Welcome to the best thing to happen to business journalism in the telecoms sector for a while

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the inaugural issue of Comm., the publication that is on course to position itself as the mouthpiece of the telecoms sector across emerging markets.

As always, the launch of something new is a balance between the expectations of success with the fear of the unknown. At Comm. we believe there is a real opportunity in this regional market, and emerging markets across the globe, to report, comment and analyse the main strategic dynamics driving companies within the telecoms space.

Globalisation is a reality and there is no better example of this than in the communications sector, where people are being brought together irrespective of their geographies. Deals are being concluded everywhere, the impact of which reverberates across time zones.

Take the speculation gathering around the acquisition of a controlling stake in South African juggernaut MTN Group by either Bharti Airtel or Vodafone. It is clear the industry is fast-approaching the era of the creation of the super-operator, a period in which mergers of operators valued at tens of billions of dollars will be concluded and networks spanning dozens of countries will be created.

Alan Horne, the outspoken director general of Bahrain’s telecoms regulator, continues to push ahead with the licensing of a third mobile operator despite domestic mobile penetration estimated at over 120 per cent. Early reports suggest at least six takers for the concession, with the expectation of licensing the new player before the end of the year.

So while we’re not attempting to re-invent the wheel at Comm., we are looking to raise the level of business journalism in the telecoms space. We have access to many of the key strategic thinkers in the sector in the Middle East and Africa, and are looking to grow this base further all the time.

We also look to go behind the breaking news, placing developments into context and asking questions other commentators have not. For instance, in this issue we exclusively talk with Jerry Jacobs, the chief marketing officer of CDMA pioneer Qualcomm, about the company’s recent establishment of an office in Dubai Internet City. We also speak to leading telecoms analysts in order to better understand the background behind the move, and whether it emphasises Qualcomm’s focus on WCDMA ahead of cdma2000 technology.

The recent award of the title of ‘superbrand’ to Etisalat made us look a little closer at branding in general, and its specific application in the telecoms space. It made for interesting research, given that it is clear some organisations that believe they are making progress in this respect, are in fact alienating themselves from their target market.

So in a nutshell, the intention is for the readers of Comm. to come away with a perspective of developments in the telecoms sector in this region and the wider emerging market landscape. This printed publication is just the beginning of our information dissemination aspirations. Please expect a strong online presence, e-newsletter deliveries and thought-leadership insights in the not-too-distant future.

As we move ahead we look forward to your support in the establishment of a high value information resource under the Comm. stable.

Tawanda Chihota, Group Editor