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150 Attendees Gather On Day 1 Of The Premier Saudi Arabian Telecoms Show Join Us For Day 2!
Published May 25, 2010
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150 Saudi Arabian Telecoms industry leaders converged at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Bahrain for the inaugural Saudi Com conference. Senior executives from the Kingdom’s telecoms operators and vendors have gathered to learn, network and share ideas about how to target the rich potential of the Saudi telecoms market.
Informa Telecoms and Media analyst Nick Jotischky started the day with an analysis of subscriber statistics and projections for growth. ITM forecasts the data market will be in excess of $15bn by 2014. Compared with other mobile markets with over 100% penetration, KSA’s continued subscription growth seems to be the most sustainable, mainly because of the high GDP per capita, high population growth and the impact of the 3rd operator.
Identifying business transformation as the key to surviving in an increasingly competitive market, Jotischky emphasised the importance of a customer-centric strategy. This theme was continued in the keynote panel discussion, looking at “How to Sustain Market Growth and Increase ARPUs in the Mobile Market”. Panellists from Mobily, Bravo, Zain KSA and Batelco agreed that customer retention must be at the heart of the strategy, and that getting to know the customer’s needs and requirements had become fundamental.
Mobily speaker Alaa Malki explained that mobile broadband has been largely responsible for maintaining the momentum in the unbelievable growth and said there is still huge potential in the data/broadband market. The reason for this being the youthful population – and the opportunity provided by fixed broadband penetration being relatively low in the Kingdom.
Key discussion points on the first day were prospects for MVNOs in KSA; the potential for VAS in the Kingdom with Zain suggesting the creation of a common mobile content platform for KSA in order to keep the potential for revenue growth within the operator community and stimulate the creation of new content services. Delegates also discussed the introduction of new technologies including LTE and how to allocate the necessary spectrum - a delegate from Mobily saying that spectrum allocation “needs major strategy”
Event sponsor Motorola’s Noel Kirkaldy outlined the importance of broadband in the Saudi region and joined the afternoon’s panel discussion, identifying which issues would determine the success of different broadband access technologies.
The closing session of the day offered delegates the opportunity to attend interactive workshops focussing on either LTE or Customer Retention Strategies. The dedicated sessions, led by Dave McNally of the Informa Telecoms Academy, and STC Bahrain VIVA’s CCO Andrew Hanna, enabled delegates to delve into these subjects in further detail. At the end of the first day, Nick Jotischky commented “The conference has provided a rare insight into the untapped growth potential of this vibrant market.
A highlight of the second conference day will be the Economic Cities Roundtable discussion, with panellists debating best practise for maximising the huge opportunities available to the telecoms industry in Saudi’s Economic cities. The second day speakers will also assess the opportunities for MVNOs in KSA, discuss how to develop new revenue streams with VAS , and identify the tools and solutions suitable for tapping into the enterprise market. The closing session will draw on the theme of the opening panel discussion with a look at customer experience management as a major customer retention tool.
Make sure you join us for day 2 of Saudi Com – simply turn up onsite at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain with your business card!
Posted by
VMD - [Virtual Marketing Department]
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