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Technology Spurs Massive Change In The Middle East
Published Jan 1, 2012
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Gulf News
The Arab Spring, for example, won’t only go down as a grass-roots movement in which millions demanded political and social change throughout the Middle East — it also lit a fire beneath the masses, sparking the catalyst movement in which mobile devices and handheld smartphone acquisition skyrocketed beyond expectations.
According to sales figures by telecom analysts, first quarter 2011 sales in Egypt of personal computers (PCs) and laptops dropped by 30 per cent but within months, sales tripled as residents scrambled to get online and join social networks.
Similar spikes in electronics sales across other protest countries were also witnessed within the computer and telecoms industry. “One major trend we saw in the region was the rise of social networking,” said Samir Al Schamma, regional general manager, Middle East and North Africa for Intel Corporation.
Al Schamma said protests demanding change were assisted by instant communication through Twitter and Facebook boosting consumers’ sudden appetite for devices that would get them online, connected and in concert with winds of change.
Hacking
“All of this growth was driven by consumers … government tenders stopped,” Al Schamma told Gulf News. “It did have an impact on our industry. Everyone and their mother wants to be on Facebook.”
The rush to be plugged in regionally and abroad was part of an incredible year of economic, political and technological upheaval around the world, where, according to analysts, the tech sector was among the few to have reported huge financial gains, thanks to swollen tablet and smartphone global sales, while other sectors faltered.
Technology repeatedly dominated global and regional headlines as hackers threatened consumers’ wallets through the Sony PS2 security breach, Apple founder and visionary Steve Jobs succumbed to cancer, etisalat announced faster 4G broadband services, UAE shoppers swamped retailers for the new iPhone4S and du announced it is adding new phone prefix 052 to handle growing demand.
Thousands of UAE credit cardholders escaped serious financial injury after Sony confirmed in late April that confidential financial data of Middle East members of its PlayStation Network (PSN) was in jeopardy.
The threats never materialised, but the theft of data from 27,000 cardholders in the Middle East sent shivers across the region when news broke that 77 million PSN user accounts around the world were hacked, an act described as the largest single computer data breach in history.
“As an extreme measure, it’s probably a good option to cancel the card and require a replacement from the bank,” said Costin G. Rau, director of Kaspersky’s global research and analysis team, at the time.
Sony later confirmed that in the UAE alone there were 250,000 registered PSN members, 14,000 of whom had provided credit card details to the Sony network that was hacked.
In early October, after his death, Apple founder Steve Jobs was remembered across the world and the UAE as an American visionary who altered the music, computer and mobile communications landscape for millions of people around the globe.
Matthew Reed, senior analyst with Informa Telecoms and Media, noted the day after Jobs’ death that “it was a shock” to hear the news and said the overwhelming global reaction to Jobs’ death confirms “the impact of his work”.
Legacy
“I think he was integral to Apple with several product innovations,” Reed said, noting all things starting with a small “i” in the Apple trademark stable have changed how the world operates.
Hamza Saleem, IDC senior research analyst mobile handsets, MEA (Middle East and Africa) and Turkey, noted that only the future would determine whether Jobs’ legacy survives. “As planning usually is done for the few years in advance I am sure that Apple Inc has a roadmap for the coming two years, but what after that? New products vision of Jobs, who always pushed the company into new areas, would be missed,” he said. Conquering new frontiers was a key mission for etisalat in 2011 which announced in September that it was launching 4G broadband services in the UAE to provide faster service for increasing demands for video and data demands.
To be offered to laptop users first through new USB dongles and to mobile customers in 2012, when new handheld devices permit, online 4G consumers should be able to online surf at “downlink data service of up to 100 Mbps,” etisalat said.
Competing telecom du said it will offer 4G services sometime in 2012.
In its latest report on Long Term Evolution (LTE, a form of 4G broadband), the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) said the UAE is ahead of the bell curve to implement new faster broadband.
Mobile services
As part of the first tier of countries to usher in 4G — including two of Saudi Arabia’s telecom networks — the UAE is ahead in the race, given that 248 other telecom operators around the globe have only now committed to LTE or are still conducting field trials.
Alan Hadden, GSA president, said in a statement that less than half of the trials group is expected to have full fourth-generation networks in play next year.
“Based on GSA’s research, we are confident that at least 103 LTE networks will be commercially launched by the end of 2012.”
On the telecoms front, meanwhile, du announced that it is adding a new mobile phone prefix of 052 to be available for consumers in 2012.
“We would like to thank the TRA for granting us the new prefix code number, which is an essential addition for us to face the increasing demand on du’s mobile services. With this addition, we can continue to expand our active customer base that reached over five million mobile subscriptions,” said Farid Faraidooni, chief commercial officer, du.
“This will add approximately one million new lines, which will support customers’ demand for about six months. This comes as a result of the high demand on our attractive mobile offers and services, which consumed 80 per cent of the existing prefix 055.”
By Derek Baldwin?Senior Reporter
© Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
Posted by
VMD - [Virtual Marketing Department]
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