Local office opens
3i Infotech has opened a local office in Riyadh. Through this office, 3i Infotech will be able to provide extra impetus to the banking, financial services and insurance sectors. 3i Infotech has doubled its revenues within three years in the Kingdom. The company recently won clients such as Al-Fozan and the Zamil Group.
3i Infotech expects to continue to make rapid strides and in this direction it has appointed Amit Trigunayat as the new head of operations in Saudi Arabia.
“It gives me immense pleasure to see 3i Infotech establishing its office in Riyadh and thereby reaching closer to customers,” said Pankaj Chawla, Chief Operating Officer, 3i Infotech – Middle East, Africa Russia & CIS (MEARC). “On-the-ground presence in Riyadh will certainly provide huge comfort to banks, financial institutions, mutual funds and insurance companies and also facilitate government projects in the region. I am happy to introduce Amit Trigunayat as the operations head of this country. Under his able leadership, 3i Infotech will increase its focus on the BFSI, ERP and e-Governance segments.”
Trigunayat has 27 years of experience in the Information Technology, Banking & Financial Services sector. Prior to joining 3i Infotech, Trigunayat worked for the National Technology Group (NTG) Saudi Arabia, as General Manager. Prior to that, he was associated with IBM Business Partner — SMPL India as technical director.
Indoor wireless in Makkah
Many of the 2.4 million pilgrims who visited Makkah this past December for pilgrimage – or those who reside in or visited the Al-Bait Towers at King Abdul Aziz Endowment – benefited from uninterrupted access to wireless voice and data services, accomplished courtesy of a state-of-the-art in-building wireless coverage system designed by Powerwave Technologies, Inc.
The deployment is the world’s largest indoor wireless coverage system. With more than 1.4 million sq. meters of built-up floor space, the King Abdul Aziz Endowment, located adjacent to the Kaaba and the Grand Mosque in Makkah, is considered the largest collection of buildings in the world. Renderings of the complex, and a documentary on the history of the project, can be viewed at the King Abdul Aziz Endowment website (http://www.jiwar.com.sa/en/endowment.htm).
In 2008, Powerwave and its Saudi partner, Advanced Communications and Electronics Systems Co. Ltd. (ACES), were selected by Mobily to deploy a wireless coverage system inside four of the seven towers currently comprising the King Abdul Aziz Endowment. The initial phase of this multimillion dollar system deployment also includes wireless coverage for the venue’s shopping center featuring 450 shops and restaurants, and six-floor underground parking garage. Phase II and Phase III, slated for completion in 2009, will bring wireless coverage to four additional buildings, and a skyscraper at the center of the complex.
Phase one of Powerwave’s wireless coverage system deployment at the King Abdul Aziz Endowment currently supports GSM900, GSM1800 and GSM2100 commercial wireless frequencies. The system is based on Powerwave’s Nexus FT high-power, triple-band fiber optic repeaters, which feature a modular and robust design that is easy to install, supports multi-carrier and multi-band operation, and offers high capacity and long-reach signal distribution. By leveraging Powerwave Nexus FT repeaters, the coverage system at the King Abdul Aziz Endowment uses fewer repeaters and one-third fewer antennas than competitive solutions.
Other coverage system components, which reside outside of public view, include a fiber optic conversion module located within the centralized Base Station Hotel. Using a common fiber-optic and coaxial backbone among the operators, the system is highly efficient and provides substantial cost savings over other competing solutions due to fewer initial infrastructure requirements and maintenance routines, shorter installation times, and more streamlined technology upgrades.
Bravo partners with Mashail Al-Khaleej
The Public Telecommunications Company (PTC) “Bravo”, the specialized provider of walkie-talkie and cellular communication services to the Saudi government and business sectors, has signed a strategic partnership with Mashail Al-Khaleej for Electronics. The agreement will offer new outlets for providing Bravo’s services and solutions to its customers and enhance Bravo’s customer care services through Mashail Al-Khaleej’s 30-center network across the Kingdom.
“We have signed this agreement further to our strategy to stretch our partnership scope, especially after signing a strategic partnership with the STC, the Saudi telecom giant, to provide our customers with top-notch business communication solutions and services along with bundling customized services that can address our customers’ needs and desires,” said Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Ageel, CEO, Bravo.
In line with the same strategy, Al-Ageel added that Bravo signed an agreement with the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) to support local and foreign businesses in the new economic cities by providing them with walkie-talkie and cellular communication services that help facilities and working groups increase business efficiency and productivity, along with reducing business communication costs.
