Group effort

Mohammed Al Ageel, the incoming CEO of Saudi Arabia’s iDEN operator Bravo, has his work cut out in terms of bolstering the company’s digital push-to-talk (PTT) services. The niche technology developed by Motorola has 24 million users globally and despite falling subscriber numbers in some markets around the globe, Al Ageel sees opportunities for iDEN technology to expand beyond its current narrow appeal in the kingdom. Michelle Mills reports

Bravo’s CEO Mohammed Al Ageel says the time is right for marketing Bravo’s services to Saudi Arabia’s large enterprise and government sectors

The prognosis for integrated digital enhanced network (iDEN) technology, at least in its home market of North America, is not good. Nextel, the world’s largest iDEN operator, and the poster-child of the Motorola-developed technology, has witnessed subscriber numbers waning since the operator’s acquisition by CDMA operator Sprint in 2004.

At the end of Q307 the merged Sprint Nextel counted 18.7 million iDEN subscribers and 1.2 million Power Source customers (subscriber who use both iDEN and CDMA technology). A year later the number of iDEN subscribers had plummeted to 13.5 million, while the number of Power Source users had risen to 1.6 million.

While part of Sprint Nextel’s decline is undoubtedly related to the cocktail of access technologies the merged entity is looking at mastering – iDEN, CDMA and WiMAX – part of the issue must also relate to the encroachment on traditional PTT territory by cellular providers.

While the matter surrounding Sprint Nextel’s technology choice conundrum remains a very specific one, the case of a shrinking iDEN subscriber base has economies of scale implications that affect the continued existence of the technology on a global basis.

In the Middle East at least, the niche technology has received a muted reaction in both the markets in which it is present – Saudi Arabia and Jordan – though the incoming CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Bravo is shaping up to widen the technology’s appeal, not just in the kingdom, but across the Middle East if possible.

Mohammed Al Ageel is keen to see iDEN tap into new market segments, and having only assumed the top job in September 2008, is in a position to ensure things are done in a new and fresh manner, stimulating deeper and broader uptake.

Prior to joining Bravo, Al Ageel worked for incumbent telco STC for seven years, where he held a number of positions including that of general manager of marketing and business development in the wholesale business, and general manager of IT for Al Jawal.

Bravo was established through the incorporation of an organisation called the Public Telecommunications Company (PTC), which was founded in 2001. The launch of iDEN services across Saudi Arabia occurred in mid-2005, under the brand name of Bravo, and the operator has gone on to add approximately 150,000 subscribers since launch.

“I believe that Bravo is now in a launching stage. It is true that the company started in 2005, but the strategy that was set for the company was that of a mass-market GSM operator. Of course iDEN cannot compete with GSM services or technology because it is a niche service, so it did not kick off very well,” states Al Ageel.

“On the other hand there is a lot of potential in the Saudi market as the country has a very large enterprise sector, and we have many specialised services such as fleet management, employee management, and inventory management that serve these sectors,” he adds.

iDEN technology, which is used in 26 countries worldwide, is well-suited for companies and government agencies in the logistics, construction, transport, and oil and gas sectors – which abound in Saudi Arabia’s buoyant economy. It also suits companies in which the majority of communication is between employees or where groups of workers need to be communicated with instantly.

While push-to-talk-overcellular (PoC) technology rose to prominence at the beginning of the last decade with some suggestion it would supersede iDEN, the latter technology continues to appeal to a certain niche clientele for whom immediate, high quality voice and data communications on a one-to-one or one-to-many basis, is of paramount importance. Billing of PTT calls is also much more transparent with Bravo customers permitted to make unlimited PTT calls for a flat fee per month, resulting in the operator’s subscribers generating relatively high ARPUs of between US$30-35 per month. Corporate customers including oil giant Aramco, Saudi Airlines, Aramex and the Bin Laden group utilise Bravo’s network.

Looking to the year ahead, Al Ageel’s priorities include growing Bravo’s customer base through differentiation and positioning the technology in the right segments, and leveraging the company’s relationship with STC more through bundled services. He also considers the economic slowdown as an opportunity to market Bravo’s services as enterprises look to dramatically reduce costs, while not compromising on the frequency or immediacy of communications.

“The PTT service is very attractive to those in the enterprise and government sectors because it is more efficient in managing fieldwork, and at the same time less costly,” Al Ageel comments. “During this international financial crisis everyone is revising their cost structures, and with unlimited communications for a six-monthly subscription, PTT makes it much easier for organisations to control their budget,” he adds.

The CEO acknowledges that the current generation of PTT handsets is not as appealing to corporate managers as it is to fieldworkers. Thus as part of Bravo’s strategy to increase use among senior decision makers in organisations, it plans to introduce more sophisticated devices later this year, including an iDEN-based BlackBerry. Bravo’s current device portfolio includes “military standard” units with large speakers and inbuilt GPS that are heavy duty, waterproof and heat resistant.

Another opportunity that Bravo is looking to exploit during the leaner economic times is the area of private networks operated by individual organisations.

“There are a lot of private telecommunications systems that are being built for the government and for the private sector, like Aramco and others. However, those enterprises are not specialised in telecommunications, Al Ageel asserts. “The beauty of Bravo is that it provides this service to these companies as a private system, plus the companies acquire connectivity to other networks, which is something that is not available with other systems.”

Al Ageel believes a further strategic strength for his company is its strong backing by majority shareholder Wataniya, which holds a 55.61 per cent share, and which is in turn owned by Qtel International. Saudi technical communications solutions provider National Advanced Systems Holding Co. (NASCO) holds the remaining 44.39 per cent in Bravo.

A strategic relationship also exists between Bravo and STC in which the iDEN operator has a 15-year build-operateand-transfer (BOT) agreement with the incumbent integrated telecoms provider. Bravo utilises STC infrastructure where required, and bundles services so subscribers can access both the iDEN network as well as STC’s GSM service from the same specialised handset. A current promotion called the ‘155 package’ offers 100 minutes of free calls to the GSM network each month, in addition to the unlimited communication on the iDEN network for a flat rate.

Building on Al Ageel’s background with STC, he believes he has identified a potential opportunity by positioning Bravo and Saudi Arabia as a hub for international iDEN traffic if, and when, a roaming alliance within the international iDEN community eventuates.

“We are in talks with iDEN operators around the world and  are working towards putting standards in place. The forum has not yet decided on a date for this, but it is looking for an international hub where it could carry all of this traffic. Considering my experience on the international wholesale side, I believe Saudi Arabia could be a very good target for this,” Al Ageel contends.

“Saudi Arabia is already a hub between the east and the west as international submarine cables drop into Jeddah, and from Jeddah they go into the Far East. So it’s a business opportunity that I am trying to approach with operators.”

Thus while widespread international iDEN roaming still does not exist, the capability does to interconnect with other iDEN networks operating in the same frequency bands for example, Bravo offers a package with unlimited international PTT communication with Jordan’s Xpress network, which targets companies with fleets of vehicles travelling back and forth between Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Al Ageel would also like
to see this service used further afield, where American or Asian multinational companies that already use an iDEN network could communicate cost-effectively between their home office and regional operations in Saudi Arabia using international PTT services.

With regards to expanding the service to other countries in the GCC, the CEO imagines this could be a possibility in the distant future, with Qtel’s presence in Qatar and Oman, and STC’s presence in Kuwait and Bahrain.

“My vision is that with Qtel’s and STC’s presence across the GCC, when we have a solid presence in Saudi Arabia, there exists real potential that iDEN could expand to other GCC states. I think it is an opportunity that is not yet decided on, but is one of the things that I have in my vision. If we make it a success story in Saudi Arabia then it would be appealing for other operators to support it,” Al Ageel forecasts.

Prospects for the further expansion of iDEN to new markets would no doubt aid Motorola’s commitment to the technology given that equipment manufacturers are having to make smarter decisions on which technologies to invest in given the global economic downturn.

Mark Poulin, senior director of Motorola’s iDEN and push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) product management does acknowledge that in 2004 Sprint Nextel instituted a plan to ramp down the number of users on the iDEN network in the 2008 timeframe and migrate them to CDMA. Despite the largest iDEN operator in the world having made a conscience decision to reduce investment in the technology, Poulin suggests iDEN, and Motorola’s support of it, remains unwavering.

“Late last year Sprint Nextel announced its commitment to keep on funding its iDEN network and to continue in its support agreement with us,” Poulin stated. “The operator is taking steps to actively promote iDEN beyond just committing to support it,” he added.

“Motorola sees very strong current business and ongoing business in iDEN technology and has made a strong commitment to continue developing the technology into the future. The device portfolio is strong, the infrastructure investment is strong, and outside of Sprint Nextel, iDEN users are growing at 20 per cent annually,” he added.

Sprint Nextel introduces iDEN BlackBerry

Last December Sprint Nextel announced the launch of the BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone aimed at its push-to-talk subscriber base. The BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone utilises iDEN technology on the Nextel national network and offers Nextel Direct Connect, the only national push-to-talk service in the industry to offer subsecond call set. The device is the first push-to-talk BlackBerry smart phone to offer:

– Built-in Wi-Fi support, allowing customers to browse the Internet and download email attachments. Subscribers can also send and receive emails or browse the Internet while talking on the phone

– Group Connect, enabling customers to instantly set up group conversations with up to 20 participants Additionally, the BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone also supports:

– Integrated business solutions, including a large selection of GPS-enabled solutions and access to thousands of other thirdparty mobile applications for jobs such as dispatch operations and fleet and workforce management

– International Direct Connect, which enables instant connections between the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru

– Talkgroup, which connects groups of up to 200 people at once within the same local market, Users must be in the same fleet retailer, and using only indirect distribution