By Christophe Firth, Media & Telecoms Consultant at A.T. Kearney Middle East

Globally, over-the-top video (OTTv) is becoming mainstream[1]. In the Middle East, however, OTTv is still nascent by global standards. Fewer than 100,000 homes subscribe to dedicated commercial OTTv services—less than one per cent of television-viewing households[2]. Yet interest is strong and the market is evolving. Istikana and icflix launched the region’s first major standalone OTTv services in 2011 and 2013 respectively. OSN recently followed by announcing the launch of Go by OSN for non-pay TV subscribers. In 2014, beIN SPORTS relaunched its OTT service and began selling multiscreen subscriptions, and MBC partnered with Samsung to launch Shahid on smart TVs.

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Dandemutande, a licensed Internet Access Provider in Zimbabwe, recently held a customer seminar entitled “Demystifying the Cloud” in Harare, in recognition of its partnership with Pamoja, the wholly-owned SEACOM cloud services distributor focusing on cloud services in Eastern and Southern Africa. Pamoja has deployed two data centres directly linked to the SEACOM network (Mtuzini in South Africa and Nairobi, Kenya). Dandemutande is positioning Pamoja’s cloud services to its corporate customer base under its Utande brand alongside its existing suite of cloud services

Michèle Scanlon, Dandemutande CEO

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There is no doubt that the telecom industry is one of the few that has revolutionised the way people live. Maybe the airline or automotive industries have had a similarly profound impact, and it would be very hard to imagine life without Internet, business without emails, and such. In today’s connected world, telecommunications has become a lifeline that we simply cannot do without.

Mohamed Jamoussi, Senior Advisor, Saudi Telecom Group

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The last year has seen the very definition of connectivity evolve as the technologies, services, and the companies behind them underwent widespread transformation. Reflecting on the many revolutionary changes taking place within the Middle East’s flourishing telecommunications sector, Mr. Shi Yaohong, President of Huawei Middle East, sheds light on how the global solutions provider has sustained business growth in an increasingly competitive market, and outlines plans for supporting partners and customers in the region during the year ahead

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Apple recently announced that it has already sold nine million 5s and 5c iPhones. Reports revealed that some 200 million existing iOS devices have already been updated to its new iOS 7

Nader Baghdadi, Regional Director MENA

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