Etisalat will offer multi-access B2B portal solutions this year, including through mobile telephony, as part of its Comtrust suite of e-commerce solutions for its corpor".

"By end-2003, we expect to have over 100 corporate customers, as also 100,000 individual clients against 34,000 registered at present," Khalid Al Kaf, general manager, network services, stated yesterday.

Al Kaf heads the team that develops the 'e-shop B2B service' solution, which Sharjah Airport International Free (Saif) Zone has just adopted, becoming in the process the first organisation in the emirate to have the Etisalat product, and the third in the UAE after Dubai Municipality and the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation.

He asserted the product, launched in October 2002, has already evinced considerable interest from potential customers, with several currently in the pipeline. "We are trying to raise the level of awareness, while pricing it very favourably to win more clients."

He explained the online service is designed to enable users to carry out all their transactions with Etisalat from their own office, with easy and secure access to bill inquiry, presentation and payment; Wasel recharge and renewal; request for service subscription; fault reporting and tracking; and account management.

"Our Wap-enabled customers already enjoy portal access through their mobiles, with the service to be widened to include corporates as well this year," he added.

Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, general manager, Comtrust, meanwhile stressed that ensuring system security is of paramount importance with Etisalat, whichensures that there are a number of inherent security features.

"This being a direct debit payment system, there is no credit card number, and we store only the authorisation numbers, not the credit card digits," he pointed out.

"There is also a commitment by banks to offer 3D smartcard digital certification, with a pin code to access credit cards. Moreover, we ourselves virtually manage each B2B solution; have a 24-hour emergency response team; and incorporate allied security features such as firewalls - all of which have ensured there have been no hackers who have managed to breach our network, although there have been several attempts."

Earlier, Ali Mohammed Sharid, West Coast regional general manager, stated: "We want to continue to further enhance our relationships with our state and private sector customers. In additional to Saif Zone, we are also working with several organisations to develop customised online interfaces."

He hinted at several initiatives to follow the e-shop B2B solution as the corporation continues to invest in new technology and services.

Taryam Mattar Taryam, director general, Saif Zone, asserted the free trade zone is the fastest-growing among the nine FTZs in the UAE, charting expansion last year at a rate appreciably above the 5.5 per cent reported by others.

"This is possibly due to the efforts of our proactive customer care department which, through the customised e-shop B2B solution, should now be able to undertake a number of new services, which will be of tremendous benefit to both organisations in serving their customers."

He felt the e-shop B2B would fare particularly well since communication between organisations in the country is one of the requirements of e-governance.