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In this issue 

Reports & News 

23 

Thuraya Appoints Stephen O’Neill 

of Boeing as Board Member 

Reham Barakat 

25 

29 

30 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

48 

49 

57 

58 

59 

60 

61 

Huawei wins sole provider contract for Hutchison 

and PCCW joint LTE network 

Sony tablets face tough sell on price, hardware 

Carolina Milanesi 

Telecom firms 'facing multiple challenges' 

Etisalat partners with Cobone.com 

to create exclusive daily deals website 

Aasem A Alali 

Samsung’s Smart TV launches 

strategic collaboration with STC’s Invision 

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 year 

Nicolaj Aaroe 

Nawras Goodwill Journey 7 concludes with gathering 

at Muscat main office 

Lower phone call rates in the UAE soon Etisalat and du 

seek TRA approval to reduce telecom tariff 

Nokia Siemens Networks 

Names New Boss for Middle-East Region 

Mobile telecoms set to finally take off in Algeria 

Ben Flanagan 

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 

PTCL Group declares profit of Rs 8.4 billion 

for financial year 2010 - 2011 

Teletimes Report 

ICET 2011 

International Conference on Emerging Technologies 

Teletimes Report 

and much more .... 

45 

49 

23 

04 www.teletimesinternational.com 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

In this issue 

20 

26 

Research & Analyses 

13 

19 

32 

26 

Special Reports 




Providing fiber like capacity and cutting edge backhaul 

solutions in Pakistan 


Major transformation in CEE TV Markets 

Shake Up Likely to Continue 

Dr. Karim Taga 

A Digital Agenda Enabler in the Sky 

for Policy-Makers to Try 

Izhar Ahmad 

Building Communities Around Digital Highways 

Karim Sabbagh, Bahjat El-Darwiche, Roman Friedrich, Milind Singh 

40 

50 

51 

Ad innovations 

Vlada Bravaya 

3G Deployment: About time 


Information Security 

A growing solicitude; Cause and Effects in relation to Pakistan 

Mohammad Amir Malik 

44 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 

www.teletimesinternational.com 

05

Letter to readers 

Khalid Athar 

Chief Editor 

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 


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 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


07

EVDO, WCDMA: Who’s Ahead? 

Riaz Asher 

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. T 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

Major Transformation 

in CEE TV Markets 

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 

Shake Up Likely to Continue 

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 

Dr. Karim Taga 

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. 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


13

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 overthe-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 HDcentric 

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 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

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 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


15

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 telecom 

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 content 

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’ concerns. 

• Lastly, telecoms and cable 

operators are well-positioned 

to participate in the OTT opportunity.They 

have large 

customer bases, enabling 

them to achieve critical mass 

through bundling or up scaling. 

Existing billing relationships 

and analytical CRM 

capabilities can also be leveraged. 

Also, OTT is a means 

to further push the telecoms’ 

core business, namely broadband, 

as viewers will require 

fast or even ultrafast bandwidth 

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 quadplay 

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. 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

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 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 

Izhar Ahmad 

A Digital Agenda Enabler in the 

Sky for Policy-Makers to Try 

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 policymakers 

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 policymakers 

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 enduser 

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 policymakers. 

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 

Contd. on page 58 


19



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. 

Eng. Saud Al Daweesh, 

Chairman Group Chief 

Executive Officer, Saudi 

Telecommunication Company 

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). 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

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 

Ross Cormack, CEO - Nawras 

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 

Osman Sultan, CEO-Du 

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. 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


21

Thuraya Appoints 

Stephen O’Neill of Boeing 

as Board Member 

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 

Reham Barakat 

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 

Stephen O'Neill 

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. T 

Thuraya joins forces with US wireless firm 

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 highspeed 

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 cuttingedge, 

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." T 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


23

Huawei wins 

sole provider contract for 

Hutchison and PCCW joint LTE network 

Huawei launches HiLink, 

the World’s First Plug and Link Datacard 

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. 

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. 

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. 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


25



Providing fiber like capacity and cutting edge 

backhaul solutions in Pakistan through MEO satellites 

in partnership with Pak Datacom 

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 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

Steve Coller 

CEO - O3b Networks 

Saeed Ahmed Khan 

Secretary IT & Telecom 

Ali Raza Bhutta 

Managing Director - Pak Datacom 

Parvez Iftikhar 

CEO - Universal Service Fund 

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 

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 

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. 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


27

Sony tablets 

face tough sell on price, hardware 

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 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 

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 

Carolina Milanesi 

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. 

Contd. on page 30 


29

Telecom firms 

'facing multiple challenges' 

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 ongoing 

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. 

Contd. from page 29 

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. 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

Karim Sabbagh 

Bahjat El-Darwiche 

Roman Friedrich 

Milind Singh 

Building Communities 

Around Digital Highways 

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 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

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 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


33

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 nextgeneration 

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 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

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 governmentbacked 

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: 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


35

• 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 governmentbacked 

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 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

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, 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


37

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 tradeoffs 

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-tomachine 

(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 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

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 publicand 

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 Kimoon 

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. T 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


39

Vlada Bravaya 

In the period of low effectiveness 

of traditional mass 

media and rapid development 

of technology, mobile advertising 

is one of the most popular 

areas of marketing worldwide. In 

Russia, this kind of communication 

with customers is evaluated 

not so strongly as, for example, 

in Western Europe, China, USA, 

South Korea and Japan. According 

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 systems 

(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 promotional 

tools there are: 

• Interaction with the target 

audience in the online-mode; 

• Ability to track the delivery 

status of an advertising message; 

• Ability to assess a response to 

an advertising message. In a 

control system an advertiser 

can trace quantity of the content 

which has reached a consumer; 

• Ability to targeting (thin and 

flexible configuration of the 

target audience segment); 

• Access via mobile phone to 

the target audience at any 

Ad innovations 

time; 

• Users’ loyal relation to mobile 

advertizing. As a mobile 

phone is a personal thing, 

the customers feel individual 

treatment; 

• Instant response of a consumer; 

• 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 advertiser, 

and for the operator 

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 application 

allows a person 

to receive bonuses 

and special offers from 

companies-advertisers), 

the subscriber treats promotional 

messages positively. 

When using this product, 

INTECH identifies several key 

advantages: 

• The Pull-model of advertizing 

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 participants: 

mobile operators are 

paid for promoting the service 

among users, advertisers get 

access to consumers, consumers 

- information, bonuses 

and discounts; 

• Direct, powerful, and effective 

target marketing; 

• Long-term user’s interaction 

with the brand. The application 

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 features 

of each platform; 

• Mobile application provides 

many opportunities for the 

collection of legal information 

and users’ data (target audience) 

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 message 

or WAP site navigation 

performance; 

• It is easy to advertise and 

promote the mobile application. 

• The presence of the geolocation 

feature can automatically 

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 bonuses 

and discounts. 

Today phone is the person’s 

closest information 

field. Building communications 

via the mobile 

device, it is possible to 

receive an invaluable 

context: preferences, 

habits, and a circle of 

contacts and even a location 

of the user. Thus, 

the thoughtful approach 

to designing gives as 

output not only application, 

but also possibility 

to analyze target audience. 

While mobile operators rely on 

Push-model for mobile advertising 

(SMS send out, USSD NI), 

INTECH believes that the Pullmodel 

is a more effective way to 

communicate with potential customers. 

It allows to provide the 

user the necessary information 

on demand «here and now». 

Relevance, timely information, 

presence of discounts and 

bonuses allow to call advertising 

in a mobile application the most 

appropriate means of communication 

with consumers. 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

Etisalat partners with Cobone.com 

to create exclusive daily deals website 

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 

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 

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.” 

the award on behalf Dubai 

Municipality. 

On this occasion, Al Janahi 

said: “This trophy is a token of 

our thanks and appreciation 

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.” 

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 

Aasem A Alali 

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. T 

Etisalat recognises environmental 

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

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. T 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


41

Samsung’s Smart TV launches 

strategic collaboration with STC’s Invision 

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 

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 

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 

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. 

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 

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 

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-todate 

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 signs strategic partnership 

with Disabled Children's Association 

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. 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

CommScope receives 

special public service award from CableFAX 

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 

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 

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 

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 

Eddie Edwards 

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, 

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 

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.” T 

ITA signs agreements to expand IT training 

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. 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


43

Sierra Leone’s Communications Minister 

to host Commonwealth Rural Connectivity Forum in Freetown 

Sierra Leone has been 

unanimously nominated 

by 20 Commonwealth African 

countries to host the 2012 Commonwealth 

Telecommunications 

Organisation (CTO) Rural Connectivity 

Forum. This decision 

was taken after Hon. Ibrahim 

Ben Kargbo, Minister of Information 

and Communications 

made a presentation on Rural 

Connectivity policy in Sierra Leone, 

at the just concluded Rural 

Connectivity Forum held in Dar 

Es Salam, Tanzania. 

The 6th Connecting Rural Communities 

Africa Forum which 

was attended by Communications 

Ministers from South 

Africa, Tanzania etc. and Chief 

Executive Officers of the various 

Regulatory Authorities in 

Africa was formally launched 

by the President of the United 

Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Dr. 

Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete. 

Qtel cuts mobile Internet 

rate to Dh55 per 1MB 

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 

After his presentation, Honourable 

I.B Kargbo received a 

resounding applause for the 

strides Sierra Leone has made 

in the area of Information Communications 

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 

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. 

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, Minister 

of Science and Technology 

of Tanzania, also expressed 

“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 

satisfaction with the choice of 

Sierra Leone as the next venue 

for the Rural Connectivity 

Forum. 

In his acceptance speech, Honourable 

I.B Kargbo emphasized 

Sierra Leone’s commitment in 

improving on rural broadband 

connectivity and implementing 

Universal Access programmes. 

“This is evident in the installation 

of tele-centers and the 

enhancement of ICT capacity in 

rural areas as part of Government’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. T 

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. 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

Batelco Announces the Appointment 

of New Group Chief Executive Officer 

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. 

Batelco’s Chairman Shaikh Hamad Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa 

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 

new Batelco Group CEO 

Peter Kaliaropoulos, new Group 

CEO Strategic Assignments for 

Batelco 

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 

Murad Ali Murad to take over 

role as Deputy Chairman 

of Batelco Board of Directors 

Golf Course Company, as well 

as the post of Director at 

Bahrain Commercial Facilities 

Company. 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


45

Fraud cost operators 

billions of dollar every year 

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

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 

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 

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 IPbased 

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 

Global mobile connections 

to reach 5.6bn in 2011 

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 

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 definition 

of fraud is: “Fraud in 

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 

Nicolaj Aaroe 

telecommunications is when 

someone gains access to 

services or products that is 

sold through a telecommunications 

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 provision 

of telecommunications 

services or networks”. Total 

control is key, says Nicolaj 

Aaroe, Product Manager 

within FMS at Basset. T 

Jessica Ekholm 

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. T 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

Nawras Goodwill Journey 7 concludes 

with gathering at Muscat main office 

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. T 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


47

Lower phone call rates 

in the UAE soon 

Etisalat and du seek TRA approval to reduce telecom tariff 

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 

TRA grants licence to YahLive 

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 

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 

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 freeto-air 

and pay-TV broadcasters 

in this region. 

Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, 

TRA Director General said: “The 

UAE telecommunications sector 

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 

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 

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. T 

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.” T 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

Nokia Siemens Networks Names New 

Boss for Middle-East Region 


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. 


employs around 3,200 people 

in the Middle East region with 

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. 

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 

U.S. government 

"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 

Igor Leprince 

files to block AT&T, T-Mobile deal 

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." 

Block 

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 

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. T 

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." T 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


49

3G Deployment: 

About time 

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 

The issue of 3G 

deployment in 

Pakistan has 

long been under 

consideration 

and has been 

the highlight of 

all talks in the 


sector recently. 

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 

Increase in the 

availability 

of valuable 


infrastructure has a 

long lasting effect 

on the economic 

productivity and 

growth. 

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.” 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

Mohammad Amir Malik 


A growing solicitude; Cause and Effects in relation to Pakistan 

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 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


51

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, 


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 

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 

Global Prospective 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

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. 

Local Prospective 

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. 


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 


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 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


53




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 


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 


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 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

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. 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


55

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. T 

Vision 2020: PTA forecasts 

all around growth in telecom sector 

Total investments in the country’s telecom sector will be $2.4 billion 

by 2020, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said 

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.” T 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

Ben Flanagan 

Mobile telecoms set 

to finally take off in Algeria 

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 muchdelayed 

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 dataintensive 

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. T 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


57

Doing away with 

artificial restrictions 

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. 

Contd. from page 19 

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 costefficiencies. 

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 

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 

A Digital Agenda Enabler in the Sky 

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, 

Mohsin Rehman 

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 

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 

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 technologyneutrality 

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. 

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. 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

Continuity in holding of ITCN Asia 

for 11 years reflects potential 

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

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 Pakistan 

for last 6 years 

•• The only B2B Event of Pakistan 

held for the 11th consecutive 

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 Hall 

•• Mobile 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. 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


59

PTCL Group declares profit of Rs 8.4 billion 

for financial year 2010 - 2011 

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 

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. 

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. 

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 

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. 

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 

Teletiems Report 

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. T 

PTCL declares 2011–2012 as year of the Broadband 

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. 

Publisher-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 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

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. Attaur-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 

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 

Teletiems Report 

ICET 2011 

International Conference on Emerging Technologies 

Rector Nust, Dr Samar Mubarak Mand and Dean SEECS 

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 

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 

Dr. Ata ur Rehman 

Dr. Samar Mubarak Mand 

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, 

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 

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. 

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. T 

15Sep - 14 Oct 2011 


61

September 

Global Telecom events 2011 

IT Siberia. SibTelecom. Broadcasting Siberia 

20 - 22 Sep - Novosibirsk, Russia 

11th 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 

October 

CTO Telecom Summit 

02 - 05 Oct - Scottsdale, AZ, US 

Telecom World 

03 - 06 Oct - Dubai, UAE 

CEATEC Japan 2011 

04 -08 Oct - Makuhari Messe, Tokyo 

GITEX Technology Week 

9-13 Oct - Dubai - UAE 

Medialive!, 2011: 

16 - 18 Oct, Abu Dhabi, UAE 

Infocom Bangladesh 2011 

17 - 19 Oct - Dhaka, Bangladesh 

Technology for Marketing & Advertising 

26 - 27 Oct - Shanghai, China 

ITU Telecom World 2011 

24-27 - Oct - Geneva 

Iraq Telecom 2011 

25 - 27 Oct - Turkey, Istanbul 

EUTC 2011 

26 - 28 Oct, Madrid, Spain 

November 

SAMENA Convergence to Qatar 2011 

01 - 02 Nov - Doha, Qatar 

GIL 2011: China 

01 Nov - Shanghai 

SCIP 2011: European Summit 

08 - 10 Nov - Austria Centre Vienna 

World Telecom Summit 

09 - 10 Nov - Singapore 

4th Annual Indonesia Telecoms International Summit 

15 Nov - Jakarta, Indonesia 

Customer Contact Indonesia 

16 Nov - Jakarta, Indonesia 

Mobile Aisa Congress 

16 - 17 Nov - Hong Kong 

CIO Strategies Saudi Arabia 

21 - 22 Nov - Riyadh, KSA 

Oracle Day 2011 

21 - Nov - Abu Dhabi - UAE 

December 

CTIA IT & Entertainment 

01 - 08 Dec, Budapest, Hungary 

CIO Midmarket Summit 

04 - 07 Dec - TBD 

The Smart Handheld Summit 

Arab Advisor Group 

05 - 06 Dec - Dubai, UAE 

Femtocells Americas 

05 - 06 Dec - USA 

Mobile Advertising World 

06 - 08 Dec - London, UK 

LTE - Next Generation Networks Americas 

07 - 08, Dec - USA 

Saudi Infrastructure Forum & Exhibition 

11 - 14 Dec - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 

ITU Kaleidoscope 

12-14, Dec - Cape Town, South Africa 

M2M World 

12-14 Dec -Venue: London - London 


15Sep - 14 Oct 2011

O3B Networks: - Teletimes

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