Saudi Arabia Still Lags in TCCM
Arab Advisors Group unveiled new research and announced the annual results of the Total Country Connectivity Measure (TCCM) for the region at the third annual Media and Telecommunications Convergence Conference held in Amman.
The Arab Advisors Group calculates the TCCM by adding the household mainlines penetration, GSM penetration, and Internet users penetration rates in each country. The 2005 TCCM rankings show that Qatar, Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait have maintained their leading rankings in the score. Qatar’s TCCM score stood at 234 percent followed by Bahrain (231 percent), UAE (212 percent), Kuwait (203 percent), Saudi Arabia (145 percent), Oman (113 percent), Lebanon (112 percent), Jordan (111 percent), Tunisia (98 percent), Syria (89 percent), Algeria (84 percent), Egypt (84 percent), Palestine (76 percent), Morocco (60 percent), Yemen (35 percent) and finally Sudan (20 percent).
The TCCM shows the extent of connectivity of individuals in a certain country whether via fixed lines, GSM lines and/or Internet. Of course, there will be an overlap since many individuals will be using these three communications technologies at the same time. However, the measure still yields an accurate and informative picture on the level of ICT services penetration in each country: For example, if a country has a TCCM measure of 60 percent, this means that at least 40 percent of the population are not users of any of the three services constituting the measure. While a TCCM score of more than 100 percent is very positive, it nonetheless, does not mean that all the population uses the services due to overlap of usage.
UNICOIL Supports Growth With SAP
UNICOIL, a manufacturer of pre-painted steel products in the Middle East, has implemented SAP Applications with the NetWeaver platform to support its growth strategy and integrate operations.
The SAP applications comprise modules that will enable UNICOIL to better record and report business events, improve supply chain management, calculate actual production cost, reduce data redundancy and automate inventory management. The implementation started in November 2005 and went live on June 1. UNICOIL’s implementation team adopted SAP Best Practices which saved around 40 percent of the estimated project’s duration.
“We are very excited about the SAP NetWeaver installation,” said Ahmad Shaaban, CIO, UNICOIL. “It will decrease the time it takes to move the products to the market, reduce service interruptions to the manufacturing process and help determine sales prices based on market value and product cost. The SAP installation will increase efficiency across the organization, impacting business processes for all employees and facilitate organizational growth.”
Essam Enany, president, SAP Arabia added, “The implementation at UNICOIL caps a very impressive growth phase for SAP in the region, especially in Saudi Arabia. We are ranked the No. 1 player by IDC in the Middle East and North Africa and this win takes us further away from the competition.”
Worldwide PC Deal to Equip Emirates
A three-year deal has been signed by Emirates, Acer and NTS to supply desktop computers to Emirates, satisfying the airline’s worldwide technology requirements through systems integrator, NTS.
“Having met the demand for desktops in the highly sophisticated airline industry, we are proud to be the supplier of choice that satisfies and exceeds the requirements for all of Emirates’ desktop operations in over 121 countries,” said Emanuele Accolla, Acer EMEA VP.
The three-year deal involving over 21,000 desktop computers, clearly demonstrates Acer’s industry-based capacity and compliments its dedicated home and SME business units. The deal sees Acer become the exclusive desktop supplier for Emirates, with its top-of-the line Acer Veriton 2800 series desktops. The partners — Acer, NTS and Emirates — will work closely together throughout the duration of the relationship.
“At Emirates, we look for more than just the basic supply of ‘units.’ Product quality, service and reliability are also key factors that we evaluate carefully. This ensures our business departments are equipped to deliver on the expert support that our customers demand, and can consistently achieve industry-leading standards across all areas of our business,” said Saeed Mohammed, Emirates’ Senior VP, Procurement and Logistics.
