I want my M(obile)-TV

To date, Qatar, Iraq, Iran and the UAE have all confirmed plans to launch services this year, while others including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Lebanon are reportedly assessing their options.

 

The fact that telcos in each market are carrying forward these plans during an economic downturn says a great deal about their faith in the commercial potential of a technology which is viewed as an extravagance by many consumers and service providers in Western markets.

 

It also says a lot for consumer demographics in this region and the dominance of state-owned telecommunications service providers.

 

 

The trend is also testament to the way mobile communications and related services have become intrinsically entwined not just within Arab culture, but also among the vast number of expat communities which populate the region.

 

The latest report published by Arab Advisors Group detailing regional cellular service penetration rates makes for astonishing reading. The AAG report ranked the UAE number one in the region with a penetration rate of 198%, followed by Saudi Arabia with 123%.

 

Perhaps even more astounding – particularly given the inclusion of poorer countries such as Egypt and Jordan in the broader Middle East and North Africa survey – total cellular service subscriptions nudged 200 million in December 2008, or two-thirds of the region’s entire population of 300 million.

 

Given this level of saturation and consumer hunger for new services, it is little wonder Middle East telcos are aggressively pursuing new content delivery technologies to supplement increasingly diminishing returns from voice service subscriptions alone.

 

There is a massive opportunity here for content developers including production houses and broadcasters. Many are already waking to this potential. Dubai Media Incorporated, which operates Dubai TV and Samaa TV among other channels, supplied various content to Etisalat in the telco’s 2007 mobile TV trial, while Qatar’s Qtel – albeit via existing 3G technology – showcased the best of the 15th Asian Games to its mobile TV subscribers in 2006.

 

Next year’s FIFA World Cup is also likely to progress the cause of these and other services further, as the region’s football mad population tunes in to mobile TV coverage provided by African telco giant MTN Group and its Middle East subsidiaries, as well as via third-party deals with GCC telcos.