World Telecommunication Day 1999 |
Mobile phone providers in the Middle East are reaching out to a customer base that needs both to travel internationally and access multimedia communications from remote areas often lacking even the most basic fixed lines.
Achieving this at competitive prices is becoming increasingly possible thanks to linkups with international operators and network providers. The end-user benefits from lower costs and faster speeds.
The international mobile communications provider Inmarsat has launched a 64 kilobits-per-second mobile ISDN service that can be accessed via portable units the size of a notebook computer, weighing around nine pounds (four kilograms). They are expected to appeal especially to professional and business customers, says Mohammed el-Amin, Inmarsat's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa in Dubai, such as those working for oil, petrochemical, mining and construction companies, as well as financial and insurance staff and government officials who travel to remote areas.
Manufactured by Nera of Norway, Thrane and Thrane of Denmark and STN Atlas Electronik of Germany, the units will provide access to a range of desktop software via Inmarsat's satellite network and are expected to become available in most regions in the fourth quarter of this year. Future enhancements now in the development stage include the introduction of mobile packet data capabilities, with an Internet Protocol (IP). As an Inmarsat spokesperson notes, this will provide ''a highly cost-effective way of sending and receiving data.'' She adds: ''Instead of being charged for time spent on-line, users are charged only for packets of compressed files that are downloaded.'' Prices for the portable unit and for the services have not yet been announced, but industry analysts in the Middle East say they are expected to be well above $2 a minute
''Over here, the concept of GSM is mainly in cities,'' says Mr. El-Amin. ''Huge areas of Saudi Arabia, Sudan or the Yemen are not covered'' by such services, he adds. With the Inmarsat unit, ''an oil company can send a large amount of data, and this is cheaper than sending a tape or a diskette by road or by courier. It's also much more immediate.''
Globalstar earlier this week introduced its $3 billion satellite-based service, which the consortium's chairman, Bernard Schwartz, said will provide handheld, high-speed phone access virtually around the globe. The Globalstar system has 36 satellites currently in orbit, and plans to add another 16 this year, eventually delivering a capacity of 7.5 million users. The system's phones will be connected to ground-based cellular systems when not in contact with the low-orbit satellites. Mr. Schwartz said that Globalstar would price its service both for the 3.5 billion people currently without phone access and the business roamer.
Globalstar's wireless networks operate via a small handset that can select the mode, whether it be GSM, CDMA, satellite or analog, to provide communications wherever a customer is. Fixed-unit and maritime kits are also available, as are pay-phone versions. Alternatively, the customer can manually choose fixed-line and terrestrial mobile networks as well as satellite transmissions to suit a particular location.
Countries such as Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, which have some of the highest ratios of mobile telephone users in the world, are expected to be users of these new dual- and triple-mode services, not least because business and professional people in both countries tend also to be frequent international travelers. Elsewhere, governments in the region are reportedly considering installing Globalstar's pay phones in rural areas, thereby eliminating the need to install expensive fixed-line infrastructure.
As mobile-phone use expands in countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Iran, network operators and state telecommunications companies are also facing increasing demand from customers for multimedia services, particularly e-mail and Internet access. The Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) plans to introduce electronic commerce and on-line banking services this month through a new business unit, Comtrust. Users will be able to access these services through their GSM phones, as well as through computers.
''Comtrust solutions will offer businesses, governments and consumers a cost-effective and convenient method of conducting transactions,'' says Marwan Zawadeh, engineering corporate manager at Etisalat. ''It will help the UAE business community to go global, thus increasing revenues and market reach.''
Pamela Ann Smith