Mobily sets new record

Mobily has announced that in Aug. 2008, 12 terabytes of mobile data passed through the company’s network which resulted in the GSM Association (GSMA) describing Mobily’s data network as “the busiest mobile data network on the face of the planet.” Other quantifiable results include dropping time to service from an average of two weeks, as is the case with ADSL, to a few minutes with Mobily’s high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA). It takes just a few minutes because customers walk in to any Mobily location, buy the USB connect flash device, sign up for service and then just plug the device into the laptop to connect. Mobily chose to adopt a more ambitious strategy when it started to aggressively roll out 3G and 3.5G coverage. The goal was to leverage high-speed packet access (HSxPA) technology for the delivery of old services in a new and more convenient manner to add value to people’s lives. Internet service provision has a reputation for being a complicated service that takes a dramatic amount of time to deliver to consumers. Mobily is working hard to change that perception. Currently, Mobily has around 100,000 active mobile Internet subscribers connecting through HSDPA technology. Until, Mobily launched unlimited mobile Internet bundles on May 19, 2007, the current practice in Saudi Arabia was to offer metered access, with extra usage penalized with aggressive tariffs, and billing discussions focused on kilobytes of consumption. Mobily changed the discussion from kilobytes to gigabytes, and launched an entry level high usage 1 GB bundle for SR100, a mid-level high usage 5 GB bundle for SR200 and a premium unlimited usage bundle for SR350. When Mobily introduced these bundles, 1 MB of extra usage cost an extra SR4. Mobily’s entry level bundle, the 1 GB bundle, brought down the average cost of 1 MB of usage to SR1, while the mid-entry bundle took it down to SR0.2. The unlimited bundle, meanwhile, is based on a 32 GB consumption model, giving 1 MB of consumption at an average cost of SR 0.011.

Broadband Infrastructure

Intelsat and SkyVision Global Networks LLC (SkyVision) have signed a multi-year, multi-transponder contract for C- and Ku-band transponder services on Intelsat’s IS-4 satellite, located at 72º East. “SkyVision’s business in broadband applications has grown by more than 700% in the last three years and Intelsat has enabled us to expand to meet that demand,” said Mark Gazit, CEO of SkyVision. “This contract will further enable SkyVision to deploy IP infrastructure for the innovative VPN services which it now provides to its customers in Africa and the Middle East, in support of their private networks.” “Broadband connectivity demand continues to be a significant driver for our business. We are seeing growth accelerating worldwide, particularly in the Middle East and Africa,” said Jean-Philippe Gillet, Intelsat’s Regional Vice President, Europe and Middle East. “Intelsat’s competitive strength in providing a satellite infrastructure to service operators in high-demand regions enables these operators to launch applications that fuel corporate networks.”

Gitex Technology Week

Gitex Technology Week kicks off from Oct.19-23 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center. New pavilions from Bahrain, Ireland, Serbia, Slovenia and Sri Lanka will join the major nations of China, Egypt, India, Pakistan and the UK in representing their dedicated trade segments at GITEX Business Solutions, GULFCOMMS and Consumer Electronics. More than 30 companies will be represented from Bahrain, 10 from Serbia, eight from Slovenia, six from Ireland and five from Sri Lanka as the widest range of countries ever will be participating at the exhibition. During a difficult financial period for global IT markets, many countries are planning to capitalize on the more stable Middle East market. A new report by Merrill Lynch suggests that the region is one of the only areas in the world that is showing continued growth. For example, research conducted by Business Monitor International shows that Bahrain is set to increase IT spending from $27 million in 2005 to $400 million in 2012 — a massive 1381 percent increase.