Jordan Times
Monday, June 6, 2005
Conference to highlight new opportunities for media, telecom operators
AMMAN (JT) — More than 300 regional telecom and
media executives will convene at the second annual Media and Telecommunications
Convergence Conference 2005, to be held in the capital on June 11-12.
The regional event, which seeks to enhance cooperation between media and telecom
industries, is organised by the Arab Advisers Group.
The conference will provide an opportunity for attendees to share their vision
and outline the roadmap for the convergence of two key sectors in the region by
focusing on content, interactivity and delivery channels, according to a
statement released by the organisers.
“Today competition is getting stronger in the telecom and media fields, with
operators expanding their services... and new TV and satellite channels opening
in various countries. The opportunities available in the Arab market are huge,
and thus the advanced mobile services and the convergence between these two
sectors will be a key differentiator for further growth,” said Jawad Abbasi,
founder and president of Arab Advisers.
“The success of last year's conference and the enthusiasm with which it was
received from media and telecom operators have driven us to hold a second
conference this year and we have decided to make it an annual event.”
The convergence of these two sectors started a few years ago, with the launch of
regional TV programmes that enabled viewer participation through SMS and
Interactive Voice Response (IVR), the statement said.
According to market surveys done by Arab Advisers Group, only 2 per cent
participated in SMS voting in Cairo, whereas in Jordan 1.9 per cent of mobile
users used SMS voting and in Saudi Arabia the highest rates were seen, where
some 11.4 per cent used SMS/IVR voting.
On the other hand, the usage of peer-to-peer SMS is very high in these three
countries. According to the Arab Advisers survey in 2004, 93.2 per cent use SMS
(51 per cent of those on a daily basis) in Jordan, 93 per cent use SMS (18 per
cent on a daily basis) in Cairo, and 91 per cent use SMS (40 per cent on a daily
basis) in Saudi Arabia.
Another survey by the Arab Advisers Group showed that the adoption of MMS is not
very high in these three countries. In Saudi Arabia, 32 per cent of handsets
support MMS and 24 per cent of users do not know if their phone supports MMS; in
Jordan 28 per cent of handsets support MMS and 2.3 per cent of users do not know
if their phone supports MMS, while in Cairo 23 per cent of handsets support MMS
and 5.3 per cent of users do not know if their phone supports MMS.
“There are an abundance of opportunities in the telecom and media sectors, and
the success of these joint sectors will depend on services that offer contextual
and compelling content. The media industry is well-positioned to offer such
content and the telecom industry (be it fixed or mobile or Internet and data
operators) can offer the cost effective and useful delivery channels in addition
to creating their own new non-voice services,” Abbasi added.
CEOs and representatives from over 80 regional and global companies have already
confirmed their attendance at the conference, to be held under the patronage of
Minister of Information and Communications Technology Nadia Saeed.