Telco's must offer value-added services - Etisalat Chairman

Etisalat Chairman, Mohammed Omran addressed the 7th Annual Media and Telecommunications Convergence Conference in Jordan recently.

Etisalat Chairman Mohammed Omran addressing the gathering.

He stressed the importance of partnerships between content developers and telecom companies, highlighting the challenge faced by telecommunications companies in the transition from being mere connectivity providers to smart operators offering value-added solutions that enhance their customers' lifestyles, such as mobile payment, IPTV, mobile TV with a special focus on local content development. Omran described how broadband provides a key pocket for growth "Demand for fixed and mobile data is increasing.

This is due to the increasing number of smart phones and the popularity of social networking websites like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

Consumers want more convenience and they want to have access to information and entertainment anywhere anytime we are looking forward to give our customers the opportunity to access and share content on different screens."

To this end we have continuously worked hard on our fibre optic network which is considered one of the most important pillars of UAE Telecom infrastructure.

So far we have reached 116 percent of our target, with almost 900,000 homes connected, he said. Omran noted that merger and acquisition (M&A) revival is imminent as home markets reach saturation point and witness increased competition.

Supporting this is the availability of distressed assets. Added to that is the more readily available cash and funding in the post crises time in light of an addressable global telecom market which is expected to see growth in the region of 69 percent by 2015.