Technology advances are allowing mobile operators to bring the immediacy and convenience of mobility to popular internet services.
This is an exciting time for the telecommunications sector in the UAE. Deregulation has contributed to the arrival of du, the new and second telecom operator on the block.
The leading operator in the region Etisalat has also carved out a fresh brand identity that's been complemented with improved customer service and a range of new services, including the internationally popular BlackBerry service. It is also increasing its presence in new territories across the UAE's border.
On the other hand, new technologies including 3G, Edge, HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) and DVB-H (digital video broadcasting - handheld) are also set to take the UAE's telecommunications sector - the mobile telephony segment in particular - into the next generation.
While these upcoming developments will prove to be significant, the region's mobile telephony sector already has a lot to celebrate about.
Chris Braam, General Manager, Nokia (Middle and Near East), says, "According to a recent study carried out by Etisalat, the UAE now tops the Middle East in terms of mobile penetration, as it has exceeded 120 per cent. Etisalat announced that its customer base has exceeded five million, whereas the total population of the UAE stands at 4.1 million."
Growing subscriber base
"The main reason for this," says Ganesh Iyer, Marketing Manager, Cellucom, "is that the UAE has a growing band of subscribers who have more than one connection."
The sector is also set for growth in the rest of the Middle East and Gulf. According to C.H. Lee, President, LG Electronics Gulf FZE, "Mobile subscriptions in the Middle East and Gulf are set to reach 108 million by the end of 2010 with the penetration forecast to increase to 45 per cent. In fact, the Middle East and Gulf market has grown from 15 million subscribers in 2002 to 47 million at the end of 2005."
Lee says that during this period, penetration rose from a mere four per cent to more than 22 per cent. The subscriber base is also predicted to grow by 35 per cent by the end of 2006, while penetration will grow by 32 per cent as markets mature and reach saturation point.
All these figures are a clear indication that business is good and getting better for phone manufacturers such as Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Siemens and LG, among others present in the market. These global brands offer the UAE's segmented and tech-savvy consumer base mobile phones that range from basic models to devices that have enhanced multimedia and music capabilities, high-end imaging functions and business applications.
Trendy, stylised and innovatively designed phones that make a statement are also popular in the region.
Braam believes that understanding consumer needs and desires has helped Nokia gain a considerable share of the market. "We recently conducted the largest segmentation study identifying different consumer clusters, with each of these having a special set of attributes and behaviour.
Segmentation sells
"Having the best consumer understanding in the industry is vital to our whole business, from the initial product designs through to sales and customer care. This is an integral part of our strategy to connect the next billion mobile users, to realise the potential of digital and internet convergence, to bring about enterprise mobility and to address new business models with our operator customers to capture new growth," he says.
Nokia's wide portfolio addresses the needs of users who follow trends and fashion with devices such as the popular Nokia 8800 and the recently launched Nokia 8800 Sirocco. The E-series targets consumers who are interested in finding smart business tools. Users looking for cutting-edge technology leading the convergence evolution have the N-series, which is a complete range of multimedia computers that snap, record, browse and share all via the internet.
Samsung also offers phones that appeal to a variety of consumers. Sandeep Saighal, Sr. Manager Sales and Marketing, Telecommunication Division, Samsung Gulf Electronics, says, "The sleek I320 smartphone with a QWERTY keypad and 1.3-megapixel camera and the I750, which is a PDA with Wi-Fi, business card scanner, two-megapixel camera and the MS Operating System, are targeted at business users."
Slim handsets
Samsung's Ultra Edition X820 (said to be the ‘slimmest' bar phone in the world) with a two-megapixel camera (6.9mm thick), D900, a three-megapixel slider camera phone with external memory and the D830, a slim, clamshell design, two-megapixel camera phone, are targeted at urban and trendy consumers looking for style and features in one device.
Sony Ericsson has a range of Walkman phones, including the W300, W550i, W700i W800i, W900i and W950. In addition to their playback capabilities, these music phones have the Disc2Phone PC software, which allows easy and fast music uploads, and they are Bluetooth-enabled, giving their users the flexibility to share their favourite music.
Sony Ericsson's K800 and K790 models merge advanced image capture capabilities with high-speed data transfer, making them perfect tools for shooting and sharing high-quality pictures and videos. The K800 is a dual-mode UMTS/GPRS phone and the K790 is a tri-band Edge phone.
Motorola also has phones, such as the A1200, a fully loaded PDA that comes with numerous features including a business scanner and two-megapixel camera. The sleek Motorola RAZR, including the Dolce and Gabbana V3i, has also gained a following among those who follow fashion trends and consider phones to be accessories. Motorola also offers budget phones such as the C113 and C117.
LG Electronics also has added three new models - KG320, KG220 and KG245 - aimed at budget-conscious customers. These phones have sophisticated communications as well as multimedia capabilities. Mobile phones are becoming equipped with more features enabling consumers to be more mobile, says Braam. Such features include imaging, music and push e-mail. On one hand, cameras on mobile devices will become more resourceful, with even better image-taking and video-recording quality.
On the other hand, more handsets will be equipped with music players and enhanced memory capacity in the ongoing evolution towards the all-in-one handset that serves multiple purposes.
New trends
According to Harout Bedrossian, Product Marketing Manager, Motorola (Middle East, Africa, Turkey), as handsets offered by manufacturers have similar features, design will also stand out as an important criterion. Sleek and innovatively designed handsets and their brand equity will clearly have an edge in this market, as consumers want to be seen carrying a unique device or a particular brand.
"Additionally, business users will benefit from more mobility with the usage of push e-mail, allowing them to be reached and to be heard anywhere, anytime. The new generation of mobile phones will also allow people to enjoy a better calling experience, with new 3G services such as video calling or high-speed internet," says Braam.
"Also, the availability of DVB-H technology in the future will allow consumers to enjoy watching TV on their handset devices, and hence will be the next addition to mobile entertainment," he says. As mobile networks and network services are directly related and go hand-in-hand with mobile handsets, more technology on the networks side coupled with added features on handset devices will be witnessed in the future.
According to Lee the Middle East and Gulf market is set for further growth, as markets become more liberalised with open competition. "WCDMA networks will allow operators to introduce new services and are expected to play a major part in differentiation. Although voice communications will continue to drive operator revenues, we expect to see mobile VAS and entertainment content to take centre stage in the push for subscriber loyalty.
"GSM services will continue to dominate revenue forecasts but the gradual deployment of alternative wireless broadband technologies, such as WiMax, is beginning to take place," he says.
Operators can be expected to deploy a mixture of wireless technologies serving different market segments with 3G, allowing freedom of movement and convenient access to entertainment and information services, and WiMax providing connectivity for larger devices, says Lee.
Technology advances are allowing mobile operators to bring the immediacy and convenience of mobility to popular Internet services, such as e-mail and instant messaging. "Thanks to these advances and leveraging the proven strengths of 3GSM's global interoperability and trusted environment, users' experiences will be taken to a new level of service delivery, quality and enjoyment," he says.
Personal IM (instant messaging) is the first of a range of these services and will soon be offered by a number of major global operators. It is easy-to-use, enabling text conversations in real time with business colleagues or friends anywhere in the world who are chatting from mobile devices or from their internet-connected terminals. "You'll know when people are ‘on line' and with a guaranteed grade of service delivery, message receipt can be assured. The initiating party pays for the message, so there are no surprises when the monthly bill arrives," says Lee.
Current challenges
While the future for mobile is on the upswing, some challenges lie ahead. "The market has reached saturation both for operators and manufacturers. Operators will have to offer compelling new services to rope in subscribers and increase their revenue. Handset manufacturers will also have to fine-tune devices and enhance their features," says Bedrossian.
The mobile telephony market is witnessing increasing penetration in the region, as more consumers are buying mobile devices and enjoying the technological advances they offer, says Braam. "The challenge lies in educating consumers about the extent to which they can use their mobile devices."
This challenge can be overcome by sharing information with consumers, which will then allow them to greatly benefit from the features that their handsets offer.
"Additionally, as the demand for 3G services grows (for high-speed downloads of music and gaming applications) there will be a need to integrate increasingly complex network elements. By addressing this issue and providing more networks infrastructure and services to the region, more people can subscribe and benefit from telecom operators' latest and most advanced services," says Braam.
