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a result, there are excellent opportunities for the cutting edge

technology solution providers to develop and sell their products

in the region. However, many potential providers have failed to

maximize the opportunity through a lack of understanding of the

cultural and market conditions that exist in some countries. For

example, one supplier was keen to sell online gambling solutions

to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The local partner was

able to advise that this product would be culturally unsuitable,

but the supplier was able to explore opportunities for the rest of

its portfolio.

Buyer behaviour is a key element when looking at regional

markets. In Europe and the USA, credit cards are a way of life,

whereas cash is king in the Middle East. The operating models

that are developed for domestic markets will not necessarily fly

elsewhere, and this should be considered when selecting poten-

tial countries in which to operate.

National security is often an issue. Location-based services

(LBS) are a way of life in Europe, albeit with potential concerns

of human rights and ‘Big Brother’ being able to watch the indi-

vidual. But in some potential markets, LBS is strictly forbidden

on national security reasons. The daily culture has to be consid-

ered when seeking new markets. For example, many of the

wealthy individuals who can afford value-added services would

not need some that are very popular in Europe. A direction-

finding application would be of little interest to the high net worth

individual who has a driver, and the driver does not need it as he

knows the streets like the back of his hand.

Perhaps the best example of the clash of culture in the univer-

sal mobile telephony field is the ban on camera phones that has

recently been lifted in Saudi Arabia. Almost 100 per cent of

mobile phones today are fitted, as standard, with a camera. These

were strictly forbidden in Saudi Arabia, although widely available

through the neighbouring United Arab Emirates. Many a content

developer and handset provider would learn that the market for

photos was nil, until late 2004.

One market that is burgeoning is the entrepreneurial sector,

where individuals are seeking to make their fortunes with the

opening of developing regions. The state-control has started to

diminish, and the entrepreneur can potentially flourish.

However, these customers have a universal requirement wher-

ever they are operating. Cash is king, and wherever they can

reduce their overhead and their OPEX, they will try to do so.

Mobile telephony has allowed entrepreneurs to work on the

move, with limited office overheads, and to plan their working

lives better.

It is interesting to note that the maturity of the mobile market

positively affects the efficiency of business in all countries, but

in the wealthier countries, where individuals are cash-rich but

time-poor, individuals have become less disciplined in the

management of their diaries. Only fifteen years ago, when pocket

organizers and diaries were carried by most Europeans, and

fixed line phone boxes were accessible to all, a group of friends

would meet for a drink and arrange the location, day and time

for the next convivial gathering. Everyone would arrive at the

right place on the right day at about the right time. Today, there

are endless calls, asking “where, what day, when, with whom?”

and at least 20 per cent of the potential attendees will be notice-

ably late. More advanced societies have become personally more

inefficient, as their inefficiency is compensated by the flexibil-

ity offered by mobile telephony. In developing countries, the

mobile phone is still the tool of efficiency, whereby meetings

and business can be arranged through the new-found flexibil-

ity of the mobile phone.

Applications that are increasingly popular for those with invest-

ments in the burgeoning markets are business information

applications, whereby the subscriber can browse breaking market

news and business information on their mobile. Such applica-

tions enable the investor and entrepreneur to stay close to the

dynamic Middle East financial markets.

Other potentially useful products include: a push e-mail

product, that pushes office and calendar items to the user’s

mobile and synchronizes the contact lists and task lists with the

head office; and instant messaging services that enable teams to

stay in contact with each other and pass information wherever

and whenever it is required.

As the economic boom of the Middle Eastern region contin-

ues, there will always be a need to have a field force that will carry

out maintenance and repair tasks. Field services applications

enable a field service company to manage its workforce remotely,

allocating jobs and resources, managing active tasks, controlling

parts allocation, reviewing service status and generating reports

and invoices. This will bring a whole new working ethos to many

service companies and ensure that efficiencies can be driven

through the implementation of such a service.

So, how will the market look in five years’ time? Notwithstanding

a macroeconomic slump, the pace of change and liberalization in

the Middle East is set to continue, driven by the global demand

for oil. The large industrial conglomerates have helped build the

region, and continue to help the development, but the markets are

becoming more service orientated and the consumer is beginning

to have a choice. The natural development from the current posi-

tion is that niche markets will start to develop, with consumers

and commercial organizations seeking services that exactly match

what they are looking for. Before, a square peg would be fashioned

and forced into a round hole, but now there are many shapes and

sizes of holes, and the smaller, more agile suppliers can bring their

products and services to exactly fit those holes.

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Cellucom is one of the strategic partners with Sara Telecom