As the business of voice is commoditised, providing premium mobile content and value added services is one way operators can differentiate their services. Director of new media at pan-Arab broadcaster MBC, Ammar Bakkar shares with Michelle Mills how the company is partnering with regional operators in delivering 3G mobile content

Ammar Bakkar, director of new media at pan-Arab broadcaster MBC

“Despite all the speculation, in reality 3G platforms outside Saudi Arabia and the Emirates have very limited capabilities. Qatar has a similar platform to Saudi and the UAE, but is not yet focussed on 3G content,” states Ammar Bakkar, director of new media at MBC.

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The licensing of a third mobile operator and first to offer 3G services in Iran this year, presents both an enticing opportunity and challenging proposition for foreign investors eager to participate in the sizeable market. With a significant population Iran is a country that offers would-be investors exposure to risk and reward in almost equal measure

Delta Partners’ Franca believes there is scope in the Iranian mobile market for the licensing of another operator beyond the third one that is being licensed currently

When news broke in August that Iran would license a third mobile player, regional operators Qatar Telecom and Zain were quick off the mark to signal their interest in the tender, alongside Russian operators VimpelCom and MegaFon. MegaFon is reportedly prepared to invest more than US$4.5 billion in the construction of a GSM network in the Persian country of approximately 70 million inhabitants.

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Sources in Oman suggest that one of the incumbent mobile operators, Oman Mobile, has selected two out of the country’s five resellers to partner with. It is understood to be just a matter of time before the service provider confirms the names of the two licensees, and the expected time-line for their entry into the Omani mobile market.

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On November 16, the deadline for the submission of proposals to acquire a mobile TV licence to operate in the UAE expires. The country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has consulted widely about the best way in which to usher in the service, and the terms of the tender document offer an insight into the type of business model the licensee can be expected to develop

The mobile TV licence on offer in the UAE permits the successful bidder to roll out a mobile TV network and to begin offering transmission services. It will be allowed to sell the mobile TV transmissions to retailers in a non-discriminatory manner, acting as a provider of mobile TV service on a wholesale basis to retailers. The cost of the 10-year licence amounts to AED17 million (US$4.7 million), together with an ongoing annual licence fee amounting to the higher of: one per cent of the revenues earned in a year; or AED100,000.

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Emerging markets have always been fertile ground for the provision of mobile satellite services (MSS), but in recent years the Middle East and Africa has proven to be a particularly robust backdrop for an industry, which 10 years ago was forecast to have little commercial future. Comm. reviews the path being carved by a number of the leading MSS players, and highlights to what level the MEA region is assisting in helping raise the industry to greater heights

At the beginning of August, Inmarsat reported total revenues for the six months to end-June amounted to US$485.5 million, up 70.8 per cent year-on-year. EBITDA was up 31.5 per cent to US$264.1 million, and the mobile satellite services provider announced the highest quarterly growth in Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) subscribers in Q208 of 3,400.

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