these events and will be actively participating in them. Reports regarding the events will be available in this and the next issue of Teletimes International.

As always, this issue will contain a few important and informative research reports. The reports include, “Building Communities Around Digital Highways” from Booz & Co., compiled by Karim Sabbagh, Bahjat El-Darwiche, Roman Friedrich and Milind Singh, “Sony Tablets face tough sell on price” from Gartner, authored by Carolina Milanesi, “Major Transformation in CEE TV Markets”, from Arthur D. Little written by Dr. Karim Taga, and a special report regarding ad trends in Russia titled “Ad innovations” by Vlada Bravaya.

Among the many informative articles in this issue, you shall find four very interesting articles, first being “A Digital Agenda Enabler in the Sky for Policy-Makers to Try” by Izhar Ahmad, “Information Security, a growing Solicitude; Cause and Effects to Pakistan” by Muhammad Amir Malik, and “3G Deployment: About time” by Gulraiz Khalid.

O3B Networks have recently signed an agreement with Pak Datacom regarding operations in Pakistan. The official ceremony took place on 7th September in Islamabad. A report of the event is also included in this edition of Teletimes International.

As usual you will find many informative reports related to Etisalat, du, STC, CommScope, PCCW, NSN, Huawei, Nawras, AT&T, PTCL, Qtel, TRA and CTO.

Please enjoy the latest edition of Teletimes International.

Khalid AtharChief Editor

Letter to readers


Riaz Asher

T

EVDO, also known as EV-DO, 1xEvDO and 1xEV-DO, is a

standard for high speed wireless broadband. The acronym is short for "Evolution, Data Only" or "Evolution, Data Optimized". The official name, defined by the Telecommunication Industry Association, is "CDMA2000, High Rate Packet Data Air Interface". It is one of two major Third Generation, or 3G, wireless standards. The competing standard is known as W-CDMA.

W-CDMA (Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access), an ITU standard derived from Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), is officially known as IMT-2000 direct spread. W-CDMA is a third-generation (3G) mobile wireless technology that promises much higher data speeds to mobile and portable wireless devices than commonly offered in today's market.

Both EV-DO and WCDMA (and their respective upgrades) have made progress but in the critical area of handsets, EV-DO is ahead by a mile. A significant advantage of EVDO over competing technologies is

that it uses the same broadcasting frequencies as existing CDMA networks. As purchasing spectrum from regulatory agencies is extremely expensive, this brings down the cost of building and using the new networks. The major EVDO deployments in the US are by Verizon and Sprint, and there is also a large network in Korea. At present, EVDO has not made significant impact in Europe or other major Asian markets; W-CDMA is the 3G standard of choice in those regions. From an engineering point of view, W-CDMA provides a different balance of trade-offs between cost, capacity, performance, and density; it also promises to achieve a benefit of reduced cost for video phone handsets. W-CDMA may also be better suited for deployment in the very dense cities of Europe and Asia. However, hurdles remain, and cross-licensing of patents between Qualcomm and W-CDMA vendors has not eliminated possible patent issues due to the features of W-CDMA which remain covered by Qualcomm patents.

EVDO, WCDMA: Who’s Ahead?



TV markets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are

booming, with strong growth in multichannel households, viewing time and revenues. Fuelled by this rapid growth, the rules of the game are changing and competitive pressure is increasing. With digital terrestrial TV (DTT) and over-the-top TV (OTT) on the horizon, who will be the winner of the ongoing platform competition?

Television markets in the CEE region have experienced rapid growth in recent years. The number of multichannelTV households (households that can receive cable or satellite television, as well as terrestrial channels) grew by almost 50 percent and the share of Pay TV increased to over 40 percent between 2008 and 2010. Demand for multichannel TV in the region, however, is far from reaching saturation. Market experts, such as Ovum, project further growth in multichannel households of over 50 percent by 2015, which is striking compared to the mere

10 percent forecast growth in Western Europe.

Pay TV providers should benefit the most from this positive trend; they are expected to outperform Free TV competition, to account for almost half of all multichannel households in the CEE region by 2015.

TV consumption: Viewing time continues to grow, linear TV

thrives

TV markets in the CEE region have grown not only in terms of subscribers, but also in terms of TV viewing time per capita. The increase in viewing time has been particularly dramatic in countries with relatively low GDPs such as Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia, where it has increased by 27 percent, 67 percent and 31 percent, respectively, over the last nine

years. The increasing share of multi-set households is also fuelling TV viewing time per person. This trend has not, however, been homogeneous across the region. According to IP Network, multi-set penetration in countries such as Poland (24 percent) or Slovenia (32 percent) is still relatively low, indicating that these markets still have considerable growth potential.

Major Transformation in CEE TV Markets

Shake Up Likely to Continue Dr. Karim Taga


In terms of consumption, traditional linearTV platforms, such as DTH and terrestrialTV, are still the dominant method for watchingTV in the CEE region, and Arthur D. Little expects it to remain so at least over the next five years. Even though video-on-demand (VoD), catch¬upTV and over-the-topTV (OTT) are increasing in popularity, they are expected to complementlinearTV, not replaceit.

HD & 3D – nascent technologies, but first CEE HD success stories

Although HD and 3D are gaining momentum, they currently serve mainly as a complement to popular linear content. An increasing number of broadcasters in the CEE markets are launching High Definition (HD) channels or extending their existing HD bouquets. In Poland, for instance, operators have already launched a total of more than 30 HD channels, thereby significantly surpassing the speed of their Western European peers.

The expansion of HD content, however, has proven controversial among market players, as early efforts have proven to be highly difficult to monetize. The development of HD TV has been hindered by the limited availability of HD-enabled TV sets, bandwidth limitations, and consumers’ low willingness to pay a premium for HD content unless there is a significant number of channels available, which makes it difficult to offset the higher cost of producing HD content. This, in addition to the decline in TV advertising in the region, has made some broadcasters cautious about an investment into HD TV.

HD TV has been successfully used in the region mostly as a differentiation and consumer retention tool. Large Pay

TV operators in relatively developed markets have implemented HD as a way to upscale their customer base. For example, “n” in Poland has successfully implemented an HD-centric strategy over the last few years, and currently offers more than 25 HD channels. Its more affordable HD packages start at approximately 20 zloty (EUR 5). By the end of 2010, “n” already had over 800,000 HD subscribers out

of its total subscriber base of approximately 1.1 million.

Smaller DTH operators aiming to differentiate themselves from large regional competitors can also use HD-centric models as a niche strategy. In order to be successful, however, scale needs to be attained, for example, through white-labeling strategies with larger operators.

3D TV could be another important differentiator and potential growth driver for CEE Pay TV markets. After initial excitement about 3D TV, interest has waned somewhat due to a lack of compatible TV sets, as well as increased caution associated with HD TV. Consumers appear unwilling to

pay a premium for 3D unless at least some linear TV channels are available. Therefore, broadcasters and operators have been using 3D TV as a vehicle for image building and marketing. For example, UPC in the Czech Republic has achieved a viewership of only a few hundred consumers in its 3D broadcast trials, but it has still generated a sizeable echo among consumers and in the media.

Platform competition is fierce –

DTH to overtake cable

CEE markets have undergone radical change in terms ofTV platforms over the last couple of years and DTH has dominated the platform transformation. DTH’s considerable growth has been driven by underdeveloped fixed infrastructure, the high proportion of rural population, competitive prices, and low multichannel penetration. By the end of 2011, its overall market share in the region is expected to surpass that of cable.The outlook for DTH is favorablein a majority of markets, as it is expected to further expand its market share, although at a slower pace. We

expect this growth mostly to be driven by established DTH players, as the rate of new DTH start-ups can be expected to decline.

For a DTH provider to maintain strong growth, it will be necessary to embrace new business models and capitalize on differentiation opportunities, such as HD-centric strategies, focusing on niche segments or pre-paid DTH models. Particularly strong growth and investment activity

is anticipated in countries with less-developed cable infrastructure, such as the Ukraine and Russia.

Despite the growth of DTH, cable is also well positioned for the future. Although its market share is stagnating or even in modest decline in some markets, the overall number of cable subscribers in the CEE region is still growing, thanks to the implementation of DOCSIS 3.0. In Hungary, the DOCSIS 3.0 subscriber base grew by more than 50 percent over only the last two quarters, and now exceeds 12 percent of total customers.

The CEE TV market, however, is far from homogenous. In


Hungary, cable remains the dominating platform with a market share of over 50 percent, with DTH also growing. DTH has furthermore exploded in Poland driven by platform switches from households with terrestrialTV, increasing in platform share to 41 percent by the end of 2009 with further growth expected.

The rapid transformation in the CEE region shows no signs of slowing down, especially in markets where analogue terrestrial share is still significant. Arthur D. Little, therefore, expects particularly fierce competition and increased investment activity in these markets, such as in Bulgaria and Croatia.

IPTV: limited success with exceptions

IPTV has shown impressive growth in certain markets,

such as Croatia, where IPTV reached a platform share of over 20 percent in 2010. This development was mainly driven by T-HrvatskiTelekom’s MAXtv service, which achieved almost 300,000 subscribers in 2010, or 47 percent of T-HTs total DSL subscriber base. T-HT launched the service when multichannel penetration in Croatia was still low and leveraged its existing customer base. Slovenia has been successful as well, and has four IPTV operators in a market of approximately 250,000 subscribers.

In most CEE markets, several barriers still hinder the widespread success of IPTV. First, IPTV is very demanding in terms of fixed broadband infrastructure, particularly when it comes to HD content. Unfortunately, next-generation access networks required for efficient signal delivery are far

from being available on a broad scale. Second, IPTV requires a high level of consumer education as VoD, PVR and other new services add to the complexity of consuming TV. Third, the cost for delivering IPTV is quite high, particularly in comparison to DTT or DTH platforms. Given these factors, Arthur D. Little expects IPTV to grow significantly in only a few markets across the CEE region, with a particular focus on select urban areas.

IPTV will increasingly be used in hybrid solutions in combination with DTH, as it is already the case in countries such as Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Romania. By providing a hybrid solution, operators are not only able to extend coverage significantly, but also to market their product on a national scale without having to worry about IPTV

“white spots”.

Bright outlook for hybrid offerings

Most countries in Central and Eastern Europe have already launched or are in the process of launching Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT). So far, DTT has only been really successful in countries where it was launched when the analogue terrestrial share was still high. Examples include the Czech Republic, where DTT’s market share exceeds 30 percent already with further growth potential. Arthur D. Little expects DTT to be successful primarily in markets with lower Pay TV penetration. Although available for free in most European markets, with some notable exceptions such as the Netherlands, the most important drawbacks of DTT are related to its technical limitations; it can only carry a limited number of channels and it is a purely linear technology.

With a hybrid DTT-OTT offering, viewers in most markets can consume basic linear channels on their TV sets for free via DTT, enhanced by on-demand content via OTT. In this case, the delivery of OTT content is cheaper than on-demand services via IPTV and a set-top box. Hybrid DTT-OTT offerings will also provide the possibility for multi-screen delivery of the content, such as via mobile phones or tablets. Therefore, hybrid solutions are a trend to watch. This is, of course, not only true for DTT-OTT combinations, but also for DTH-OTT and IPTV-OTT.

Although hybrid solutions may not be available for several years, the first OTT platforms are starting to take off, such as Voyo in the Czech Republic, Nova Play in Bulgaria or Ipla in Poland. Ipla, for example, was launched in 2008 and already boasts approximately 2.4 million viewers who consume

about 1 hour of content per month over the Internet. The multi-screen service is available on a range of devices, and can also be available on traditional televisions.

OTT can be very demanding in terms of bandwidth, thus requiring a highly developed fixed broadband infrastructure. Fast broadband is already available in many CEE countries, such as Romania, which is 3rd worldwide in terms of broadband speed, with 43 percent of Internet users connected at speeds greater than 5 Mbps. However, a wide availability of fast broadband is not a given everywhere. Moreover, a content delivery network (CDN) is required in order to guarantee quality of service to compete with traditional Pay TV platforms. A CDN stores popular content on multiple servers closer to the consumers rather than at a single, central location. Finally, ease of use and a seamless, living room-like user experience on all devices is key and will take some time to be achieved.

Overall, hybrid offerings could become very successful in the long run. In particular, DTT-OTT is expected to put pressure on Pay TV operators, cannibalizing mainly low-end unbundled offerings, with a particular impact on mass-market DTH offerings.

OTT – friend or enemy to established players?

At first, the entry of OTT offers looks threatening to telecom and cable operators engaged in the TV market. However, Arthur D. Little believes that OTT could also be an opportunity for these players for several reasons. • New OTT players that lack

fixed infrastructure may need to partner with a tele-com or cable operator with CDNs, in order to maintain a high quality of service.

• Traditional TV players will frequently act as neutral third parties in larger OTT projects. When large con-tent providers cooperate in an OTT offering, they often face monopoly concerns, as has recently been the case in the UK and Germany. In such cases, a TV player could act as neutral arbiter among competitors in content to ease the regulators’ con-cerns.

• Lastly, telecoms and cable operators are well-positioned to participate in the OTT op-portunity.They have large customer bases, enabling them to achieve critical mass through bundling or up scal-ing. Existing billing relation-ships and analytical CRM capabilities can also be lev-eraged. Also, OTT is a means to further push the telecoms’ core business, namely broad-band, as viewers will require fast or even ultrafast band-width services on multiple devices to access the desired OTT content.

Thus OTT does not have to be regarded solely as a threat for network stability and costs, but it can also be seen as a profitable game that telecoms can join.

Competition driving consolidation in the CEE region

Driven by intensifying competition, consolidation in the telecoms and TV sector is still ongoing in the CEE region. For most players, the main rationale is to strengthen their market position or to support convergent offerings.

Bundling accelerates Pay TV uptake by essentially implying a discount on the TV service. However, this discount dilutes ARPU and reduces Pay TV revenues. Nonetheless, convergent offerings are still a prime motivation for consolidation. In Bulgaria,

Telekom Austria Group (TAG)-owned Mobiltel acquired two broadband operators in 2010, Megalan Network and Spectrum Net, to support convergent products. Also in Croatia, TAG took over cable operator b.net. Similar trends can also be seen in Romania, where RCS/RDS, as well as Romtelecom, have entered the mobile market to push convergent products.

Recently, horizontal integration in the value chain has also been occurring; operators have started to acquire content providers or produce content themselves. The main rationale behind such moves is threefold. First, it allows operators to access new revenue streams by selling content to competitors. Second, it converts variable (per subscriber) content fees to fixed channel production/acquisition fees and thus decreases costs as operators grow their subscriber base. Finally, it serves as a differentiator by securing ownership of a key resource – content. Transactions like these have recently taken place in Poland, where Cyfrowy Polsat acquired the second biggest TV channel Telewizja Polsat, and in Romania, where RCS&RDS acquired the music channel U TV.

Conclusion

TV markets across the CEE region remain very attractive compared to other regions, offering rich opportunities for market players.

TV in the CEE region is expected to continue to grow rapidly, in contrast to mobile and fixed markets

Television markets in the Central and Eastern Europe are growing rapidly in terms of Pay TV subscribers, revenue and viewing. DTH has profited most from the boom and will likely continue to do so.

OTT is starting to take off

The first OTT platforms in CEE region, such as Ipla in Poland, are starting to take off. Arthur D. Little expects that they will increasingly cannibalize mostly low-end unbundled offerings, especially in combination with DTT. As such, OTT will put pressure on TV operators following low-end strategies.

For broadcasters and telecoms, however, OTT represents a sizeable opportunity. Broadcasters face new possibilities to monetize their content and telecoms are well-positioned to become their preferred partners, as they can leverage their existing infrastructure, consumer base and CRM capabilities while generating additional revenue through pushing their core business, namely broadband.

Players increasingly push quad-play offerings

Increasing consolidation in the markets is leading to a push in quad-play offerings, putting pressure on mobile-only or fixed-only players. In particular, single-play offerings of cable operators could be at risk as their TV only users could switch to quad-play bundles or OTT offerings. Consequently, cable operators especially need to preempt the emergence of such offers by pushing convergent products themselves and considering the launch of OTT opportunities in their markets.

Rapid transformation of TV markets likely to continue

Ongoing platform competition and the rapid transformation of TV markets in Central and Eastern Europe shows no signs of slowing down and will leave players behind that fail to act upon the new realities of the markets. Whether with OTT or DTT, future winners will need to engage in quad-play.



On the digital agendas of both developed and

developing nations, satellite broadband is now treading a path to greater recognition and utility, especially, as the desire and the need to gain access to the Internet in areas—either completely devoid of communications capability or where terrestrial network service quality diminishes due to technical or investment constraints—heighten. No longer is satellite broadband just a means for meeting rural connectivity needs. Instead, it now ranks among preferred modes of internet access for both enterprises and end-users in several urban and suburban communities around the South Asia – Middle East – North Africa region. Satellite broadband has thrived in the markets of Asia, including Asia Pacific and the Middle East, where regional geographies, along with dispersed demographics and economic variations, have impeded the growth of terrestrial infrastructure. Such impedance, to a considerable extent, has also been a reflection of a general market perception that remote broadband infrastructure development is a low-ROI yield. Fortunately, the onslaughts

of grand public-private partnership initiatives in several markets of Asia, including Pakistan, to enhance terrestrial broadband connectivity, counter that mindset. Through the development of terrestrial broadband, the satellite broadband business has, in fact, been helped. This is so, because the policy-makers have been inspired to visualize how satellite broadband can become a key component of their national broadband strategies, whose efficacy may visibly depend on it if broadband services and citizen-centric e-services are to be made ubiquitous—to drive forward sustained economic progress and greater socio-political participation. Several countries around the globe lack the policy will, investment-friendly regulatory environments, and the means to establish expansive terrestrial networks, the likes of which exist in Japan or South Korea, providing ninety-percent terrestrial coverage. Thus, in many underserved areas in such countries, satellite-based basic communication and internet connectivity may rightly be the only viable options available. The notion that no amount of terrestrial network expansion—whether done through optical

or wireless means—can completely account for all the broadband needs of any given country elevates satellite broadband industry’s role to a new level. Over the recent past, all the technological advancements and the endeavors to make the satellite industry’s role indispensable in the eyes of the policy-makers have resulted in the positive projection of satellite broadband as being integral to building digital economies. Where, historically, issues that the satellite broadband industry has had to deal with included bandwidth limitation, high end-user equipment costs, latency, and signal degradation due to rain fade; R&D investments within the satellite industry have facilitated measurable reduction in latency and signal degradation issues for the broadband users. Furthermore, having suffered from a poor reputation, caused by the desire to maximally pack a transponder, albeit at the cost of quality of service, satellite broadband operators are now undoing the old impression. At the same time, as the satellite industry gains more inclusion into the “mainstream” telecommunications industry, the investment and policy challenges that it faces, and

the government support that it requires to get better integrated with traditional networks, become more defined and surmountable. The satellite broadband industry appears to understand that its ultimate goal is to be able to offer more bandwidth with competitive price structures, as offered by terrestrial wireless or wired broadband operators. However, the footing that satellite broadband first needs to gain within the broadband value-chain greatly depends on the technology priority that it receives from the policy-makers. Gradually, the roles of satellite broadband operators are becoming more visible and critical to the overall broadband and internet as well as disaster management strategies. The level of priority gained by satellite operators thus also rests on their ability to further demonstrate how cost-effectively, though by first meeting basic quality-of-service issues, satellite broadband can add value to its consumers; aid the creation of digital single markets; and assist in the adoption of technology and service-neutral regimes as well as integrated communication policies that focus strictly on how well the consumer gains

A Digital Agenda Enabler in the Sky for Policy-Makers to Try

Izhar Ahmad

Contd. on page 58

Teletimes' Man of the Year:Triple threat shortlisted by awards committee

With the year 2011 moving towards its end, we

are also almost in time for the announcement of the Teletimes Man of the Year Award. The Teletimes Man of the Year Award is the most prestigious award amongst the Teletimes Excellence Awards that will be given to one person who

has made the most significant leadership, performance and commitment to the betterment of the ICT sector. The Awards Committee of Teletimes has been working in this regard for some time now, and as mentioned in the previous edition, the committee has shortlisted three CEO’s from which one person

will be chosen and award the Teletimes Man of the Year Award by the end of this year. Here I would like to announce the three people shortlisted for this award, Engr. Saud Bin Majid Al Daweesh, CEO, STC, Mr. Osman Sultan, CEO, du, and Mr. Ross Cormack, CEO, Nawras. The three people have

made immense contribution to the telecom industry and are deserving of recognition for their hard work. However, only one of the three shortlisted personalities is going to receive the award by the end of this year. A detailed biography of the personalities is given for your interest in the following.

Engr. Saud Majed Al Daweesh is the Group Chief

Executive Officer of Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC), Saudi Arabia’s national telecommunications service provider with the largest network and infrastructure of mobile services in the Middle East. Holding a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Southern California, USA, he has accumulated a wealth of experience in the Kingdom's telecommunications industry.

Prior to this appointment, Engr. Al Daweesh has occupied various senior positions in the Company, including President of Al Jawal (Mobile), Vice President of STC of Network, Vice President of Customer Services and General Manager of Royal Telecommunications.

As head of STC, he has led the development of a

revised corporate vision and strategy for growth called FORWARD, which is based on the newest developments in the telecommunications markets, and has successfully implemented business strategies that are consistently achieving targeted growth in STC's earnings for shareholders. In addition, he has developed and executed a lobbying strategy that has established a new relationship with the regulatory authorities, enhancing STC's ability to achieve its corporate objectives while adhering to the requirements of telecommunications legislation.

In 2007, Engr. Al Daweesh led STC into an aggressive expansion plan beyond its local base through a strategic partnership with the principal shareholder of Maxis

Communications Berhad of Malaysia, the Natrindo Telepon Seluler (NTS) in Indonesia, and OGER Telecom in Turkey. This initiative yielded positive results for STC. Engr. Al Daweesh also led the STC team to win the 3rd License for mobile phones in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Assessing the long term development needs of STC, the strategic planning initiated by Engr. Al Daweesh continues to ensure that the Company's internal and external resources have the capability to deliver world class services and high quality service levels. Internally, his aim is to lead and motivate staff to set and achieve challenging targets, inspire them to be innovative in their work, and to develop the next generation of leaders for the Kingdom's telecommunications industry.

Engr. Al Daweesh is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SAMENA (South Asia, Middle East and North Africa) Telecom Council; Chairman of STC Content Joint Venture and the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of OGER Telecom Ltd, Dubai. He also sit as a Board Member TADAWUL (Saudi Arabia's Stock Exchange).

Eng. Saud Al Daweesh, Chairman Group Chief

Executive Officer, Saudi Telecommunication Company



April 2009 Ross Cormack has been CEO of Nawras,

the newest GSM operator in the Sultanate of Oman, since June 2004. Following an extremely fast build out, Nawras launched to great acclaim in March 2005, achieving 47% market share with 1.5 million customers, by April 2009. Highly praised for its pleasingly different customer service, Nawras has redefined and simplified the whole customer experience including what is bought and where, as well as how to get help and how to pay. Nawras was named 'Middle East Mobile Operator of the Year' by CommsMEA in September 2007 and in November of the same year, received the 'Middle East Business Achievement Award for Corporate Social

Responsibility' from Leaders. The company's first global recognition came in June 2008 with the Judges' Award 'Above and Beyond the Call of Duty' at the World BSS Awards. Nawras was delighted to be named 'Best Telecom Brand Oman 2008' by Business Today magazine. In November 2008, the Nawras consortium won the second fixed license in the Sultanate after a highly competitive bidding

process and will now build the latest generation fibre optic backbone and WiMAX wireless access networks across the Sultanate to deliver Broadband telecommunications and Internet access, offering innovative, cutting edge IP based media and communication services. It will also build its own international gateway to offer international voice and data services. Ross was seconded to Nawras from Qtel which he joined in May 2003 as Executive Director Wireless Services, bringing over 20 years of international telecommunications experience including mobile start-ups and operations. Earlier he was CEO and founder of Singapore based Virgin Mobile Asia, a US billion dollar start-up joint venture between Singtel and Richard Branson's Virgin

Group, which was Asia's first international MVNO. Previously, he was Managing Director of Hong Kong CSL, the market leader in one of the world's most competitive and crowded mobile markets with six operators and was a member of the Chief Executive Committee of Hongkong Telecom. Other roles have included Managing Director of AirTouch in Italy, Managing Director Asia of Cable & Wireless Mobile based in Singapore and Regional Director for Cable & Wireless Mobile in Europe based in London. In his time Ross has shareholder managed 16 mobile operators, been on the board of six and taken the CEO/MD role for four operators across Europe, Middle East and South East Asia.

Osman Sultan has been appointed CEO

of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, du, starting 1st of January 2006, after spending eight years at the helm of the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil), a company he helped set up in 1998 to bid for and operate a GSM licence in Egypt. As Chairman of the Arab Working Group for the Private Sector in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), he is no stranger to the UAE, having addressed several conferences here on telecommunications issues. His vast experience includes managing operations in several countries in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Mr Sultan joined the France

Telecom Group in 1983 and for the next 11 years worked in management positions in sales, marketing and customer services activities in one of France Telecom's subsidiaries that specialised in electronic information services. In 1994 he was actively involved in the acquisition of a US based operations and was appointed Vice President for

Worldwide marketing & sales for the new company. In this capacity he was in charge of the merger of two companies in the USA and Europe. He also managed operations in Paris, Washington, London, Frankfurt and Sydney and the set up of a large distribution network in more than 20 countries in Europe, South America, the Middle East, Asia and Japan. In 1995, he was appointed President of a US based subsidiary, Questel. Orbit Inc., with a goal of developing a growing business of professional Online Services. In 1996 Mr Sultan received the award for The Best Web Site-Legal Product from the American Information Association and later received the Man of the Year award from the Professional

Electronic Information Services Community in France. In 1997, Osman Sultan joined France Telecom Mobiles International (FTMI) as Vice President for Business Development in charge of the Middle East and the Arab World. That same year he was in charge of putting together the MobiNil consortium bid for a GSM license in Egypt. The consortium succeeded in acquiring 68% of Egyptian Company for Mobile Services. Osman Sultan holds a Degree in Engineering and has addressed several conferences on Telecommunications and Electronic Information Services, Mobile Telecom and the Internet in the Middle East (Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE), Japan, the USA and Europe.

Ross Cormack, CEO - Nawras

Osman Sultan, CEO-Du


Thuraya Telecommunications Company has announced

the appointment of Mr. Stephen O’Neill, President of Boeing Satellite Systems International, Inc (BSSI), as a member of the Corporate Board of Directors.

BSSI is one of Thuraya’s strategic shareholders and manufacturer of Thuraya’s leading-edge commercial satellites. The appointment of Mr. Stephen O’Neill will further enhance the partnership between BSSI and Thuraya that traces back to the company’s inception.

Mr. O’ Neill has over 30 years of experience in the aerospace industry. With

his hands-on experience in programmatics, engineering and program management for both commercial and government satellite programs plus extensive experience in the satellite launch industry, he brings a deep and broad background to Thuraya’s present business development and will immeasurably add to Thuraya’s transition in planning for the future. In his current position at BSSI he is responsible for the general management of the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial communications satellites.

Thuraya’s Chairman, Mr. Mohammad Omran, said, ‘Mr. O’Neill is an exciting addition to

our Board of Directors as his expertise in the aerospace industry will help shape the strategy for Thuraya’s growth and future, enabling the Company to maintain its leadership position in the mobile satellite services industry.’

Thuraya is the market leader in mobile satellite handheld solutions with 70% market share within its coverage which spans 140 countries in Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australia. It is the pioneer of voice, data, and maritime solutions for the land, maritime

and aero sectors. Major consumers of Thuraya solutions are from the government and vertical market industries such as defense, oil and gas, broadcast media, maritime, NGOs and large corporates.

Thuraya Appoints Stephen O’Neill of Boeing as Board Member

Reham Barakat

Stephen O'Neill

T

Abu Dhabi-based Thuraya, has said it is partnering

with Florida-based SRT Wireless to deliver the next generation of Internet Protocol (IP) modems and an open platform for third-party developers.

The new IP module, developed and manufactured by SRT Wireless, will enhance the capabilities of Thuraya's products, which are surging in popularity in both the Land and Maritime sectors, said a company statement.

Thuraya's existing broadband terminal enables fast, convenient, reliable data connectivity from any location - even the most remote - in

more than 140 countries in Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, it added.

Specifically, the SRT Wireless IP module will enable high-speed streaming at up to 384 kbps, the fastest in the industry, and provide extensive additional functionality including Voice, Geo-Mobile Packet Radio Service (GmPRS), SMS, Fax, GPS, and an OEM-programmable host controller with Linux software development kit (SDK), which will significantly reduce development time and costs to bring new products and applications to market.

The module is especially well

suited to meet the needs of market verticals including aerospace, military, marine, oil and gas, mining, SCADA industrial control systems, and any systems or applications in which a compact design is preferred and can be more easily integrated into the customer's solution.

Rashid Baba, Thuraya's director of Product Management said, "We believe this market sector will continue to grow

exponentially, and we need to continually innovate to stay ahead."

"By providing a cutting-edge, open platform for developers, we're encouraging innovation and creating real partnerships which will be key to our partners' and Thuraya's future," he noted.

John Mann, SRT Wireless' CEO said, "Our partnership with Thuraya will revolutionize the way data is provided and consumed over the next few years. Thuraya's foresight and our Thuraya IP Module design are guaranteed to excite developers who are aware of the importance of such a product in the marketplace."

Thuraya joins forces with US wireless firm

T

Huawei, a leading global information and

communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, announced the commercial launch of the world’s first plug and link data card, the HiLink E353. Powered by a number of patented technologies, the HiLink E353 automatically connects users to the Internet in as little as 15 seconds after the datacard is inserted into the USB port, without the need for a tedious dial-in process, driver installation or manual configuration. This is up to 75% faster than products currently on the market. The HiLink E353 is the first EDGE/GPRS/GSM-compatible product in the Huawei HiLink

series that supports HSPA+network with 21 Mbps Downlink.

Wu Shimin, President of Mobile Broadband, Huawei Device, said, “Huawei is committed to providing customers with products that feature ease of use and optimal user experience. With customers at the heart of our strategy, we have been at the forefront of datacard development with industry-leading technologies and product form factors.

Leveraging revolutionary 4th generation datacard technology, the HiLink series is poised to change the datacard industry landscape. The HiLink technology is the result of more than one year of dedicated research and development and we believe that it will not only enhance consumers’ user experience, it will also enable operators to reduce backend development and maintenance costs and speed up UI customization, enhancing the competitiveness of their products.”

The HiLink will soon be available in the third quarter of 2011, first in Turkey, then the rest of the world.

Huawei launches HiLink, the World’s First Plug and Link Datacard

Hong Kong-based Genius Brand, the 4G mobile joint venture between PCCW and

Hutchison (3) has contracted China’s Huawei Technologies to act as sole equipment provider in building a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network spanning the entire Special Administrative Region via more than 2,000 base stations. The initial LTE deployment began early this year, and Huawei has carried out indoor and outdoor trials with Genius Brand over the last six months. Huawei has also signed separate deals with Hutchison and PCCW unit Hong Kong Telecom (HKT), under which it will upgrade the companies’ core networks to the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) specification. Huawei’s Single RAN LTE solution will implement Multiple Operator Core Network (MOCN) for Genius Brand, allowing Hutchison and PCCW to share radio network and spectrum resources while maintaining two separate core networks.

Huawei wins sole provider contract for Hutchison and PCCW joint LTE network


O3b Networks the developer of a new fiber-quality,

satellite-based, global connectivity solution announced that Pak Datacom Limited (one of Pakistan’s largest Data Network Operators) has signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar agreement as O3b’s exclusive supplier of services into the Pakistan market. The agreement will provide national and international satellite capacity to all borders of Pakistan.

This agreement is of great value to the Pakistani market as fiber quality, high speed internet and data connectivity would be provided through satellite to any location of Pakistan where no other connectivity is available.

The official introduction of these joint services in Pakistan took place in the form of a launch ceremony in Islamabad on 7th September. Top executives from many organizations across different sectors including Telecom, Defence and ISPs were present on this occasion with

Saeed Ahmed Khan, Secretary IT & Telecom as the Chief Guest.

In his speech, Mr. Saeed highlighted the importance of satellite communication and the growing need for future technologies in Pakistan. Satellite communication holds high importance in the Pakistani market as it is the only way to access some mobile areas in Pakistan where terrestrial network is not available. Mr. Saeed also talked about the general environment in the current ICT sector of Pakistan, which is one of the fastest growing markets in the world and how it has becoming a people-centric industry. He stated that the stakeholders and the civil societies are joining hands here to solve social issues and needs together. Also reducing the economic gap created by technology have and have-nots.

Many other senior executives and important personalities from the ICT sector were

present at the occasion. Other speakers for the occasion included Parvez Ifitkhar, CEO of Universal Services Fund, Steve Collar, CEO of O3b Networks, Ali Raza Bhutta, Managing Director Pak Datacom Ltd and Ali Akhtar Bajwa, COO of Pak Datacom.

Ali Akhtar Bajwa, COO Pak Datacom elaborated on the importance of PDL & O3b agreement and explained how necessary it was to have this unique solution available in a region that has terrain limitations that prevent the deployment of reliable, cost effective fiber optic and backhaul networks. He said the agreement is of great value to the Pakistani market as a new fiber-quality satellite based global connectivity solution, high speed internet and data connectivity would be provided through satellite to any location of Pakistan where no other connectivity is available.

“O3b’s Medium Earth Orbit satellites provide us with

fiber-like capacity and cutting edge backhaul solutions, to address the burgeoning needs of fixed and mobile operators in Pakistan. O3b’s technology puts Pak Datacom in a unique position to provide continuous capacity that will intercept the increasing demand we see for high bandwidth services,” said the COO of PDL.

“We are excited about the possibilities O3b’s technology will bring to our market. The Pakistan market will remain reliant on satellite technology, due to terrain limitations that prevent the deployment of reliable, cost effective fiber optic and backhaul networks. O3b’s Medium Earth Orbit satellites provide us with fiber like capacity and cutting edge backhaul solutions, to address the burgeoning needs of fixed and mobile operators in Pakistan. O3b’s technology puts Pak Datacom in a unique position to provide continuous capacity that will intercept the

O3B Networks: Providing fiber like capacity and cutting edge

backhaul solutions in Pakistan through MEO satellites in partnership with Pak Datacom

Gulraiz Khalid



increasing demand we see for high bandwidth services.” added Ali Akhtar Bajwa, COO, Pak Datacom Ltd.

Ali Raza Bhutta, Managing Director of Pak Datacom Ltd,

presented an overview of the company's achievement in recent years. He also elaborated how PDL is playing an integral role in the overall improvement of data communication industry

and introduction of new technologies.

Steve Collar, CEO of O3b Networks talked about O3b’s unique service solution and how it was going to have a positive

impact on the region in many aspects.

“Pakistan remains a very vibrant market, there were more than a 100 million subscribers in the mobile market by the end of 2010 and the market continues to grow rapidly. There is close to 500Mhz satellite capacity that is being used to fuel the mobile market. It has been consistently a part of the top 5 growing markets in the world growing at a rate of about 25% per year. It’s also a market that is going to need more and more satellite capacity, it is a very challenging market in terms of demographic situation and the terrain. So it is essential to have a satellite network joined with a terrestrial network to successfully provide services throughout the country. And with all the growing mobile services, there is also going to be an increasing need for backhaul services. I am pleased and excited about the possibilities our unique Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) technology will bring to the Pakistani market and look forward to seeing the positive impact it has for development to the region” Steve Coller, CEO, O3B, who later talked about how O3B is going to fill in the need for satellite communication in Pakistan through this joint venture with Pak Datacom, one of the largest and most reliable data network operators in Pakistan.

Steve CollerCEO - O3b Networks

Saeed Ahmed KhanSecretary IT & Telecom

Ali Raza BhuttaManaging Director - Pak Datacom

Parvez IftikharCEO - Universal Service Fund

L to R: Ali Raza Bhutta, MD - Pak Datacom, Parvez Iftikhar, CEO - USF, Nadeem Ashraf, Addl. Secretary - MoITT, Saeed Ahmad Khan, Secretary - MoITT, Steve Collar, CEO - O3b Networks, Ali Akhtar Bajwa,

COO - Pak Datacom, Fysal Gill, Regional Director - O3b Networks and John Finney, CCO - O3b Networks


Sony's new tablet computers failed to excite gadget

reviewers and analysts who criticised the pricing and quality of the devices, underscoring the battle Sony faces regaining its consumer electronics crown.

Sony Corp is already late to the game with its first tablet, which hits stores this month, more than a year and a half after Apple Inc launched the blockbuster iPad and almost a year since Samsung Electronics came out with the GalaxyTab. Samsung's Galaxy occupies the No.2 slot in tablets that Sony is targeting.

Reviewers and analysts highlighted a high price and features that suggested Sony would remain an also-ran rather than a leader in the tablet market. Two versions of Sony's main tablet cost $499 and $599, the same price as two lower-end Apple iPad models.

"Consumers want tablets, but they are not prepared to pay the same amount they'd pay for an iPad for something that's not an iPad," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. "Despite the brand and different design, with its pricing so close to the iPad, it will be challenging for Sony."

Once a symbol of Japan's high-tech might, the maker of the Walkman and PlayStation gaming console is struggling under the weight of its

money-losing TV division and badly needs the boost of a hit product.

"Sony really must be in the tablet market and must succeed," said Mito Securities electronics analyst Keita Wakabayashi.

Worldwide tablet shipments are forecast to more than triple this year to 60 million tablets and then rise to 275.3 million units by 2015, according to a report this month from research firm IHS iSuppli.

Distinguishing features

Sony's new tablets run on Google Inc's Android software, like the GalaxyTab and many other tablets from Acer Inc , Asustek Computer Inc and Motorola Mobility Holdings.

It is trying to distinguish its tablets from other Android players with features such as having one model function as a universal remote, while another folds like a clamshell and offers access to some first generation PlayStation games.

Backed by a disco beat during an event in Berlin to unveil the devices on Wednesday, Sony CEO Howard Stringer brushed off concerns the company waited too long to get into the tablet market.

"We want to prove it's not who makes it first that counts but

who makes it better,"

Stringer said.

Based on the initial reception, Sony has failed in that regard.

Tech reviewers credited Sony for coming up with a unique curvy design for the S tablet, which resembles a folded-back magazine and makes it easier to hold with one hand, but the quality of the hardware was questioned.

A review on the Gizmodo tech blog called the tablet "extremely plasticky" and said its screen scratched more easily than other tablets.

Sony vowed in January to become the world's No. 2 tablet maker -- behind Apple -- by 2012 and Sony executives stuck to that ambitious claim

ahead of the tablet launch. But research firm Forrester put out a blog post saying Sony's pricing "raises a red flag."

At a low-key Japanese launch of the tablets in Tokyo on Thursday, Sony hinted it could be flexible on pricing.

"We'll see and study how the market will react and we'll take

any necessary action," said Hideyuki Furumi, deputy

president of the Sony division in charge of

the new tablets.

"But then again, we don't want to

do competition simply on

prices, because we have a lot

of differentiation points," he added, saying the entertainment features would be expanded over time.

One expert who has played with the single-screen "Sony Tablet: S" also was doubtful it could compete with rivals that sell high-end tablets at the same price.

Tim Stevens, editor-in-chief of the Engadget tech blog, said the tablet's hardware was underwhelming and its feel and design trailed the iPad 2 and the Galaxy Tab.

"I honestly don't think this is going to be the tablet that really catapults Sony into the lead on the Android front, which is where it needs to be if it wants to be No. 2 in the tablet market," Stevens said.

Sony tablets face tough sell on price, hardware Carolina Milanesi

Contd. on page 30


Telecom operators worldwide face numerous

obstacles to continued success including stagnating growth, heightened competition and growing consumer sophistication, according to research by Booz & Company. As these trends are still nascent in the region, GCC telecom operators have thus far implemented tactical, short-term initiatives to overcome these obstacles.

But opportunity abounds for GCC operators to prepare for future challenges by adopting a comprehensive cost management plan, addressing incremental efficiencies, process re-engineering and value chain restructuring.

Operators who do not implement wide-ranging plans to manage their costs run the risk of steep declines in profitability. These new trends, hindering the telecom operators, are starting to emerge in the GCC region, with revenue growth in the telecom sector

slowing, competition rising, and consumers increasingly demanding more services and better performance at reduced prices. 'The global operators hit hardest by these trends have undertaken substantive measures to adapt structurally

to face these challenges,' said Booz & Company principal Chady Smayra. 'GCC operators also are starting to respond to the trends now emerging in the region through tactical and short-term cost reductions. These moves will prove to be insufficient to mitigate the full impact of the trends affecting the sector.' By rigorously

identifying and applying relevant cost measures, telecom operators can position themselves to weather the on-going industry challenges and extract benefits from leaner operations, the report argues.

There are three waves of cost

optimisation that operators need to consider: These are incremental efficiency, process re-engineering, and value chain restructuring.

'Deploying the right mix of these initiatives will enable operators to create or sustain value, outperform their competitors, and secure

their sustainability in chosen markets,' said Smayra.

'Although revenue growth is still positive in the GCC region, it has begun to slow recently,' said Booz & Company partner Hilal Halaoui. 'Average returns on assets have dropped by nearly half over the past five years to approximately eight per cent per year, and appear headed toward 5 per cent, level commonly seen in saturated markets.'

'The GCC region recently has seen increases in competition and market fragmentation, as well as a slowdown in growth. Based on the experiences in the other more mature markets, it, too, will soon face added pressure from consumers. 'In response, operators will need to prepare for constrained growth and compensate by creating leaner organisations. Essentially, regional incumbents will have to increase their marketing expenditures, and in turn, try to reduce many other costs,' the expert added.

Telecom firms 'facing multiple challenges'

Some tech bloggers anticipate Amazon will more likely prove a competitor to Apple, with a tablet that has not been officially announced but is expected in the next few weeks.

Crowded market

Sony joins a slew of technology companies hoping to win a share in a market where many have stumbled in pursuit of Apple.

Hewlett Packard's Co decision to drop its Touchpad tablet only weeks after it came out shows how easy it is to fail. Sales

soared only after HP slashed the price to $99 from $399 and $499, prompting the company to announce a further "final run" of the tablets to meet demand.

Sony said the S tablet is unique because of a universal remote inside the computer that can be used to control stereos, cable television boxes and TV sets.

The wifi-only device has a 9.4 inch screen, weighs 1.33 lbs and has front and rear cameras.

A 16 gigabyte version of the tablet will cost $499 in the United States, while the 32

GB version will retail for $599. In Europe, the S will cost 479 euros. It can be pre-ordered on Wednesday and will be in stores in September.

Sony's second tablet, the P, comes with 4 GB of memory and looks like a clutch purse. It has two 5.5-inch screens that can be folded together and weighs less than a pound.

The tablet also offers 4G cellular service. In Europe, the P will cost 599 euros and be out in November. Sony said it would be in stores in the United States later this year, but did

not provide a date or price.

Sony's tablets tap its entertainment library by offering music and movies services, which should give it an edge over rivals, according to Stringer.

"Apple makes an iPad, but does it make a movie?" Stringer said.

Sony shares rose 2 per cent in a firmer Tokyo market on Thursday after the tablets were unveiled. US listed shares closed almost 0.3 per cent down at $21.95 after opening higher.

Contd. from page 29


As governments around the world press ahead in

their efforts to spark social and economic growth, they continue to turn to the development of “digital highways”: nationwide high-speed broadband networks. This advanced combination of fixed and wireless networks boosts socioeconomic growth by enhancing productivity, fostering investment, and bringing access to education, healthcare, and government services to a greater number of citizens.

However, such digital highways become truly effective only when “digital communities” spring up beside them, with functions such as e-health, e-government, e-education, and smart grids being developed to take advantage of the connectivity that broadband offers. Building such communities requires increased effort and cooperation on the part of those involved in the entire broadband ecosystem—policymakers, network operators, manufacturers,

and appli¬cations providers. Policymakers will need to encourage the development and use of applications; operators will have to identify new revenue streams; manufacturers and applications devel-opers will need to collaborate with one another and operators to develop the most appealing services and prod¬ucts for users.

Furthermore, all of these broadband participants will need to work with their counterparts in other sectors (including transportation, education, healthcare, and energy).

To deliver on the promise of the

benefits of digital highways, all involved stakeholders need to step

up with a collaborative, focused, determined, and capable effort. Communities that facilitate stake-holders’ innovation and collaboration will realize the extraordinary potential of broadband.

THE BENEFITS OF DIGITAL COMMUNITIES

In March 2010, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan, an effort to address the fact that only seven of 10 households in the United States use the Internet. Beyond examin¬ing infrastructure requirements, the FCC plan recognized that ubiquitous, affordable high-speed broadband was essential in driving national competi¬tiveness: The plan spelled out seven priority areas in which broadband enabled advancements, including education, healthcare, energy and the environment, and civic engagement.1

The United States is far from alone in its aspirations. Governments around the world are spending billions and setting ambitious targets as they rec¬ognize that digital highways—defined as nationwide high-speed broadband enabled by a combination of fixed as well as wireless networks—are a

crucial foundation for many areas of socioeconomic development. Just as actual highways connect people and foster social and commercial activ¬ity, digital highways can facilitate the creation of virtual communities in vital areas. When policymakers and telecommunications operators col¬laborate with leaders in other sectors, such as health and education, they are laying the groundwork for profound improvements—boosting national competitiveness, innovation, economic productivity, and social inclusion.

Accelerating the deployment of digital highways and deriving their full benefits is not a simple task. It requires fundamental changes in vision and action throughout the entire broadband ecosystem. Policymakers and network operators first must look beyond broadband networks and facilitate the development of a host of related services and applications (apps), then

Building Communities Around Digital Highways

Karim Sabbagh

Bahjat El-Darwiche

Roman Friedrich

Milind Singh


actively encourage citizens to use them. There is also a strong need for collaboration among other sector participants, such as device manufacturers, application developers, and counterparts in adjoining sectors. Finally, the members of the broadband ecosystem must work with their counterparts in adjacent industries—such as healthcare, energy, education, and transportation—to develop the apps that will help those sectors reap broadband’s benefits. Only when all these stakeholders are fully engaged can digital highways reach their full potential and facilitate efficiency, competitiveness, and prosperity in the communities they serve.

THE NEED FOR DIGITAL HIGHWAYS

Widely accessible, high-speed broadband infrastructure is the foundation underlying all these possibilities, and several trends are converging to underscore the need for these digital highways.

First, the proliferation of information and communications technology (ICT) continues to have a strong impact on socioeconomic growth. Consumers and businesses have recognized ICT as a source of productivity enhancement; as a result,

enterprises have invested in the sector, particularly in developed markets, and ICT adoption has increased dramatically. There were 100 million personal computers in 1990 and 1.4 billion in 2010. The number of mobile phone users increased from 10 million to more than 5 billion over the same period, and the number of Internet users surged from 3 million to 2 billion. As adoption of ICT has made exponential gains, so has its role in fostering both product and process innovation across industry sectors (see Exhibit 1). All these technologies rely, in one way or another, on broadband. Therefore, countries seeking to better their standard of living and competitiveness consider digital highways to be a national imperative.

Another critical need for digital high¬ways stems from changing consumer behavior. Around the globe, people are coming to expect constant immer¬sion in the digital world—to be able to fulfill their need for communica¬tion, information,

and entertainment anywhere, at any time. What is more, they are not just consuming content but also creating it; this change, plus the increasing digitization of enter¬prise and government services, has led to an explosion of digital content. An International Data Corporation (IDC) study estimated that the total digital

content created in 2010 would reach 1.2 zettabytes—that’s 1.2 with 21 zeros, the equivalent of 75 billion fully loaded 16-gigabyte Apple iPads.2By 2020, IDC estimates, digital con¬tent will have grown another 30-fold, to 35 zettabytes. Facing steep costs, enterprises are turning increasingly to cloud computing. IDC forecasts that the amount of data on the cloud will reach 15 percent of the digital data universe, or 5 zettabytes. Already, major technology

companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon offer cloud services. The transmission of so much data will put additional strain on broadband networks.

Indeed, this proliferation of data has had a profound impact on the telecom industry: a recent

study by Ericsson highlighted the landmark moment in December 2009 when total mobile data surpassed voice traffic.3 Data use will only continue to rise as smartphones become more common, because smartphone users consume as much as 15 times more bandwidth than users of regular phones. Although successive genera¬tions of wireless technologies have improved the efficiency of the wireless spectrum, it is not sufficient to handle the data explosion: Mobile operators will need to turn to fixed broadband networks to support their operations as smartphones’ popularity continues to surge.

Governments represent another source of network demand as they increasingly move toward e-govern¬ment solutions to serve their citizens. The United Nations’ e-Government Survey estimates that only 2 percent of countries today do not have an e-government website.4

Emerging economies are also spawn¬ing demand for digital highways.

In many growing economies, consum¬ers are increasing their expenditures on ICT, creating demand for high-speed networks to handle surges

in data traffic (see Exhibit 2). Emerging economies also see rapid growth in their urban


centers: urban populations in emerging markets grew 3.4 percent between 1975 and 2005, compared with growth of 0.8 percent in developed countries over that same period. Such urbanization is usually accompanied by a host

of challenges—such as traffic conges¬tion and pollution—that require ICT solutions, such as intelligent public transport systems. Further, emerging economies are investing in e-govern¬ment platforms that require universal and affordable accessibility to be successful.

The proliferation of content and data usage from governments, businesses, and consumers, as well as the growing needs of both emerging and mature markets, underscore how crucial it is for countries to keep building their digital highways. The countries that embrace the need for affordable and ubiquitous national networks have proven to be more competitive in the global arena, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index (see Exhibit 3). The message is clear: Digital highways are an imperative for all nations, developed or emerging.

THE STATE OF DIGITAL HIGHWAYS

Despite digital highways’ socioeco¬nomic impact and their importance as the foundation for digital com¬munities, more than 83 percent of the world’s population lacks connection to a broadband network (see Exhibit

4). High-speed broadband is avail¬able to just 6.2 percent of the global population. Notwithstanding the best efforts of governments and the private sector, the broadband digital divide persists as a significant challenge to inclusive and sustainable development, especially in emerging economies.

These gloomy statistics, however, fail to show the progress that countries have made in recent years (see Exhibit 5). Policymakers and network operators are making major strides in accelerating the availability of national broadband networks.

Policymakers

In both developed and developing markets, policymakers are considering the establishment of digital highways to be a national imperative, and they are introducing regulations and policy to ensure their rapid deployment.

In July 2010, for example, the

Finnish government formally declared broad¬band to be a legal right and vowed to deliver high-speed access (100 Mbps) to every household in Finland by 2015.5 The French assembly declared broadband to be a basic human right in 2009,6 and

Spain is proposing to give the same designation to broad¬band starting in 2011.7

In some countries, policymakers are establishing comprehensive broad¬band policies. In the United States, the FCC’s Connecting America plan outlines initiatives to improve high-speed broadband adoption across sec¬tors and industries, proposing

a US$9 billion fund to accelerate broadband deployment.8 The U.K. government has committed £850 million (US$1.4 billion) to its broadband plan,9 and Brazil has committed $7.3 billion over the next five years.10 Emerging economies are also stepping up their plans: Estonia said it will spend $500 million for a national broadband net¬work,11 and India has begun setting its national broadband plan.12

Policy initiatives have not been limited to infrastructure; some policymakers are investing in

demand stimulation. Korea has put $65 million into a smart grid pilot on Jeju Island, operating a fully integrated smart grid for 600 households.13 In the United States, the government has committed as much as $11 billion as part of its American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to develop smart grids.14

Additionally, regulators are becoming more involved, encouraging rules to foster cooperation that would facilitate the build-out of national networks. The European Commission, for example, recently articulated regula¬tory recommendations to encourage partnerships among operators that will use next-generation fiber networks.15

Network Operators

Along with policymakers, network operators are the dominant stake¬holders in the sector, and they are playing an increasingly active role in the development of digital highways by adopting new business models that separate their network assets from services. These multilayer business models allow operators to reduce their focus, investment, and depen¬dency on traditional revenue streams and instead position themselves to scale next-generation networks and related apps and services. Often, policymakers and


network opera¬tors work together to forge solutions beneficial to them both.

For example, the Telstra Corporation, the incumbent operator in Australia, recently followed operators in Singapore and New Zealand in adopting a multilayer network. Telstra will separate its wholesale and retail businesses and progressively decommission its copper network as the government-backed national broadband network rolls out. This was a difficult deal, as it upends the operator’s entire approach to doing business; it required protracted nego¬tiations, including, at one point, the position that the government would build an A$43 billion (US$44.5 billion) network without Telstra. Ultimately, the operator agreed to accept A$11 billion (US$11.4 billion) from the Australian government as an incentive to de-layer its services.

In 2007, Italy’s telecommunications regulator, AGCOM, began seek¬ing ways to boost the country’s low broadband penetration rates. After lengthy negotiations, Italy’s incum¬bent operator—Telecom Italia—agreed to de-layer its networks by undergoing a functional separation to establish a new open-access entity, from which all operators would acquire wholesale services. Investment in fiber networks in the country still remained limited, however, until the

Italian government announced a €1.5 billion (US$2.1 billion) injection into a fiber company in early 2009 to accelerate the deployment of next-generation infrastructure. That plan stalled until November 2010, when the Italian government worked with operators to forge a plan that would create an infrastructure company run by representatives from major opera¬tors and the ministry of telecommuni¬cations (see Exhibit 6). Italy’s model reflects similar evolutions in Australia and Singapore, where the incumbent was reluctant at first to be a part of the broadband company, but eventu¬ally joined in a national effort.

BUILDING COMMUNITIES AROUND DIGITAL HIGHWAYS

With national broadband

networks around the world on track for con¬tinued deployment, participants in the broadband sector are recognizing that the true value of digital highways does not reside in their construc¬tion alone. If broadband represents a digital highway, then the apps that are enabled by broadband are the communities that will grow alongside it—and they are critical to realizing the maximum socioeconomic benefits from broadband. Policymakers, operators, device manufacturers, and application developers are unlocking the true potential of digital highways by facilitating the creation of apps that deliver better services and boost national competitiveness. The possi¬bilities enabled by

broadband include, but are not limited to:

• Enabling smart governments: ICT today is playing a key role in help¬ing governments maintain public service standards while they struggle with budget deficits and attempt to curb national spending. A study by the European Union revealed that European taxpayers could save more than €15 billion (US$20 billion) if their governments were to

switch to electronic invoicing systems.16

• Enabling healthcare: The number of citizens over the age of 60 is likely to double in developed countries over the next three decades. ICT is playing a vital role in enhancing the quality and reducing the cost of healthcare in these economies through apps such as electronic health records and e-health services. iData Research forecasts that the U.S. patient monitoring market, including home tele-health and hospital wireless telemetry monitoring segments, will reach nearly $4 billion by 2017.17

• Enabling sustainability: The adoption of green ICT apps could result in a 15 percent reduction of global emissions,

or 7.8 gigatons of CO2, by 2020, according to a Smart 2020 study.18 These apps include elements such as smart grids, which received $3.4 billion in stimulus funding in 2009 in the United States.

In developing countries, in particular, national broadband networks offer a helping hand up the socioeconomic ladder by enabling a few critical areas:


• Enabling basic services: Access to primary services such as healthcare and education

is a challenge for most rural citizens in developing markets; ICT allows governments and non¬governmental organizations (NGOs) to broaden their provision of these vital services. A number of nonprofit organizations are using mobile networks to deliver mobile health (m-health) services, such as patient data collection and the dissemina¬tion of health information, to poor, rural populations throughout Africa. Similarly, in education, nonprofit organizations and operators can col¬laborate to offer lessons, study tips, and quizzes via mobile devices.

• Enabling livelihoods: Almost one-fourth of the world’s population lives below the poverty line, on less than $1.25 per day. ICT can help governments and international nonprofit organizations improve the purchasing power of low-income groups. In the agriculture sector, for example, farmers can obtain instant weather information and market prices for their crops on their mobile phones—which could help them harvest at the right time and sell products for an appropri¬ate price. This

service also reduces reliance on middlemen and overall market information asymmetry.

At this stage, most countries are still focusing on the deployment of broad¬band itself and are just beginning to explore the possibilities that will arise when broadband becomes ubiquitous and affordable. For example, only 1.5 percent of facilities belonging to the American Hospital Association have comprehensive e-health systems, and smart meter penetration in the United States was estimated at only 6 percent in 2009. Even in the public sector, with its wide range

of e-government initiatives, adoption has been slow: for example, in the European Union,

only 30 percent of individuals ages 16 to 74 were using the Internet to interact with public authorities, as of 2009.

But a few countries have already begun to envision the communities that could spring up around the digi¬tal highway; some have even begun to reap the benefits of building such communities.

These countries show what is possible when members of the broadband ecosystem collaborate both with each other and with adja¬cent sectors to develop the apps that catalyze broadband’s potential.

South Korea, for example, is the global leader in both access speeds and the adoption of high-speed broadband services (see Exhibit 7). It has achieved this status through a series of sustained efforts over the last 15 years, starting with the Korea Information Infrastructure

plan in 1995; the plan aimed to connect all households to a broadband network by 2005. Since then, Korea has continued to periodically reassess the availability and quality of its broad¬band network and set higher aims for itself. In 2009, Korea announced a government-backed initiative to boost average broadband access speeds to

1 Gbps for all its citizens.

In addition to access, policies have focused on apps. As early as 1999, Korea outlined plans to boost infor¬mation technology (IT) apps and literacy under its Cyber Korea 21 plan; it took further steps in its 2006 e-Korea vision plan, which focused on the promotion of information apps.19 Recently, the country announced a commitment of more than $500 mil¬lion for cloud computing initiatives, with the objective of encouraging local businesses to export cloud services.

Operators, device manufacturers, and application developers in Korea have been instrumental in developing the country’s digital highway, creating the next-generation apps that boost broadband

adoption. For instance, SK Telecom Company—the leading mobile services provider—offers a “digital home” app that allows users to control and monitor home appli¬ances, and a mobile radio-frequency identification (RFID) app that gives users vital information about prod¬ucts before purchase. Korea is also the global leader in online gaming services; more than 30 percent of the population is registered on online multiplayer games.

Device manufacturers such as LG and Samsung have emerged as global market leaders in electronics, par¬tially enabled by successful partner¬ships with local telecommunications players via which they built devices that allowed for RFID solutions and micropayment tools. None of these manufacturers could have created these devices on their own; their development required extensive col¬laboration with ICT policymakers; policymakers in relevant industry sectors, such as finance; sector stake¬holders, such as banks and retailers; application developers; and operators, which charge customers to use the apps made possible by these devices.

In combination, these initiatives have resulted in a number of competitive advantages for Korea. Between 2000 and 2007, the country more than tripled the number of patents filed in science and technology. ICT adds more value to enterprise performance in Korea than it does in almost any other OECD country; in public ser¬vices, Korea has surpassed the United

States and the European Union (E.U.) countries to rank highest on the U.N.’s e-Government Development Index since 2008. As a result, Korea has enjoyed one of the highest rates of GDP growth in the last 10 years among OECD countries.

These achievements are not out of reach for other countries—but they will require similar levels of dedicated effort. One way to boost the use of broadband apps is to generate a better understanding of their effec¬tiveness. Some entities

have taken early steps to do so: A study com¬missioned by the Internet Innovation Alliance shows that broadband is estimated to have generated net consumer benefits of $32 billion in 2008 in the United States, and higher speeds could continue providing consumers there with greater benefits, adding at least $6 billion in consumer benefits per year.20 Additionally, new technologies such as smart grids could result in energy consumption savings in the United States of 5 percent in the residential sector and 2.5 percent in the industrial sector. Policymakers, such as the FCC, are also establishing tools to measure the impact

of broad¬band. The FCC has laid out a number of metrics focused on broadband access and adoption to track progress against its 2020 goals (see Exhibit 8).

Thus far, however, attempts at quantifying the impact of broadband and the apps it enables have been isolated and limited. A standard global approach to understanding and measuring how broadband affects socioeconomic progress will be criti¬cal to unlocking its potential.

In the meantime, each member of the broadband ecosystem has a clear role to play in building com¬munities around digital highways. Policymakers will need to adopt a holistic approach that encourages the development and use of apps. Operators will need to focus on the opportunities generated by this shift in direction and seek out new revenue streams accordingly. And device manufacturers and application devel¬opers will need to collaborate with each other as well as with operators on the propositions that will most appeal to users.

Policymakers: Adopting an Ecosystem Perspective

The widespread adoption of broad¬band apps depends on whether ICT policymakers can take an inclusive, collaborative view of the broadband ecosystem. Three initiatives for ICT policymakers are clearly necessary.

First, they must collaborate with poli¬cymakers in adjacent industries—such as healthcare, education, energy, and transportation—to develop sector-specific ICT policies (see Exhibit 9). Second, policymakers must stimulate development

of apps, such as cloud computing, including selectively investing in the initiatives needed to drive their use. Finally, ICT policy¬makers need to move beyond simply tracking the availability and adoption of broadband services and establish tools for a holistic assessment of broadband’s impact. Measuring the contribution of broadband apps to economic and societal progress can make their benefits more tangible, thereby driving more demand

and stimulating the creation of even more apps. To accomplish this, policymak¬ers must identify the key metrics that allow for impact assessment, develop methods and tools for monitoring impact, and publish these results. Such metrics could include broad¬band’s contribution to sector growth, effectiveness, cost savings and afford¬ability, job creation, and overall qual¬ity of life.

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is an example of a policymaker that has taken just such a broad view of ICT development. The IDA has developed an array of programs in healthcare,


education, financial services, enter¬prise, and government to support its iN2015 Masterplan, which aims to grow the ICT sector as well as key economic sectors via ICT. Public-service initiatives are already reaping results: Within a span of two years, Singapore climbed 12 places to rank 11th on the U.N.’s e-Government Development Index. Similarly, in the Middle East, policymaker and sector developer ictQATAR has launched ICT2015, a five-year national ICT plan, which aims to develop ICT for government and society through four programs (e-education, e-health, e-government, and e-inclusion). It also fosters economic development through ICT by building a digital content eco¬system for Qatar and driving innova¬tion and entrepreneurship.21

Operators: Building New Capabilities for New Opportunities

In the next five years, revenue oppor¬tunities for operators worldwide will continue to shift from those gener¬ated on traditional networks (mainly voice-driven) to services enabled by digital highways, such as data services and cloud computing. In 2015, such services could amount to a $994 bil¬lion opportunity for operators (see Exhibit 10). Operators that have been slow to invest in broadband, hoping to first get the full return on their investments in traditional services, will need to adapt to this shift to recognize the opportunities afforded by digital highways.

Operators around the world are already shifting their strategies to take advantage of the trend; many have forged partnerships with application developers or other ecosystem stake¬holders. For example, Vodafone Spain has collaborated with Microsoft

to offer a suite of enterprise cloud services;22 Vivo in Brazil has built partnerships with Ericsson and NGO Saúde e Alegria to provide isolated communities in the Amazon with access to a range of health and educa¬tion services.23 Other operators, such as Orange, are developing capabili¬ties in-house: Orange offers “M2M Connect” solutions for healthcare, transportation, and security busi¬nesses that want to monitor their assets in real time.24

Operators are also targeting oppor¬tunities in mobile app stores. Some, such as Airtel,

are building their own;25 some are collaborating with others to build app stores with a global scale. A group of 24 opera¬tors and three device manufacturers recently announced that they are planning to build a wholesale app community.26

However, delivering these solutions and serving these markets requires operators to build a different set of capabilities than those required in providing traditional telecommunication services. Many of these capabilities revolve around working with partners. A recent study from Harvard Business School and

Esade Business School found that although partnering on very simple products is overkill, and partnering on extremely complex products is likely to involve too many trade-offs as partners try to reach agreement, projects of moderate complexity—such as apps—benefit from the innovation boost that other companies can provide.27

First and foremost, therefore, operators need to enhance their ability to engage and incentivize large developer communities. Second, they need to build go-to-market partnerships that offer access to specialized skills.

Finally, they need to move away from their traditional focus on network deployment to emphasize services and apps. Operators have traditionally operated closed networks and allowed new apps on a system only after intensive testing; moving to an approach that allows for frequent new services will require operators to significantly scale up their service provisioning and delivery platforms. In addition, operators need to establish open platforms, which allow small application developers to profitably develop apps for operators.

Selling specialist solutions such as smart metering, cloud computing, or machine-to-machine (M2M) communication requires operators to have access to hardware, software, and operational capabilities that may not be available in-house. Establishing partnerships with companies that are familiar with the relevant sectors and that have relationships with sector stakeholders, such as power companies, is critical for operators that want to target these opportunities. Operators are already partnering with large IT and Internet firms such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon to resell their cloud services to their current customers; they need to enhance their partnerships in other sectors to capitalize on digital opportunities.

Finally, although apps and services present attractive long-term opportu¬nities for operators, they are unlikely to yield significant revenue imme¬diately. Operators must ensure that short-term thinking does not cloud their vision. Although they will need to continue investing in traditional revenue opportunities, they must be sure that management focus and capital are being directed toward new sources of revenue as well.

Device Manufacturers and Application Developers: Collaborating to Appeal to Users

Like operators, device manufacturers and application developers should collaborate with other ecosystem players to capitalize on the digital highways opportunity.

In light of consumers’ and application providers’ growing demand for data services, manufacturers are responding with smartphone devices that capitalize on upcoming digital highways. The number of smartphone models has



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increased considerably, as have smartphone sales (see Exhibit 11). Markets such as the United States are already seeing smartphones capture 47 percent of market share in new handset sales.28 Accordingly, the number of players in the market is set to grow rapidly over the coming five years, with electronics players such as Dell, Acer, and Huawei joining the fray.

In terms of contributing to socioeco¬nomic development, device manu¬facturers can forge partnerships with public- and private-sector players to drive adoption of apps in key sectors and underpenetrated segments. For example, Nokia has partnered with Vodafone Group Foundation, the Pan-American Health Organization, and the Brazilian Department of Indigenous People’s Health to develop MobiSUS, a mobile phone–based pro¬gram that allows Brazilian healthcare workers operating in remote, chal¬lenging environments

to collect health data more efficiently, thus improving the delivery of care. The project is being implemented in 18 of 34 special indigenous health districts, where the use of mobile technologies is replac¬ing the current paper-based system. Nokia has provided the handsets,

software, and data-gathering plat¬form for the program, which will be implemented on a national scale in cooperation with the Brazilian Ministry of Health.29

Device manufacturers can also play a central role in nurturing developer communities, which can drive the development and adoption of new broadband apps. Device manufactur¬ers should team up with telecom¬munications operators, operating system providers, and application developers to enable open platforms and profitably bring new propositions to market.

Application developers, too, are playing a key role in broadband adoption. Many are partnering with operators to push apps such as cloud computing; the size of the global cloud computing market was estimated at $68 billion in 2009 and is set to grow to $223 billion by 2015.30 Application developers are also getting involved in developing

infrastructure; for instance, Google is rolling out trial fiber networks in an initiative called “Think Big with a Gig.”31 Other ecosystem players, such as Apple, are encouraging the growth of a broadband application developer community; Apple offers

software, technical support, and other resources for application development. Building on the success of its iPhone-focused App Store, it recently launched the Mac App Store to offer desktop applications.

Application developers should encourage the broader use of successful next-generation services such as cloud computing by scaling them across multiple platforms. In 2009, global spending on ICT services was close to $4 trillion across hardware, software, services, networks, and human resources; as part of this spending moves to the cloud, application developers can target a market currently dominated by large multinational firms such as Microsoft and IBM. Specifically, there is a clear and increasing need to develop tools for search capabilities, information management and prioritized storage, and security and privacy protection. Targeting this opportunity requires application developers

to effectively collaborate with both operators and device manufacturers.

M2M is the second key priority area for application development: it is one of the fastest-growing technology areas, and it offers a strong revenue opportunity for

network operators and technology suppliers thanks to the emergence of end-user devices with M2M features. According to recent studies, the M2M market will increase to approximately $19 billion in the coming years, with impressive growth from 75 million devices in 2009 to about 225 million devices in 2014.32 The M2M market growth is being fueled in part by the arrival of end-user devices with M2M features, such as Amazon’s Kindle.

M2M devices offer socioeconomic benefits as well. BM Smarter Cities and Cisco Intelligent Urbanisation, for example, are using M2M technologies to deliver intelligent energy management for smart cities. In doing so, IBM and Cisco have had to collaborate with smart meter manufacturers, energy companies, and operators to build and deliver holistic platforms to end-users.

CONCLUSION

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently said in an address to the Broadband Commission for Digital Development (a global NGO) that broadband has extraordinary poten¬tial to enable human progress.33 A campaign from that commission calls for universal broadband with the slogan “B more.”34

However, to deliver on the promise of broadband and to “B more,” stake¬holders across the ICT ecosystem need to take a holistic approach to its role in society. The future of digital highways rests on a collaborative, committed, and capable ecosystem that not only delivers high-speed broadband but also builds vibrant communities around it. Communities that facilitate stakeholders’ innova-tion, adoption, and collaboration will realize the extraordinary potential of broadband.


In the period of low effec-tiveness of traditional mass

media and rapid development of technology, mobile advertis-ing is one of the most popular areas of marketing worldwide. In Russia, this kind of communica-tion with customers is evaluated not so strongly as, for example, in Western Europe, China, USA, South Korea and Japan. Ac-cording to INTECH, in the near future, Russia meets a surge of interest in the promotion of products and services through mobile advertising.

According to statistics, more and more users prefer to receive useful information by means of mobile phones. Seeing the future of communication with clients via mobile devices, in 2009 the company INTECH had developed an innovative solution «Mobile Advertising», that allows to display advertisements to users of smart phones working on the basis of various operating sys-tems (iPhone, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android) with use of the segmentation mechanisms of target audience in many ways.

Among the advantages of mobile advertizing over other promo-tional tools there are:• Interaction with the target

audience in the online-mode;• Ability to track the delivery

status of an advertising mes-sage;

• Ability to assess a response to an advertising message. In a control system an advertiser can trace quantity of the con-tent which has reached a con-sumer;

• Ability to targeting (thin and flexible configuration of the target audience segment);

• Access via mobile phone to the target audience at any

time;• Users’ loyal relation to mo-

bile advertizing. As a mobile phone is a personal thing, the customers feel individual treatment;

• Instant response of a con-sumer;

• Broad coverage. Mobile phones are used by people of all ages and social status.

By the current moment the most effective way of communication with target audience and good means to increase profit both for the ad-vertiser, and for the op-erator and even for the subscriber is advertizing in mobile applications.

The keystone to success in this case is the user’s positive relation to mobile advertizing and possibility to target the audiences. As a person gets information that is really interesting and might be useful to him (the use of the applica-tion allows a person to receive bonuses and special offers from companies-advertisers), the subscriber treats promotion-al messages positively.

When using this product, INTECH identifies several key advantages:• The Pull-model of advert-

izing means reception of the information by a subscriber’s demand. Unlike Push-model (SMS send out, USSD NI), in this case the user himself decides to view the ads and himself chooses interesting category. This model creates a win-win situation for all par-ticipants: mobile operators are

paid for promoting the service among users, advertisers get access to consumers, consum-ers - information, bonuses and discounts;

• Direct, powerful, and effec-tive target marketing;

• Long-term user’s interaction with the brand. The applica-tion is always available on the mobile user's terminal, it

is not limited on time, that allows to look through ads at any convenient time;

• Mobile application has a user-friendly interface and functionality, that consider navigating and functional fea-tures of each platform;

• Mobile application provides many opportunities for the collection of legal information and users’ data (target audi-ence) for studying of demand and preferences;

• Mobile application does not have shortcomings of SMS

and WAP marketing. The advertiser is not limited by quantity of symbols in a mes-sage or WAP site navigation performance;

• It is easy to advertise and promote the mobile applica-tion.

• The presence of the geoloca-tion feature can automati-cally determine the location

of the subscriber and to display the information on actions of the nearest places.• Using the information on gender, age and users’ interests, promo-actions are most effective;• The users receive bo-nuses and discounts.

Today phone is the per-son’s closest information field. Building commu-nications via the mobile device, it is possible to receive an invaluable context: preferences, habits, and a circle of contacts and even a loca-tion of the user. Thus, the thoughtful approach to designing gives as output not only applica-tion, but also possibility

to analyze target audience.

While mobile operators rely on Push-model for mobile advertis-ing (SMS send out, USSD NI), INTECH believes that the Pull-model is a more effective way to communicate with potential cus-tomers. It allows to provide the user the necessary information on demand «here and now». Relevance, timely informa-tion, presence of discounts and bonuses allow to call advertising in a mobile application the most appropriate means of communi-cation with consumers.

Ad innovations

Vlada Bravaya


In a move to introduce exciting new offers, Etisalat’s

‘More’ loyalty rewards has teamed up with daily deal website Cobone.com to provide customers with new avenues to gain more value. A new feature created on Etisalat’s ‘More’ Rewards website gives More loyalty programme members the opportunity to make significant savings as well as gain ‘More’ reward points when visiting the site for “special deals”. The deals on the exclusive site are powered by Cobone.com deal-of-the-day platform.

The online Cobone.com application was redeveloped and redesigned specifically so that it could be integrated into the Etisalat loyalty points system.

As a result of the partnership, Etisalat’s ‘More’ Rewards subscribers benefit by earning ‘More’ reward points when they purchase any daily deal exclusively provided

by Cobone.com on the new site. The more that someone buys deals through the new platform, the more loyalty points they will earn from Etisalat. These reward points can then be redeemed for more than 3000 new product and service options from over 400 brands covering travel, shopping, donations, raffles and auctions, amongst other unique experiences. More program members have an option to redeem their points by a combination of cash and reward points, or only points, for a variety of rewards with as low as one reward point in their accounts through the More Online Reward shop.

“We have worked extremely hard to put this collaboration into effect,” said Warrick Godfrey, Cobone.com’s head of global marketing. “We believe that we have created a system that will benefit huge numbers of Etisalat’s More members and Cobone.com customers.”

Mathew Willsher, Chief Marketing Officer at Etisalat also praised the new partnership, explaining that it captured the essence of the Etisalat More rewards scheme. “We’re committed to constantly reward our customers’ loyalty in exciting ways. The new partnership an innovative step in that direction and builds on the rapid growth of e-commerce in the UAE. Our partnership with Cobone.com will provide customers with great value for money by offering twice the benefit on purchase of a single deal.”

Etisalat’s ‘More rewards’ programme allows users to effortlessly earn more reward points when using any of Etisalat’s services such as landline, mobile services or Internet services, and can earn additional points by spending with Etisalat's partners through the ‘More’ online-shop. Customers simply need to log in to their ‘More Reward’ points account to benefit from free talk time with Etisalat and access the new online catalogue to redeem their ‘More Reward’ points.

Etisalat partners with Cobone.com to create exclusive daily deals website

Aasem A Alali

Etisalat recently presented the Environmental

Emergency Office of Dubai Municipality an award in recognition of the Municipality’s efforts in locating criminal gangs who used its network illegally. The Etisalat team, headed by Acting Vice President of Corporate Communications, Jaber Al Janahi, visited the Environmental Emergency Office and presented a trophy to Khalid Salem Selaiteen, Head of the Environmental Emergency Office, who received

the award on behalf Dubai Municipality. On this occasion, Al Janahi said: “This trophy is a token of our thanks and appreciation

of the continued efforts from the Environmental Emergency Office. It is also step forward in our collaboration with governmental entities to prevent any potential fraudulent activities that may impact the ongoing

development of the country.” Khalid Salem Selaiteen said: “We noticed suspicious telecommunications activity and began monitoring these

accommodations during our daily surveys and worked with Etisalat to discuss the cases that were found. We then notified the Dubai Police, who were able to arrest these Asian gangs that made international phone calls using illegal technologies.” “We encourage all Emiratis and residents in the UAE to collaborate and inform all necessary parties about suspicious activity, by calling the toll-free numbers dedicated for this purpose, or contact the necessary security officials,” Mr. Selaiteen continued.

Etisalat recognises environmental emergency office in their efforts to tackle fraudulent use of its network

T

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Samsung Electronics, a global market leader in digital

media and digital convergence technologies, announced the start of its promotion and strategic collaboration with Saudi Telecom Co (STC) in providing customers with a chance to win a one year subscription to STC’s interactive TV application “Invision” when buying a Smart TV – an initiative reasoned to be one of its kind.

Samsung’s Smart TV concept is all about allowing the users to do more and keep the experience simple, rich and interactive, and Samsung’s joint promotion with STC’s “Invision” service will keep that concept alive. The Advanced Interactive Television Service will offer the best TV viewing alongside Samsung’s Smart TV, allowing users to benefit from the array of features provided by both.

Samsung’s promotion offers

buyers of a Smart TV a coupon enabling them to have a chance at winning a subscription to STC’s interactive application “Invision” and a STB receiver for one year, including the special feature of a library of TV shows and programs and the “Stop and Rewind” attribute, allowing viewers to manage time and control what they view and when they view it so that they never miss a thing. This offer comes as one of a few attractive offers Samsung continues to present to it’s customers in

order to maintain meeting their needs of the growing demands in the field of communication technology and consumer electronics.

“The day and age where the television and viewer can communicate has arrived. Samsung’s Smart TVs provides an unprecedented viewing experience, and today, alongside our strategic partnership with STC, we strive to continue offering our customers only the top notch experience

with the chance to explore STC’s “Invision”,” stated Mr. Asim AlQahtani, Audio Visual Marketing Assistant Manager at Samsung Electronics, Saudi Arabia.

Mr. AlQahtani continues, “Integrating Samsung’s Smart TVs extravagant technology features with the services provided by “Invision”, viewers can now embark on the ultimate TV experience. Through this strategic collaboration, we will ensure to provide the Saudi market with the most up-to-date technologies available to be in line with the global market.”

It is worth mentioning that Samsung had recently launched a strategic partnership with Saudi Telecom Co to enhance both parties’ capabilities to introduce the best services, products and solutions to their customers, which this collaboration only adds to enhance.

Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) has signed a strategic

partnership agreement according to which the number 5050 will allocated as a text messaging number to benefit the Disabled Children's Association. The agreement was signed in the presence of H.R.H Prince Sultan bin Salman, Chairman of the Association's Board of Directors, and Eng. Saud bin Majid Al-Daweesh, CEO of STC Group, at the headquarters of Prince Salman Center for Disability Research.

Under the terms of the agreement the Disabled

Children's Association and STC are working together to launch a nationwide campaign to establish a large charitable trust in Makkah through the participation of STC customers.

The entire revenues of the trust will be allocated to support free services presented by the Association to more than 3000 children annually across the Kingdom.

The name of the trust will be "STC Customers' Trust in Makkah", where the project includes investment in real estate to finance the activities of the Association.

Following the signing ceremony, which was attended by a number of STC group executives, Prince Sultan received a cheque for the Association's share of the the revenues derived from of the first phase of the Special Numbers charity auction, which was recently conducted by STC Group, of which the 2nd phase.

The amount raised was SR1,700,000, which was allocated to the following charity organizations: Disabled Children's Association, Prince Fahd Bin Salman Charity Association for Renal Failure Patients Care (Kellana), and

the Charity Committee for Orphans Care (Ensan). Prince Sultan issued a press statement expressing his appreciation of STC's initiative in which he emphasized the company's significant role in social responsibility activities that include training and charity programs. His Royal Highness said, "We at the Disabled Children's Association, are proud of our partnership with national organizations such as STC Group." He went on to describe the auction's initiative as an impressive example of contributing the needs of society.

Samsung’s Smart TV launches strategic collaboration with STC’s Invision

Saudi Telecom signs strategic partnership with Disabled Children's Association

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CommScope, Inc., has received a Special Public

Service Award from CableFAX Magazine for the company’s efforts in assisting customers that were impacted by tornados that struck several areas of the United States this year.

CableFAX announced the award in the July issue which also listed the rest of the 2011 Top Ops Award winners.

“On behalf of every employee at CommScope, I’d like to thank CableFAX for this honor,” said Eddie Edwards, president and chief executive officer, CommScope. “We believe that corporate responsibility means taking actions that have a

positive impact on our people, our community and our business. We are extremely humbled that the magazine would bestow this accolade upon us as we strive for strong corporate governance and good citizenship.”

CableFAX honored CommScope for its quick response in shipping fiber optic and co-axial cable, as well as humanitarian aid, to Cable One in Joplin, MO following a major tornado that devastated the entire town in May. CommScope was able to deliver supplies and aid within 48 hours using CommScope’s Cable Transport team—a fleet of trucks run by CommScope—so Cable One could begin restoring

communications.

As part of CommScope’s deliveries, any available space remaining on the trucks was filled with humanitarian aid such as coolers to keep water supplies ice cold as well as provisions,

generators and blankets for those in the hardest-hit areas.

In addition to assisting Cable One in Joplin, the Cable Transport teams were also dispatched to assist Charter Communications after tornados damaged areas of Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee in April.

“Having our own fleet of trucks provides us with unmatched flexibility to respond to our customers at a moments notice,” said Ric Johnsen, senior vice president, Broadband, CommScope. “Assisting our customers during natural disasters is all part of the unique service model we offer our customers.”

CommScope receives special public service award from CableFAX

Eddie Edwards

The Information Technology Authority (ITA) of Sultanate

of Oman has signed two agreements. One agreement relates to the expansion of the Government IT Training and Certification (GITTC) project and the second agreement relates to increasing the trust of citizens and businesses when utilising the e-services.

Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy, Chairman, ITA Board of Directors, signed the agreements on behalf of the ITA in the presence of Dr Salim Sultan al Ruzaiqi, ITA’s Chief Executive Officer, Talal Sulaiman al Rahbi, Deputy CEO of Operations at ITA, ITA employees and other distinguished guests.

Al Sunaidy said: “Adding another operator to the GITTC project will further help government entities to enhance the IT skills and abilities of government employees. Doing

so will benefit the employees so they can better provide e-services to the community”.

He added: “We wish these projects will help further develop e-services in Oman and help to raise even greater awareness about information technology and its importance in society.

The PKI project agreement will help to instill confidence in

e-transactions and e-services, so the public can complete their electronic transactions in a safe and secure manner.”

The first agreement was signed with Dr Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, on behalf of the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organisation, which will provide the GITTC training at the Arab Omani Institute. This agreement signifies continuation of Phase 2 of the

GITTC project and will grant a Cambridge IT Diploma upon completion. Falling under the umbrella of NITTA (National IT Training and Awareness), the GITTC project aims to provide internationally recognised digital literacy certification to all civil service employees.

To date, the GITTC project has trained 44,604 employees throughout the Sultanate, certifying 32,139 employees. According to this agreement, additional 30,000 government employees will receive training under GITTC.

The second agreement was signed with Gemalto Company to setup a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). Representing Gemalto, the agreement was signed by Hisham Surakhi, Director — Government Programmes for Gemalto Middle East.

ITA signs agreements to expand IT training



Qtel has announced permanent reduction in

the price of ‘Pay As You Surf Mobile Internet’ to Dh55 per 1MB. The ‘incredible’ price reduction as Qtel put it, will bring the cost down from QR10 to Dh55 per MB. “This means Smartphone fans and everyone who uses their mobile phone to access the Internet can enjoy better value than ever before,” Qtel said. Qtel customers now enjoy one

of the best pay-as-you-surf rates in the entire region, and benefit from the country’s most reliable network, as Qtel’s ongoing investment provides Qatar with the highest level of Mobile Internet experience. Qtel said, “The incredible Dh55 for 1MB rate is announced as one of a series of incredible promotions and permanent price reductions, designed to offer more choice and great value for Qtel customers.

“With the incredible new pricing, Qtel is optimistic that more customers will feel empowered to enjoy the full range of opportunities provided by Mobile Internet.”

With a huge range of social media, mapping solutions and online experiences available including a growing number of Qatar-specific sites and services, Qtel hopes that the whole community will be

able to enjoy mobile Internet surfing with this new pricing.

Qtel is also continuing to offer the popular Hala QR5 Unlimited Mobile Internet promotion until September 30, where customers can choose to pay QR5 and surf all-day. There is also a wide range of Shahry Value Packs and Shahry mobile Internet packs, which provide even better value with built-in data allowances.

Qtel cuts mobile Internet rate to Dh55 per 1MB

Sierra Leone has been unanimously nominated

by 20 Commonwealth African countries to host the 2012 Com-monwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) Rural Con-nectivity Forum. This decision was taken after Hon. Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, Minister of Infor-mation and Communications made a presentation on Rural Connectivity policy in Sierra Le-one, at the just concluded Rural Connectivity Forum held in Dar Es Salam, Tanzania.

The 6th Connecting Rural Com-munities Africa Forum which was attended by Communica-tions Ministers from South Africa, Tanzania etc. and Chief Executive Officers of the vari-ous Regulatory Authorities in Africa was formally launched by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete.

After his presentation, Honour-able I.B Kargbo received a resounding applause for the strides Sierra Leone has made in the area of Information Com-munications Technology since the end of the war. Delegates see Sierra Leone as an example of a post-conflict country that is rapidly catching up with

other countries in Africa and beyond.

CTO’s Director of Programmes, Bashir Patel, told delegates that he is very satisfied with the pace Sierra Leone is taking in the area of ICT development. Prof. Makame Mbarawa, Min-ister of Science and Technology of Tanzania, also expressed

satisfaction with the choice of Sierra Leone as the next venue for the Rural Connectivity Forum.

In his acceptance speech, Hon-ourable I.B Kargbo emphasized Sierra Leone’s commitment in improving on rural broadband connectivity and implementing Universal Access programmes. “This is evident in the instal-lation of tele-centers and the enhancement of ICT capacity in rural areas as part of Govern-ment’s policy, Minister Kargbo continued. The tentative date for the conference on Rural Connectivity in Freetown is June 2012. Sierra Leone’s delegation comprised Mr. Bash Kamara, Manager, Universal Access Development Fund (UADF), Mrs. Aminata Daramy, Board Member, UADF and two regional Staff of NATC.

Sierra Leone’s Communications Minister to host Commonwealth Rural Connectivity Forum in Freetown

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Batelco’s Chairman Shaikh Hamad Bin Abdulla Al

Khalifa said that Batelco’s Board of Directors is delighted to announce the appointment of a new Group CEO and the creation of a new executive role, responsible for Batelco’s growth and transformation into one of the most admired communications companies in the Middle East Region.

The Chairman announced the appointment of Shaikh Mohamed bin Isa Al Khalifa as Batelco’s new Group CEO and Mr. Peter Kaliaropoulos as CEO Strategic Assignments responsible for the Group's Joint Ventures. He also noted that current Batelco Board director Mr. Murad Ali Murad would become the new Deputy Chairman of the Board in place of Shaikh Mohamed.

“On behalf of my colleagues on the Board, I extend a warm welcome to Shaikh Mohamed and wish him tremendous success in his career as he takes on the most critical leadership role as Group CEO for Batelco,” stated Shaikh Hamad.

“Shaikh Mohamed is already familiar with Batelco’s strategic challenges and opportunities in Bahrain and across the region, due to his tenure as Batelco Board's Deputy Chairman since 2002. In addition, he is going to be supported by a strong team of experienced Executives from Batelco Bahrain and other regional companies. We firmly believe that he has the people leadership and commercial credentials to lead and expand Batelco Group as our industry is rapidly evolving,” Shaikh Hamad added.

The Chairman expressed his further pleasure in that the new Group CEO is an experienced Bahraini business executive and the first National to hold the most senior role at Batelco Group.

“Shaikh Mohamed will assume responsibility for Batelco Group on 1 October 2011,” stated Shaikh Hamad.

“I feel very honoured by the Board’s decision to appoint me to lead Batelco’s growth and evolution during a turbulent time in the information and communications industry in Bahrain and abroad,” said Shaikh Mohamed.

“Our customers demand innovation through the latest technology, great value and customised attention. As we expand, retention of our customers’ loyalty is most critical to our success. I am extremely keen to participate in and lead Batelco’s transformation into an even more important Bahraini company across the region,” he stated.

Prior to this appointment,

Shaikh Mohamed bin Isa Al Khalifa, was the CEO of the Social Insurance Organization (SIO) which was formed by the merger of the General

Organization for Social Insurance and the Pension Fund Commission in 2008. Prior to this merger, he was the Director General of the General Organization for Social Insurance in Bahrain since 2005. He commenced his work with the General Organization for Social Insurance in Bahrain in 1989 and has held several senior positions such as the Director of the Finance and Investment Department from 2002, Foreign Investment Portfolios Manager and Investment Analyst.

In addition, Shaikh Mohamed represented SIO in several portfolio company boards in different capacities such as Chairman at the Securities and Investments Company (SICO), Vice Chairman at Batelco, Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait and Bahrain International

Golf Course Company, as well as the post of Director at Bahrain Commercial Facilities Company.

Batelco Announces the Appointment of New Group Chief Executive Officer

Batelco’s Chairman Shaikh Hamad Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa

Peter Kaliaropoulos, new Group CEO Strategic Assignments for

Batelco

Shaikh Mohamed bin Isa Al Khalifa new Batelco Group CEO

Murad Ali Murad to take over role as Deputy Chairman

of Batelco Board of Directors


Worldwide mobile connections will reach

5.6 billion in 2011, up 11 percent from 5 billion connections in 2010, according to research firm Gartner Inc.

It added that mobile data services revenue will total $314.7bn in 2011, a 22.5 percent increase from 2010 revenue of $257bn.

"Mobile data traffic will increase significantly as more people will have access to mobile data networks, there is a migration toward smartphones and an increase in sales of media tablets," said Jessica Ekholm, principal research analyst at Gartner.

"Mobile data volumes will continue to grow as mobile data networks become faster and more ubiquitous, while at the same time the number of data

users and data usage per user isexpected to grow," she added.

Data revenue will continue to grow but at a much slower rate," Ekholm said.

Worldwide mobile connections will experience steady growth through to 2015, Gartner added, when mobile connections are forecast to reach 7.4 billion, and mobile data revenue will reach $552bn.

A growing number of mobile connections will lead to higher demands on communication service providers' (CSPs) data networks as more people access the networks to use mobile data and to send text messages.

Gartner said it also expects

mobile data usage per connection will increase throughout the forecast period and that there will be a shift in mobile users' perception of mobile data around the world, as data plans go from being seen as a luxury, to being considered

a nice-to-have service, to finally being perceived as potentially essential.

Gartner added that it expects CSPs to increasingly start moving toward offering more flexible and more personalised

data plans, which should help capture a larger mobile data user base.

It said carriers should investigate the pros and the cons of more customized pricing plans, such as tiered pricing, a la carte and usage-based plans, carefully weighing additional costs and future benefits.

Additionally, CSPs should look to offer increased flexibility in pricing and introduce add-on pricing models, in which users are able to add data access when they want to.

"Carriers should focus on increasing the level of clarity and the transparency of their mobile data contracts in order to make the majority of customers feel more at ease in using data services. This is particularly important when it comes to data roaming," Ekholm said.

All reports and studies on fraud in recent years show

that fraud is costing operators billions of dollars yearly on a global basis. Even if the levels of loss due to fraud vary from operator to operator and from market to market, one trend is clear: Fraud and security threats increase with the expansion of the next generation IP-based networks.

The survey, to be launched in the end of this week, has been conducted through market research and deep interviews with leading experts

and managers within the telecom industry world-wide. The survey shows that the operators are losing billions of dollars every year on a global basis and the loss will continue to increase with the expansion of the next generation IP-based networks.

In order to be successful in the fight against fraud, operators need to have a strategy in place and a clear focus on winning the trust of their customers. Otherwise, the consequences will not only put operators at a financial

risk due to more losses. It will also, if operators fail to guarantee a safe connection and usage of services or applications, endanger the subscriber business model due to growing number of dissatisfied customers, and as a consequence a very possible increase in churn rates. The good old days when churn more or less could be ignored is over.

• To be able to win the battle against fraud in telecom systems it is necessary to define fraud. Our global defi-nition of fraud is: “Fraud in

telecommunications is when someone gains access to services or products that is sold through a telecommuni-cations system and uses this information or service in a damaging or fraudulent way. Fraud also includes internal fraud and exploitation of services/loopholes through errors that have a bearing on billing, payment or provi-sion of telecommunications services or networks”. Total control is key, says Nicolaj Aaroe, Product Manager within FMS at Basset.

Global mobile connections to reach 5.6bn in 2011

3 – 8 % of the revenue is lost due to fraud

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Fraud cost operators billions of dollar every year

Jessica Ekholm

Nicolaj Aaroe


Concluding its seventh annual Goodwill Journey,

Nawras gathered volunteers, family members and press together at the company’s main office to reflect on the many achievements of this year’s caring mission. The event in Muscat was held under the auspices of Nawras Chairman Sayyed Amjad Mohamed Al Busaidi and hosted by Ross Cormack, Nawras Chief Executive Officer and Abdulla Issa Al-Rawahy, Nawras Chief Strategy Officer.

Nawras Goodwill Journey volunteers, press and members of Oman’s scout and guide troops, have visited 10 different charitable organisations to spread happiness through the presentation of carefully chosen donations as well as taking time to understand the important work that is being carried out. The caring team travelled to locations as far

apart as Musandam in the north of the Sultanate and Dhofar in the south.

Speaking to the assembled guests on the final day, Ross Cormack, said, “On behalf of our volunteers and the entire Nawras family, I would like to say how humbled we feel to have had this opportunity to play our small part in improving the daily lives of those who most need our help in the local communities we visited.

“Our aim is to make a difference on a long-term basis through carefully chosen donations like sewing machines and office furniture that help support and foster

employment opportunities for ladies. In turn, this generates a positive economic and social contribution for their local communities. This year

we also extended our reach to include educational facilities for the children as well as assistance to meet the operational needs of the different associations visited.”

Cormack also paid tribute to the great number of devoted people who are dedicated to working hard to help the less privileged in many different ways, day in and day out. “We were pleased to be able to add our assistance to the great work that the Omani Women’s Associations carry out and we really

appreciated the warm welcome that was extended to Nawras everywhere.”

During the evening, the guests watched a documentary of the Nawras Goodwill Journey 7 which clearly showed the impact of this initiative for both short term and long term benefits for the communities visited.

Now in its seventh year, the Nawras Goodwill Journey first began in 2005. A group of employees came up with the idea as a way to get closer to those most in need in order to extend assistance to them in towns and villages all over the Sultanate of Oman.

Annually and with caring hearts, the fasting Nawras volunteers travel thousands of kilometres during the Holy Month of Ramadan as part of a caring, active corporate social responsibility programme.

Nawras Goodwill Journey 7 concludes with gathering at Muscat main office

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The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)

awarded Al Maisan Satellite Communications Company (YahLive) a 10-year satellite services licence for broadcasting satellite transmission of services.

This licence enables YahLive to transmit direct-to-home satellite television services from the UAE. YahLive’s services will be available throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Southwest Asia and Europe. YahLive’s dedicated European coverage will provide regional and local channels to Arab Audiences in

Europe. The signing ceremony was held in TRA’s head office in Abu Dhabi.

The licence states that Al Maisan Satellite Communications Company, a joint venture between Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), and SES Astra (Europe’s leading DTH satellite operator), will provide Direct-to-Home satellite services to free-to-air and pay-TV broadcasters in this region.

Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General said: “The UAE telecommunications sector

continues its achievements in this field, as this is the second licence granted within less than one month. We aim through granting such licences to promote fair competition between operators and other companies working in the ICT sector, because we firmly believe that this competition will enable us to optimise the services in the

UAE market.”

CEO of YahLive, Mohamed Youssif, said: “We are honoured and would like to thank the TRA for its confidence in YahLive. We believe this is an exciting opportunity to deliver an extensive range of services allowing consumers to receive a new TV experience via a new satellite.”

TRA grants licence to YahLive

Call rates and tariffs for data transfer are likely to come

down soon in the UAE as the two local telecom operators are jostling to arrest declining business.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has confirmed it has received applications from the two - etisalat and du – to reduce telecom tariff in the UAE. A joint committee consisting of TRA members and representatives from both the operators are currently discussing the issue

extensively.

According to the report one of suggestions is to relate the tariffs to the kind of services availed by the consumer, which other words means a flexible tariff system.

The proposal, along with other pricing requests frequently received by TRA, is being discussed by the committee.

With a 90 per cent record of approval, it is likely that the new proposals to reduce call tariffs would get the Authority’s nod

soon.

The proposals come following several recent surveys that indicated a demand for lower call rates, particularly for international calls.

The request also follows a general trend that makes telecom services cheaper worldwide, with prices for many services, especially Internet, lowered in the UAE as well.

The initiative also comes following a 26 per cent decline noticed in the revenue generated

by etisalat from international calls made from mobile phones from 2008.

Recently, up to 30 fils per minute was reduced for calls to South Asian countries in an attempt to stem the decline, while roaming rates across the Gulf countries were unified and reduced up to 40 per cent.

Lower phone call rates in the UAE soonEtisalat and du seek TRA approval to reduce telecom tariff

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The U.S. government filed to block AT&T's (Dallas,

Texas, U.S.A.) $39 billion deal to buy T-Mobile USA because of anti-competition concerns, launching the biggest challenge to a takeover by the Obama administration.

A failed deal would be expensive for AT&T, which plans to fight the government's decision in court. It promised to pay a breakup fee worth an estimated $6 billion, including $3 billion in cash, spectrum and a roaming agreement for T-Mobile USA.

The Justice Department, in a lawsuit filed, said eliminating T-Mobile as a competitor would be disastrous for consumers and would raise prices, particularly because the smaller provider offers low prices.

"Unless this merger is blocked, competition and innovation will be reduced, and consumers will suffer," says Sharis Pozen, acting head of the Justice Department's antitrust division. AT&T will fight the decision in court, said company lawyer Wayne Watts, who added that the Justice Department had given the company no indication that it was contemplating such a move.

The company has argued the deal would let it add capacity and meet demand for high-speed wireless service.

"Clearly AT&T didn't expect this," said Pacific Crest Securities analyst Steve

Clement. "It changes things for them with respect to the spectrum flexibility they'd have. They're going to have to be in the market to buy incremental spectrum."

The deal falling through might prompt Sprint Nextel Corp, the smallest of the top three U.S. carriers, to consider buying T-Mobile, a unit of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom

AG, he added.The deal also would need the approval of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which regulates wireless telecommunications. On Wednesday, FCC

Chairman Julius Genachowski said he is concerned about the deal's impact on competition.

"It's mixed for Sprint. On the one hand, they were potentially going to lose T-Mobile USA as a competitor at the low end of the market," Clement

said. "Now it's going to face a T-Mobile that's in a better position prior to the merger proposal, with extra cash and spectrum and a new roaming agreement with AT&T."

U.S. government files to block AT&T, T-Mobile deal

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Block

Nokia Siemens Networks has announced the

appointment of Igor Leprince to lead its business in the Middle East region. Leprince, who will be based in Dubai, is currently global head of care within Nokia Siemens Networks’ Global Services business.

Nokia Siemens Networks employs around 3,200 people in the Middle East region with

customers and operations and does business in 19 countries.

“I am delighted to have someone of Igor’s experience and track record to lead our business in the Middle East,” said Ashish Chowdhary, executive board member and head of customer operations east* for Nokia Siemens Networks. “Igor brings a deep customer understanding as well as global experience

running complex operations. He is a valued team player with excellent negotiation and management expertise.”

Leprince succeeds Jörg Erlemeier, who has led the Middle East region, including the previously combined Middle East and Africa region, since September 2009. Erlemeier is moving to a new role within the customer operations east organization.

Nokia Siemens Networks Names New Boss for Middle-East Region

Igor Leprince


The issue of 3G deployment in Pakistan has long been under consideration and has been the highlight of all talks in the telecommunications sector recently.

Along with broadband, the 3G market is becoming one

of the most dynamic segments of the electronic communications markets around the world. The Third Generation Networks now spreading around the globe one country at a time and with South Asian countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan successfully launching 3G services; it is about time 3G deployment is initiated in Pakistan.

The issue of 3G deployment in Pakistan has long been under consideration and has been the highlight of all talks in the telecommunications sector recently. However one aspect of the issue has been mostly undermined and that is the economic benefit of early 3G deployment to the economic sector of Pakistan, which in my opinion, is the most important factor to be considered.

Increase in the availability of valuable telecommunications infrastructure has a long lasting effect on the economic productivity and growth. With reference to a study conducted by GSMA regarding

timely 3G deployment, we consider the example of a telecommunications firm that invests money to provide a wireless broadband service to customers. The firm will spend on improving the infrastructure which will be a questioning amount for the company, but as quality comes with a price, the services made available will improve the economic conditions of the company as they reach the end user. The infrastructure overhauling requires riggers, site engineers, technicians and labours. On one hand it may increase CAPEX, but on the brighter side it has engaged people of different professions thus increasing opportunities.

Furthermore considering the early deployment of 3G may help Pakistan in the form of new jobs. Criterion Economics calculates

that every additional $1 million invested in telecommunications in the U.S. creates about 18 new jobs. Probably things may not turn as in United States of America, yet the new technology support may produce some vacancies to be filled by the underserved opportunists.

3G networks will fill the hiatus created that has prolonged

for more than ten years, causing delays for the wireless broadband in Pakistan. Pakistani youth is frequently using the social websites and are connected via different online services. With 3G enabled handsets, they will be able to stay in touch even while on the move. Roaming services comes with a price tag which will eventually improve the return over investment. Referring to an article published in The Express Tribune, “…there is a sizeable number of 3G-enabled handsets being used by youth and the educated sector. This segment may be relatively smaller as a percentage of total population, but in absolute terms it may be larger than population of some of the countries where 3G services are available, said an official.”

3G Deployment: About time

Increase in the availability of valuable telecommunications infrastructure has a long lasting effect on the economic productivity and growth.

Gulraiz Khalid


The 21st century has witnessed mushroom

growth in telecommunications, computing power and data processing technologies. Nowadays, electronic data processing is within reach of every individual, due to compact, powerful and cheap computing devices. Modern communication technologies like internet not only enable these devices to become globally connected with each other but also share their processed data and information in a very convenient manner. However this convenient and simple access to information has given birth to some vulnerability, one of them is the risk of theft and misuse of the valuable information.

In year 2010, the global internet users have been increased to 1.97 billion generating astounding traffic of 294 billion emails per day, so far around 262 billion emails are found to be spam emails which are 89.1% of the global email traffic. Similarly 662 data breaches have been recorded by identity theft resource

centre, in which 51% breaches are related to the exposure of valuable information regarding credit cards, bank accounts, national security numbers and other important records. Furthermore, a research study carried out by an IT security

vendor shows a dramatic increase in web malware during the same year, the number of infected websites have reached 1.2 million which is 50% more as compared to previous year. In the same manner the users of social network services have

also faced threats like phishing, spam and malwares via social network sites, according to a survey, an increase of 33.6% in spam, 22% in phishing and 18.8% in malware via social network services have been observed during 2010 showing a fair rise of approximately 50% as compared to 2009.

Moreover a research report from leading anti-virus developer also highlights some popular vulnerability found in modern computer system. The report states that around 19 out of every 20 vulnerability are the attempts of gaining unauthorized access to system operations, 6 out of those 19 attempts help hackers to bypass security systems and 4 out of those 19 attempts related to the acquisition of sensitive information in the system.

The outrageous facts of flaws in information security have compelled many countries to initiate drastic improvement in this sector. Several countries have started to boost up their funding in information security

Information SecurityA growing solicitude; Cause and Effects in relation to Pakistan

Mohammad Amir Malik


sector. In 2010 US alone has increased its cyber security budget from $6.8 Billion to $7.5 Billion, in which it has allocated $397 million for improving cyber security which is 27% more as compared to fiscal 2009.

Nevertheless so far in Pakistan, the sector of information security has been left unattended. Numerous public & private sector organizations are facing losses due to information security threats.

Therefore in order to project the current situation of information security within Pakistan, a survey has been conducted to analyze the global and local opinions regarding prominent factors like challenges for Information security, top IT risks, investment in Information security and countermeasures for Sensitive data leakages and IT threats.

1. Challenges for effective delivery of Information Security Initiatives

According to global prospective, 64% of survey participants have indicated that security awareness of the employees is quite a big challenge. Many organizations have serious concerns over un-intentional security breaches made by the employees, most of them believe that employees don’t have sufficient knowledge about security threats associated with advance devices like smart phones, handheld computers etc, therefore the solution is to provide proper IT security awareness trainings, but due to global economic recession, financially managing these trainings have became quite challenging task. Furthermore the said recession has also lowered down the availability of resources and funds causing a challenging situation as indicated by most of participants.

Moreover the increasing demand for information by the mobile workforce has also posed information security issues, many organizations are struggling to control the flow of information from mobile computing and see it as a significant challenge. Around 53% of survey participants have considered

increased workforce mobility as noteworthy challenge towards the effective delivery of information security initiatives.

So far in Pakistan, the bad economic condition of the country has caused quite difficult situation for financing information security initiatives, 81% of survey participants have indicated that adequate budget is one of the major challenge towards the delivery of information security initiatives. Furthermore around 72% of participants have highlighted that Business uncertainty is also significant challenge because day by day degrading security and economic conditions of the country have produced chaos situation for many businesses and most of them have ceased their further investments as indicated above. It also be noted the around 71% of survey participants have pointed out that regulatory change is also quite challenging. In Pakistan, the upper management of many organizations especially public sector organizations are not fairly aware about information security threats due to lack of vision and technological knowledge, therefore most of the time they show resistance

Global Prospective


Local Prospective

in regulatory changes.

It has also been observed that the dreadful monetary condition has caused reduction of remuneration packages for several IT Security professionals, thus diminishing their motivations towards working in the country and has compelled them to go abroad for better pay packages. Therefore the availability of skilled resources has also become a noteworthy challenge towards the effective delivery of said initiative as identified by 70% of participants.

2. Top IT risks for Organizations

It has been found that numerous organizations have made their systems automated and all of these systems are powered by critical IT infrastructure from the backend. These infrastructures are on the hit list of cyber criminals who paralyze them through their attacks, resulting in non-availability of IT resources for some valuable time. When the global survey participants have been asked to identify their top five areas of IT risks for their organization, most of them have indicated that the continuous availability of critical IT resources is one of the top most IT risks for their organization.

It has been also observed that the usage of mobile computing for business purposes have also increased, the serious risk associated with mobile devices is the risk of losing data (Sensitive information) through them due to theft or working in unsecure environment. Around 64% of survey participant

have identified data as one of the top five IT risks in 2010. Similarly vulnerabilities in applications and databases also possess high security concerns, around 55% of survey participants have also quoted it as one of top five IT risks.

The local prospective exhibits a totally different picture as compared to global one. Majority of survey participants have identified legal and regulatory area as one of the top most IT risk for the organization because absence of proper regulatory and legal support for information security may cause difficulties in legally dealing with e-crimes and generate problems in enforcement of information security control measures.

Similar to the global participants, around 86%

of local survey participants have also placed continuous availability of critical IT resources as the second most prominent IT risk.

Security issues of databases like database communication protocol & platform vulnerabilities, weak authentication, backup data exposure and SQL injection, similarly security weakness of applications like malware, unauthorized access to system resources and Denial of Service have developed serious risks regarding security of applications and databases. 81% of survey participants have indicated it as one of top five IT risks. Furthermore the threat of losing sensitive data especially through mobile/portable devices has also created noteworthy risk for many organizations as indicated by 79% of survey participants. It has also be noted that due to abruptly degrading security situation of Pakistan 78% of survey participants have chosen physical environment as one of the top five IT risks for their organization.

3. Investment in Information Security

In order to further enhance any sector, investment plays a vital role in its transformation. Therefore to know the organization’s plans for further investment in information security sector, a query regarding the said subject have been disseminated within the global survey participants. Survey results exhibit that despite of tight economic situation many organizations have planed to spend more money over the next year. Majority of organizations have analyzed the security issues associated with mobile computing, most of them have

Global Prospective

Local Prospective


shown their serious concerns over the leakage of information through these devices. Therefore the top priority of most of the organizations is prevention of data leakages especially from mobile devices which can be judged by the survey results as 50% of survey participants have planned to spend more over the next year on data leakage/data loss prevention technologies and processes. Furthermore mobility and hurdles in controlling the end-user devices can cause hindrances in implementing effective and efficient business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities, 50% of respondents have recognized this area for more funding.

The survey results from Pakistan depicts that the many organizations are hit by the consequences of economic

situation of the country, most of them are willing to spend same as they spend last year on information security. Likewise the global respondents, around 30% of survey participants have proposed increased funding in data leakage/loss prevention technologies and processes, similarly 25% of survey participants have shown keen interest in investing more

on business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities. Security threats associated to abuse of personal information has also been realized by many of the respondents, around 25% of survey participants have planned to invest more in protecting personal information.

4. Countermeasures for increasing IT Security Risk

Observing the efforts taken by the organizations to address the potential new risks, it has been found that 39% of global survey participants are making policy adjustments, 38% are increasing their security awareness activities, 29% are implementing encryption techniques and 28% are implementing stronger identity and access management controls. Survey results show that many respondents are keen to make and modify

information security policies, in order to manage new technologies and information flow especially from mobile devices. Furthermore most of them have also focused on increasing security awareness trainings in order to educate employees about the usage and associated security risks regarding new emerging technologies and devices.

The response from the local survey participants has shown that most of the organizations in Pakistan are showing keen interest in implementing stronger identity and access management controls for providing right access to right people, as indicated by 38% of survey participants. 35% of participants are implementing strong encryption techniques to ensure secure delivery of data over public networks.

Furthermore 32% of participants have been trying to increase IT security audit capability in order to ensure perfect working of IT security systems, observing the compliance of rules and procedures regarding information security and auditing both physical & logical IT security measures of the organization. Likewise global respondents around 29% of local participants are also making policy adjustments

Global Prospective

Global Prospective

Local Prospective

Local Prospective


to further enhance their management capabilities for dealing with IT security risks.

5. Controlling leakage of Sensitive Information

It has been observed that data leakage often caused due to careless attitude of employees who are unaware that their actions might cause leakage of sensitive information. A large portion of this issue is usually associated to absence of specific policy or inadequate awareness of policies. To address this issue, majority of organizations have developed specific policy for handling sensitive information as indicated by 73% of global survey participants. Moreover around 65% of respondents implemented additional security mechanism for protecting information in order to further enhance their

existing countermeasures against the data leakage.

Furthermore several organizations are keen to investigate their IT security systems in order to check the defense mechanism against information leakage and to ensure its perfect operations. In this context around 54% of global respondents have utilized internal auditing for testing of controls in their organizations.

Likewise the global surveys, around 75% of local survey participants have defined a specific policy for controlling the leakage of sensitive information. It has also been observed that the new generation employees are excessively utilizing the instant messaging and social networking services in their daily routine. Several

organizations are experiencing difficulties in securing the flow of information through these services due to lack of awareness of employees and high cost of security software, therefore in order to control the leakage of information through the said services, numerous organizations have prohibited the use of instant messaging and social networking at their premises as indicated by 65% of survey participants.

Furthermore nowadays employees also have access to huge amount of data for efficient business purpose but this advantage has a significant risk of exposure of information via various internet based services by the employees. So far the immediate solution to this problem is to restrict access to various web services but restricting the access will affect both business efficiency and attitude of the employees therefore the high-tech solution is the implementation of content monitoring and filtering system. Around 54% of local survey participants have implemented content monitoring/filtering tool in their organization, in order to analyze the flow of information for both legal & monitoring purposes and also for ceasing the dissemination of sensitive information, thus providing uninterrupted fair access to several web services like chats, email and social networking to the employees.

Key Findings

Comparative analysis of both global and local surveys depicts quite different picture. At few places the interests of both the global and local community are found to be similar but at several places there are contradictions.

In 2010, majority of global community considered the

IT security awareness of employees and increase work force mobility as most significant challenges towards effect delivery of IT security initiative, whereas the local community has highlighted the un-availability of funds, skilled resources and effective regulatory changes are challenging obstacles towards the delivery of said initiative. Furthermore global participants have declared continuous availability of IT resources and sensitive data are prominent areas prone to IT risks whereas local participants have shown their concern over availability of proper legal & regulatory support, physical environment and applications & databases as top IT risks.

It was also noted that despite of unstable global economic situation, several global organizations have proposed to increase their funding for dealing with information security threats, but irrespective to global attitude, most of the local organizations have planned to stay constant regarding their expenditure towards information security.

Moreover during the last year, numerous global participants have been engaged in making adjustment in IT security policies, boosting up the awareness campaigns of employees and spending on advance encryption techniques for constructing stronger defense against IT risks, whereas in Pakistan, majority of local organizations were busy in implementing strong identity and access management system, enhancing their IT security audit capability and likewise the global community spending on advance encryption techniques in order to diminish the increased IT risks.

Global Prospective

Local Prospective


It was also noted that many global organizations have defined specialized policy and enhanced their security systems for controlling the leakage of sensitive information. Furthermore they have also utilized internal auditing mechanism for checking and ensuring their control system against said threat. Likewise in Pakistan, majority of local businesses have made the policy for controlling the exposure of sensitive information, but on other hand unlike the global trend, they have focused on restricting the access to email, chat and social networking services and also on implementing content monitoring and filtering

systems to address the issue of leakage of sensitive data.

Conclusion

It has been observed that the IT security threats are exponentially increasing year by year. During 2010, around 50% more information security incidents have been reported as compared to 2009. Therefore the global community has been very keen to address this issue and taking stronger steps for safeguarding the precious information and diminishing the increased IT security threats.

As far as Pakistan is concerned the scenario is quite different. Several organizations have ceased further investment in

information security which undisputedly is imperative in its very nature. Furthermore the general masses are less convergent to IT security risks especially associated to mobile devices, social networking services and information handling; resulting in data breaches and loss of data. Moreover due to fair resistance in regulatory modification and absence of proper legal and regulatory support for dealing with information security threats, many IT security professionals are facing problems in legally handling the IT security incidents and managing strong defense against said incidents.

Therefore in order to

make things better, local organizations should increase their investments in information security sector. They must begin conducting IT security awareness campaigns and seminars for employees especially addressing security threats associated to mobile computing and social networking. Furthermore they have to turn their focus towards establishing a clear “Information Security Policy” and adopt it as a strategy to mitigate risk. Moreover they should start adopting internationally recognized standards and frameworks for information security in order make their countermeasures up to the mark.

The study, titled Vision 2020, forecasts that

revenues in the telecom sector will be over Rs620 billion in 2010. It says that the number of mobile subscribers is expected to be around 161 million, approximately 89 per cent of the total population, by 2020.

The study says that the number of fixed-line subscribers will be five million in 2020 while the number of broadband subscribers is expected to be around 19.5 million.

A Telenor study conducted, supports the results of the PTA study. With Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Telenor studied the overall

impact of the mobile financial services and looked into the specific effects in Telenor’s Asian markets, including Pakistan.

Telenor Pakistan’s spokesperson and chief marketing officer, Aamir Ibrahim, said that he believed if the trend in the telecom sector continued, an increase of two per cent in Pakistan’s GDP was possible because of mobile financial services. “Money from the informal sector will be channelled into the system, adding to the circular flow of income,” he said.

However, he said that the revenue estimate of Rs620b was bullish. He said that the

total revenues were Rs300 billion presently “So we are talking about doubling the revenue, but the subscriber base increases by 60 per cent only. The growth will happen when the price per unit continues to fall. So I think revenue projections are ambitious,” he said.

During the next ten years, improved quality of telecom systems and services will become a critical determinant of competitiveness in ICT, the study said. “The growth and development of ICTs today has led to their wide diffusion and application, thus escalating their economic and social impact across the countries,” it said.

Broadband 2.0 networks will eventually replace the current broadband networks. “Moving to these new networks offers the chance to increase efficiency and reduce operating costs in the longer term for network operators and broadband is a key tool to achieve these remedial actions,” it said.

The study says that mobile cellular technology has been primarily focused on the consumer market, acting as a substitute for often unavailable wired telephony. “Now visions of 4G and beyond, including established technologies such as WiMAX, are heralding the age of convergence.”

Vision 2020: PTA forecasts all around growth in telecom sectorTotal investments in the country’s telecom sector will be $2.4 bil-lion by 2020, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said

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The country's three mobile operators - Orascom Telecom

Algeria, Algerie Telecom Mobile and Wataniya Telecom Algeria - are all potential bidders for the licences.

Algeria's mobile telecommunications industry is tipped for 10 to 12 per cent annual growth in subscriber numbers, despite having been mired by years of uncertainty.

A long delay in the allocation of 3G mobile licences, which were expected to be issued in 2008, has led to a price war among Algeria's three mobile operators, as growth in subscribers slowed to a trickle.

Beyond that, a row between the government and Egypt's Orascom Telecom, which owns the Algerian telecoms company Djezzy, has left the largest mobile operator in a state of limbo.

But analysts say the industry appears ready for a shake-up, with signs that the much-delayed tender of 3G mobile licences is finally set to go ahead at the beginning of next year.

Mai Barakat, an analyst for the Middle East and North Africa region at Informa Telecoms & Media, based in London, said Algeria's mobile subscriber base was growing by about 3.5 per cent a quarter up to June 2009.

But now the rate of growth is as low as 0.5 per cent a quarter, she said. "Over the last year, the growth hasn't even reached 2 per cent quarter-on-quarter. So

it has really slowed down," Ms Barakat said.

However, the launch of the 3G licences are forecast to spur growth in Algerian mobile penetration.

"We do see a big jump in subscription growth when 3G comes in," Ms Barakat said.

"We're looking at it to jump to about 10 per cent on an annual basis. That will grow to around 12 per cent, and then it will start to decline again from December 2013."

Other analysts agreed that the 3G licence launch would help to boost subscriber numbers.

"Growth will be higher now 3G will be adopted in Algeria," said Majd Al Amarin, a research analyst at the Arab Advisors Group. "I think this will affect the mobile market in a positive way, leading to more subscribers and more market share."

Abbas-Zouhir Abdallah, the Algerian country director for the telecoms infrastructure

firm Nokia Siemens Networks, said there was already strong demand for data services in the country.

"There is a clear need for bandwidth expansion with the mobile penetration rate growing exponentially from 15 per cent in 2004 to nearly 92 per cent in 2010," he said.

"There has been strong uptake of smartphones and subscribers are demanding more data-intensive services than ever before. We anticipate the

Algerian government will be taking a decision on 3G or even skip this and transition straight to 4G by next year."

The specifics of the 3G mobile licence tender is expected to be available in the middle of next month. It is expected that the tender will go ahead early next year. The country's three mobile operators - Orascom Telecom Algeria, Algerie Telecom Mobile and Wataniya Telecom Algeria - are all potential bidders for the

licences.

"The three operators have expressed interest in the 3G technology," Ms Al Amarin said.

Launching 3G services will help to spur demand for mobile internet, which is too slow on current mobile networks, Ms Barakat added.

"Bringing in faster data services and mobile broadband will actually push growth in the market quite a bit," she said.

Ms Barakat said this would also help to boost the average revenue per user (ARPU).

"It will generally help operators move away from the current state they're in, which is a lot of price competition on voice," she said. "It will help declining ARPU and allow for more subscription retention - there's a lot of price competition going on, and people switch very easily from one operator to another."

Yet uncertainty remains for Orascom's lucrative subsidiary Djezzy, the largest mobile operator in Algeria. Djezzy has been in limbo since Algeria's government announced plans to nationalise it. The unit has also been hit with hundreds of millions of dollars in back taxes, and banned by the government from moving some profits abroad. Orascom faces "ongoing uncertainty over Algeria", the brokerage Nomura reported in a research note issued this month.

"Djezzy's performance is increasingly fragile," Nomura said.

Mobile telecoms set to finally take off in Algeria

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Ben Flanagan


access to the Internet. In its understanding of the ultimate goal, the satellite broadband industry is exploiting higher frequency bands (from HF through to EHF frequency ranges). To this effect, particular focus on Ka-band (26 GHz to 40 GHz) has made it relatively easier now to achieve cost-efficiencies. The Ka-band allows satellite operators to realize smaller aperture terminal sizes, achieve greater bandwidth efficiencies, and offer faster data speeds. Quality of service issues, especially when realized through high-throughput satellites such as ViaSat-1, which reportedly possesses the world’s highest capacity of 150 gigabits per second, are also being tackled more effectively

now than was possible several years ago. A broadband study conducted in February 2011 in Poland by the Office of Electronic Communications, the main regulatory body in Poland, showed that the quality of service of satellite broadband has become comparable to any other terrestrial broadband technology. Tests conducted to support the findings included 14 users in the Office of Electronic Communications who used the broadband service under normal as well as below-zero temperatures, including under snow and frost conditions. No interruption or signal degradation of service was reported. Transformation in the satellite industry’s “lobbying” strategy—led by the likes of ESOA, SIA,

and APSCC—has resulted in stronger representation for satellite broadband. Studies done, as above, to validate the need for satellite broadband have also helped to transform satellite broadband from a “second-rate” service to an integral service component of national broadband strategies. Essentially, with time, performance improvements and reduction in service subscriptions are taking place, and creativity in service provisioning is rising among satellite broadband operators. However, the need for government support is among the major requirements that the satellite industry, at large, continues to be confronted with. For satellite broadband, in particular, securing government

support through public-private partnerships or equipment subsidy programs can aid in mitigating service distribution challenges. Thus, if substantial interest and prescience are shown by the policy-makers around the region, to allow and tangibly support satellite broadband toward achieving national broadband goals, an exponential rise in the region’s lowly five percent broadband penetration rate can be realized. The writer is government and external relations director with SAMENA Council and is active in policy and position issues as well as ICT regional market research. He is also an associate editor of Teletimes International. He holds an engineering degree from the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering & Applied Science.

As per data compiled by Pakistan

Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the subscriber base of WiMax and EvDO services of the WLL sector showed 73% growth in 6 months while the subscriber base jumped from 190,947 in October 2009 to 331,416 in April 2010. The WLL Industry could have been one of the most promising sectors for Pakistan in terms of financial growth and return over investments. This urges to think the extent of improvement that can be done to support the WLL industry here. Apart from delaying the UMTS (a 3G Network) deployment, of additional two things which act as virtual restrictions towards the growth of this industry are limited mobility and need for more spectrums.

Pakistan allocated spectrum to the Local Loop licenses through auction in 450, 480, 1900 MHz and 3.4, 3.5, 3.6 GHz. A very clear demarcation was made between mobile and local loop licenses and was guarded to check any damage to the market design. All Local Loop licenses contain obligation of limited mobility. During the debate for allowing full or greater mobility to WLL license, there was a conscious decision not to follow the Indian path, and maintain the market structure of GSM mobile operators to ensure healthy competition amongst them. The end result was a growing mobile industry, although expectations were not realized in the local loop segment. These expectations have grown stronger as the WLL industry has been

growing, and now when it is showing the most promising future, maybe it is time to allow the WLL license with mobility options.

In order to utilize the spectrum, according to the “The Register, UK” the CEO of CTIA says, “Cars are like our mobile devices. ... Yesterday, a huge number of users were trying to use the same highway at the same time, which caused the jam. With more spectrums, we'd have more lanes that would allow more users.” The number of GSM Mobile users in Pakistan has been increasing at a very high pace over the past few years and is expected to grow faster, especially with the successful expected deployment of UMTS, we can expect a much higher number

of users

in the coming years.

That obviously calls for more spectrums to be available for operators to use, where such 3G spectrum auction has been delayed considerably in Pakistan.

Considering the technology-neutrality principle in the spectrum allocation and services, all existing mobile operators can provide 3G services on 900 MHz if the spectrum is reallocated (typical minimum requirement is only 4.8 MHz for 3G on 900 MHz) and necessary backhauling is catered without waiting for spectrum in 2.1 GHz.

Doing away with artificial restrictions

Mohsin Rehman

Contd. from page 19 A Digital Agenda Enabler in the Sky


IT Commerce Network Asia (ITCN Asia) initiated

in year 2001, is one of the region’s most dynamic and significant ICT exhibitions, the meeting place for international professionals to explore business opportunities across Pakistan, Middle East, African, Indian and South Asian markets. This showcase of leading technology brands and a host of enlightening information possess many unique features, including:

The only UFI Paris approved •IT & Telecom Show of Paki-stan for last 6 yearsThe only B2B Event of Paki- •stan held for the 11th con-secutive year

Ten years down the road, ITCN Asia 2011 shall witness a paradigm shift by delivering a powerful B2B event with more focus on relevant Technology in different Sectors and Sub-Sectors. The Event shall provide the right balance between IT, Telecom & Electronic industry players, senior decision makers and practitioners.

The 11th ITCN Asia shall be producing an industry focused platform incorporating the following features:

E-Banking Solutions •Green Technologies •Technology Innovations •Arena GSM HallMobile Applications (Apps •

World) Cloud Computing •Content Development •(Web, Mobile, etc.) Software •Presentation Theatres •Gamers Convention •Knowledge City •Broadband •VAS •Mobile Money •ITeS •Consumer Electronics •Information Security •Business Solutions •and much much more…. •

This world-class event is a proven platform to raise brand awareness and shout about newest launches and activities. Twelve

Conferences are also being held simultaneously with the Exhibition.

Some of the prominent participants include Microsoft, Huawei, INTEL, Pak Datacom, Wateen, Premier Cables, etc. As always, Pakistan Software Export Board Pavilion is also being established at the Event.

ITCN Asia Int’l Exhibition & Conferences is organized annually by Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. with the support of Ministry of IT & Telecom, Govt. of Pakistan; Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) at Karachi Expo Centre.

Continuity in holding of ITCN Asia for 11 years reflects potential

of Pakistan’s ICT sector A proven platform for business and networking

60 15Sep - 14 Oct 2011www.teletimesinternational.comPublisher-Editor: Khalid Athar - Printed by: Javed Khursheed at Khursheed Printers (Pvt) Ltd. Islamabad. Place of Publication: #6, St-39, G-6/2, Islamabad Vol: 06, Issue: 09

PTCL is leading the Broadband revolution in

the country from the front. Through its commitment and mandate of bringing Broadband service to all the people of Pakistan via its up to date and state of the art wired and wireless platform, PTCL has managed to firmly place itself as the undisputed leader in the Broadband sector in the country.

Pursuing an aggressive policy of expansion, which has made the service available to a wide spectrum of customers from high end corporate sector to low income, rural areas, PTCL has played the role of catalyst in the exponential growth in the broadband sector that has enabled Pakistan to be ranked amongst the top countries with highest growth rate in broadband internet.

Bandwidth Report – a monthly roundup of broadband penetration figures from US and elsewhere based on the findings of Nielson/Netratings – have been cited by Website Optimization, LLC, a leading website optimizing firm, sourced from POINT TOPIC, a global broadband tracker, As of a recent and reported by PR Web. The figures can been seen at: http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/1107/

Pakistan, which has seen a boom in its promising telecom sector and information technology services in recent years, recorded around 46.2 percent growth of subscribers and is placed fourth on the ranking list with Serbia on the top. Globally, only Thailand and Belarus had greater percentage expansion than

Pakistan, apart from top-rated Serbia during the period. Pakistan’s digital growth prospects have begun to look brighter lately.

The closest South Asian country to Pakistan on the list of top countries is Sri Lanka at the 11th spot with its broadband penetration growing in 30s while India lags at the 14th place in terms of broadband growth.

Besides having a large bilingual (English and Urdu) internet conversant population, Pakistan’s software companies have carved a niche internationally in recent years. According to government figures, the country’s information technology exports totaled $ 1.4 billion in the last financial year. Experts say the IT industry, which adds

thousands of skilled workers every year, has the potential to hit a multi-billion export target within next five to ten years. Additionally, mobile phone and wireless internet usage are also expanding rapidly.

This distinction for Pakistan has been made possible due to PTCL’s vision and belief in the development of broadband network and major investment in the sector. Since PTCL’s entry in the broadband sector in 2007, the pricing and packaging and fast speeds offered to the subscribers have brought this service within reach of average consumer, opening unlimited possibilities on the information front.

It is PTCL’s mission and mandate to take Broadband to every household of the country at most affordable prices.

The Board of Directors of Pakistan Telecommunication

Company Limited (PTCL) has announced the financial result of PTCL for the year ended June 30, 2011 in their meeting held in Islamabad today.

According to details PTCL Group revenues at Rs.104.6 billion for the year 2010-11 were 6% higher than the preceding year and profit after tax for the year is Rs. 8.4 billion. As such, the earning per share (EPS) of the group was Rs. 1.65 of which EPS for PTCL was Rs. 1.46. PTCL has already declared an interim cash dividend of Rs. 1.75 per share for the year 2010-11, the press release said.

President and CEO PTCL Mr Walid Irshaid commenting on

the results said that during this period PTCL Group continued its strategy of innovation and futuristic approach which enabled the Group to show continuous growth. PTCL has positioned itself as the leading integrated telecom services provider in Pakistan, offering multiple solutions to business and household market segments while also extending vital services to other telecom operators in the country.

The CEO stated that “we at PTCL remain highly conscious of the fact that our success and growth can only come from satisfied customers and it remains our challenge to provide friendly, seamless and prompt customer service.

To this end, we endeavor to further improve customer experience. We strongly believe that PTCL is poised to grow and remain the leading and dominant integrated telecom service provider of choice for our customers throughout Pakistan”.

PTCL success can be evaluated from the fact that its DSL Broadband is the largest and the fastest growing Broadband service available in over 1000 cities and towns across Pakistan, with its market share close to 90 percent. On wireless broadband front the company has introduced innovative products that are in line with the futuristic approach of the company.

PTCL’s Landline focused on promotions to increase its usage and subscriber base. Conscious efforts were made to further facilitate landline customers by expanding the spectrum of available services and packages. The geographical reach of popular packages was extended to benefit a broader customer base.

PTCL Contact Centers and Customer Care centers worked with the objective to ensure customers are facilitated through timely and expeditious management of their queries and complaints. These teams have been trained to ensure that they provide “One window” solution to all customer needs.

PTCL declares 2011–2012 as year of the Broadband

PTCL Group declares profit of Rs 8.4 billion for financial year 2010 - 2011

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Teletiems Report


Teletiems Report

The two-day “International Conference on Emerging

Technologies (ICET 2011)” hosted by NUST School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS) concluded in Islamabad on September 6. A large number of scholars and researchers attended the conference organized on the impressive NUST campus at H-12. The attendees represented industry and academia, both from Pakistan and abroad.

Addressing the closing ceremony chief guest, Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman warmly appreciated NUST for its contribution to the spread of research culture in the country. He said Pakistan has made an excellent beginning in higher education but it still needs to move faster to secure a respectable position. Our universities must follow the Chinese and Indian model for growth in size as well as productivity. Referring

to a number of exciting R&D projects taken up by researchers around the world, Dr. Atta exhorted Pakistani youth to immerse themselves in research and lead the way forward. Conference Co-General Chair, Dr. Syed Hassan Zaidi, in his concluding remarks, thanked the organizers and the sponsors and hoped that the conference has educated all participants,

particularly the people from industry. On this occasion, shields were distributed to student and faculty organizers. Earlier, addressing the opening session on 5th Sept, Dr. Samar Mubarakmand, Member Science & Technology, Planning Commission of Pakistan, expressed confidence that ICET-2011 will be instrumental in facilitating valuable exchange of ideas and deliberations on issues related to emerging technologies. He underscored the role of

I.T. and its all-embracing influence in the present era and stressed the need of innovative solutions to the various security threats posed by rapid technology development. Speaking on the occasion Rector NUST, Engineer Muhammad Asghar said that the whole human journey of progress owes itself to the natural principal

of constant change. Quoting the poet philosopher, Allama Iqbaql, he urged that the journey must always continue. We should wake up to the new challenges and embrace new technologies. Dr. Arshad Ali, Conference General Chair and Principal SEECS, briefed the audience about the objective of the conference, the process and criterion of the selection of papers, and the focus areas of discussions. He informed the audience that a committee of experts underwent a rigorous

process, of the selection of conference papers, that culminated in the acceptance of only 30 per cent of the total number of papers received. Dr. Muhammad Mansoor Ahmad, President IEEE, Islamabad section also addressed the gathering.

This two-day event reflected an array of activities like keynote speeches by eminent scholars, panel discussions, tutorials and research paper presentations by experts in the field. The conference received an overwhelming response with the participation of over 300 professionals, along with a sizeable representation of foreign delegates. One third of the total number of research papers accepted was fielded by foreign researchers. Besides, the talks

of 8 notable foreign speakers were planned for various sessions. The conference has quite successfully achieved its objective by bringing together professionals and providing them a forum for close interaction and valuable exchange of information.

ICET 2011International Conference on Emerging Technologies

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Rector Nust, Dr Samar Mubarak Mand and Dean SEECS

Dr. Samar Mubarak MandDr. Ata ur Rehman

Global Telecom events 2011September

October

November

December

CTO Telecom Summit

02 - 05 Oct - Scottsdale, AZ, USTelecom World

03 - 06 Oct - Dubai, UAECEATEC Japan 2011

04 -08 Oct - Makuhari Messe, TokyoGITEX Technology Week

9-13 Oct - Dubai - UAEMedialive!, 2011:

16 - 18 Oct, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Infocom Bangladesh 2011

17 - 19 Oct - Dhaka, BangladeshTechnology for Marketing & Advertising

26 - 27 Oct - Shanghai, ChinaITU Telecom World 2011

24-27 - Oct - GenevaIraq Telecom 2011

25 - 27 Oct - Turkey, IstanbulEUTC 2011

26 - 28 Oct, Madrid, Spain

SAMENA Convergence to Qatar 201101 - 02 Nov - Doha, Qatar GIL 2011: China01 Nov - ShanghaiSCIP 2011: European Summit08 - 10 Nov - Austria Centre ViennaWorld Telecom Summit09 - 10 Nov - Singapore4th Annual Indonesia Telecoms International Summit 15 Nov - Jakarta, Indonesia

Customer Contact Indonesia16 Nov - Jakarta, IndonesiaMobile Aisa Congress16 - 17 Nov - Hong KongCIO Strategies Saudi Arabia21 - 22 Nov - Riyadh, KSAOracle Day 201121 - Nov - Abu Dhabi - UAE

CTIA IT & Entertainment

01 - 08 Dec, Budapest, HungaryCIO Midmarket Summit

04 - 07 Dec - TBD The Smart Handheld Summit

Arab Advisor Group

05 - 06 Dec - Dubai, UAEFemtocells Americas

05 - 06 Dec - USA

Mobile Advertising World

06 - 08 Dec - London, UKLTE - Next Generation Networks Americas

07 - 08, Dec - USASaudi Infrastructure Forum & Exhibition

11 - 14 Dec - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia ITU Kaleidoscope

12-14, Dec - Cape Town, South AfricaM2M World

12-14 Dec -Venue: London - London

IT Siberia. SibTelecom. Broadcasting Siberia

20 - 22 Sep - Novosibirsk, Russia11th ITCN Asia

20 - 22 Sep - Karachi, Pakistan

Managed Services India Summit 2011

22 Sep, Intercontinental The LaLiT, Mumbai

Broadband World Forum

27 - 29 Sep, Paris, France


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