DUBAI, 4 October 2005 — The first day at Gitex, visitors appear a bit dazed, wandering through the exhibition halls, trying to get their bearings on exactly who is at the show and which stands are the most important to see. It is impossible to visit every stand and that has created a real challenge at Gitex. The difficulty is that the flashiest, noisiest stands are probably not the most essential ones to put on a Gitex tour. HP and Panasonic will still be in the region with good representation after the show is over. But what about those small companies from the Far East, India or Palestine exhibiting in those tiny, stripped down booths? Most likely, they’ll be gone, taking their technologies with them and that is where real opportunities can be lost.

“We are at Gitex because we are looking for distributors to represent us in different countries across the Middle East,” said K.L. Lim, director of MobileGear, a Singapore-based firm. MobileGear designs and to some extent manufactures accessories for notebooks, PDAs, smart phones and MP3s. Lim visited Gitex last year and decided that this would be the show to help him break into the Middle East market. This year he took his own stand and brought out a small team to try and make a push for expansion into the region.

“This has been a good show for us,” remarked Lim. “Many people like the products we had on display. Lots of people wanted to buy our samples but that really wasn’t a possibility because we brought limited stock with us. We are now considering offers from companies that we met at the show in order to choose local distributors and we hope to reach some definite agreements in coming months.”

Finding distributors and demonstrating technologies, live and in person, are important purposes for this trade show. But what would Gitex be without a bit of flash? One of the largest, most creatively designed stands at Gitex belonged to Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat). The stand featured a “fully tech loaded” Mercedes car showcasing how the cars of the future might appear. The car was enabled with several telephony and data applications that would make the vehicle a mobile office as well as an entertainment platform. Some of the special applications in the car were mobile telephony, high-speed Internet access, location-based services, e-mail access, interactive TV and many other 2.5G and 3G based applications.

Another well known telecom, which is now positioning itself as “the world’s networking company,” was at Gitex. AT&T is hoping to increase its customer base in the Middle East by deploying nodes in the region that provide access to advanced data, connectivity and managed services. AT&T’s first Middle East node is already operating in Doha and the company is finalizing plans for the installation of another node in Dubai.

Connectivity appeared to be key at Gitex 2005. At the show, Intel, Redline Communications and Dubai Internet City (DIC) set up the region’s first live demo of WiMAX technology. The demo featured the delivery of voice, video and data between WiMAX based CPE equipment at the Intel, DIC and Cisco stands. Additionally, the demo included an outdoor connection to the Dubai Internet City grounds, some 20 km away, giving some idea of how WiMAX technology could help cities become unwired over the coming years.

A number of technology leaders, including Intel are working with the wireless industry to drive deployment of WiMAX networks. WiMAX is a standards-based wireless technology that provides high-throughput broadband connections over long distances. It can be used for a number of applications, including “last mile” broadband connections, hotspots and cellular backhaul and high-speed enterprise connectivity for business. Intel is also actively participating in industry efforts to standardize broadband wireless technology and drive interoperability. A number of local telcos are said to be investigating WiMAX including Saudi Telecom.

“We are pleased to be working with industry leaders such as Intel and Cisco to bring the first public demonstrations of WiMAX-based technologies to the Middle East,” said Majed Sifri, president and CEO, Redline Communications. “Several major carriers in the Middle East and surrounding regions are now planning deployments of WiMAX networks using our RedMAX solution. This demonstration gave the public the opportunity to experience the potential of WiMAX.”

“In a region as diverse as the Middle East, WiMAX can play a key role in both delivering high-speed broadband and premium entertainment to digital homes, as well as Internet access to rural areas,” said Aysegul Ildeniz, Intel’s regional director in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, “We have been working with regional governments, telcos and our fellow travelers to help bring WiMAX to our users here and this pilot at Gitex is proof of the region’s readiness for this type of technology.”

Gitex also was the venue for the announcement of several initiatives between business and education. During Gitex, Alcatel signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in the UAE, to accompany HCT in its mandate to develop the human resources of the UAE and help build-up a strong national work force to introduce innovative technologies in the country.

Alcatel and HCT will collaborate to develop a joint arrangement for cooperation in academic and other areas, in order to provide both students and HCT staff with opportunities to upgrade their skills and to help them succeed in careers in information and communications technology. The areas of collaboration will include:

• The training and certification of students and staff in such areas as telephony and voice over IP.

• Knowledge sharing and support services to help students and staff develop applications and solutions.

• Setting up a technology lab at selected HCT campuses for the purposes of testing and training.

On the occasion, Sheikh Nahyan ibn Mubarak Al-Nahyan, UAE minister of education, said: “By signing this agreement with Alcatel, we expect to provide our students with the right mix of training and skills in order to help them secure jobs in the enterprise market and contribute to the development of ICT in the country.”

Let’s hope that some of the initiatives launched on many fronts in Dubai will be picked up across the region to contribute to the development of information and communications technology resources for all the peoples of the Middle East.