The theme of the gap between global telecommunications system and the Arab world's was taken up by Lebanon's Information Minister Bassem Al Sabeh, representing Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. 'Technology is developing faster than our capability to keep up. The next stage in telecommunications means we won't have a global village - it will be a room!' He welcomed the Arabcom Congress and Exhibition as a chance for Arab countries to take part in this communications revolution. Turning to Lebanon, he said the country was trying to remove the problems that have plague it for years, with Israel continuously attempting to stifle solutions. 'Lebanon is ready to breathe again. We have two options: wait and live in fear or take part in the fight to develop our communications,' said Al Sabeh.  
  

'Arab countries must close the telecommunications gap'  

Mr. Ahmad Laouyane, head of the ITU/BDT told Congress how far Arab countries have still to go to make up the communications deficit with the rest of the world. He said from a total population of 245 million, there were only 12 million active lines with more than six million applications still pending. Phone density was just 4.7%, compared to a world average of 12%, showing the gap than needed to be closed. But he pointed out that a number of Arab states were making a real effort, enabling them to develop networks with an 8% growth rate. 'Syria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia have made a great leap forward,' said Laouyane. But to increase phone density to 7.2% by 2000 - a realistic target, according to Laouyane, with $8-9bn coming from operators' own revenues and the rest from private investment - would need $15bn investment. And a 15% average phone density level would require between $30-$40bn investment. But some signs bode well for the future, said Laouyane: the number of cellular phones in use in the region had expanded from 100,000 at the start of the 1990s to more than 800,000 at the end of 1996. He called on Arab countries to expand services and improve the quality of service to help rehabilitate the region's communications sector.  
  

Governments 'can't control telecommunications technology'  

Speakers tackled the practical solutions for creating an agenda for telecommunications in the Arab world. Jamal al-Sarayrah, Jordan's former Minister of Post and Telecommunications and now an adviser at Flag Ltd, outlined the necessary measures for establishing a regulatory framework and gave a strong case for further liberalization measures. 'Governments must forego attempts to control telecoms technology, not only because it hampers the progress of their economies, but also because they can no longer control the technology of today,' he said. Losing control of technology will soon become the norm, he warned. 'No border can be sealed against a beam coming from the sky,' he said. Investment needs to be channeled into Arab telecoms industries, but without a clear and transparent regulatory framework capital would not be attracted. Haphazard licensing is worse than no licensing at all, said Sarayrah. A pan-Arab regulatory body is needed. But governments should also be wary of excessive involvement in the market as privatization will be the engine for creating jobs and lowering costs. 'Competition will speed up innovation and cost-effectiveness of new technologies. Demand should become the designer of the market,' Sarayrah told delegates.  

Dr Muhammad Mustafa, Senior Financial Analyst at the World Bank, identified a paradigm shift taking place in the telecommunications sector - the main challenge for the Arab world is how to adjust to that shift, he said. He outlined five main elements in a strategy for reform:  

• reform of the sector needs support from the top 
• governments need to sort out conflicting interest early in the game 
• governments must set clear policies and procedures 
• all markets must be opened to competition 
• involve all stakeholders - most workers will gain from higher salaries. 

Sam Pitroda, chairman and CEO of Worldtel, the private sector arm of the ITU set up two years ago, said political will was the most important element in revitalizing the region's telecommunications. But he warned against privatization as a panacea for Arab countries' problems, pointing out that a number processes needed to be in place for privatization to succeed, such as adequate labor laws. One of the major challenges set by Worldtel was the Islamic world, he said. Pitroda unveiled a $500 million fund for Islamic countries which, he said, would act as a catalyst to help the Arab countries' telecommunications infrastructure.   

Information is now the critical resource in the modern economy, International Finance Corporation's Chief Investment Officer Telecom Transport & Utilities Dr. Mohsen Khalil told Congress yesterday. 'State monopolies of telecommunications have failed on ever front - they have failed urban areas, the rates are too high and they don't provide the right security,' he said. Khalil identified Arab countries as a clear growth area. 'The Middle East and North Africa region has received a lesser share of investment than Latin America because of the reforms that have take place there, but the momentum is irreversible,' he said.  
  

Mobile Satellite Systems bring competitive advantage  

The second day of Arabcom 98 began with Craig Bond, Vice President Market Development of Iridium, outlining global challenges facing mobile satellite systems. He said Mobile Satellite Systems offered clear competitive advantages: 'With Mobile Satellites you can offer your customer base more services and you become more competitive. You can increase revenues without to the same degree increasing investment in your infrastructure, giving you a competitive advantage over others.' The number one consideration for end-users is coverage, said Bond. 'With Mobile Satellite Systems you will gain complete and unprecedented access to make and receive calls, with one phone and one phone number ' he said.  

But he offered wireless operators a few crumbs of comfort. 'Satellite services can't compete against wireless as the costs are higher. It is instead an augmentation of existing services,' he said. Bond also announced the launch of Iridium's Mobile Satellite System for 23 September this year, when 66 satellites hovering 700km above earth will deliver this ground-breaking system.   

Investment lagging, says Hobeika  

Delegates heard Sodetel PDG Dr Hobeika question why telecommunication investment in the Arab world was lagging behind demand when the rate of return in developing countries was so profitable - sometimes 20% to 30% more in developing countries. He pointed to six major factors: incomplete telecommunications infrastructure; inadequate human resources; information not available at zero cost; undeveloped capital markets; poor regulatory frameworks; and limited interest from foreign banks.  

Lebanon's 'great leap forwards'  

Prospects for the Lebanese telecommunications sector were looking up, according to Syrian Telecom Establishment General Director Mrs Makram Obeid, who chaired one of the morning sessions yesterday. 'We're seeing a renaissance in Lebanon at all levels but especially  

in telecommunications,' said Obeid. 'This country is at the forefront in terms of phone density, which will soon be on a par with the developed world.'   

But Lebanon's Minister of State of Administrative Reform, Bechara Merhej, said Lebanon still had to make a 'great leap forward' in telecommunications technology. Focusing on the way telecommunications can assist in the reform of administrative processes, Merhej said companies and organizations needed to absorb technology in a continuous manner. 'Telecommunications technologies are part and parcel of administrative development. They provide high quality services, savings in time and cost, bring more transparency to operations and ease financial burdens. And most important, citizens get good services,' he said.   

Merhej used Arabcom 98 Congress to issue a call to the Lebanese people. 'Where is the innovative mind that can take part in the development of humankind? We can't deny the influence of the decadent years, and the attraction of leaving the country to our brightest minds. But we have the skills and resources and we can still recover our role.'  

Clear strategy is the key to development  

The Arab world needs to adopt a clear strategy if it is not to fall further behind in the telecommunications race - and visionary leadership is the most important element in this. This was the message of Dr Paul Doany, London-based Telecommunications Director of Dar Al-Handasah Consultants. He illustrated that the communications gap could be closed, pointing out that living in the UK 20 years ago it was difficult to get a line and every handset was leased by the state operator. 'Now the range of communications services available to customers means I could walk out of a shop with a phone and a free connection in minutes.'  

Emerging trends and how to adapt to them  

'Business success is less dependent on what we know and more on what we don't know,' Bellcore executive director Craig Vielguth told Congress. Focusing on emerging technology trends, and how Arab countries should prepare for them, he said the telecommunications industry was dominated by deregulation and global competition, consumer sovereignty and rapid technological change and convergence. He outlined two distinct technology trends emerging: ATM networks - the 'network to end all networks'; and Wireless - able to deliver the 'anytime, anyplace' office. Alongside these technologies are interlinked trends such as the commodization of bandwidth - with 'free bandwidth' on the way- and the advance of the Internet.  

New wireless system needed  

A new wireless communication system needs to be developed if multimedia applications are to enter the world of cellular, said Ericsson representative Ms Najla Naim in an address on GSM 3rd Generation Systems. She outlined Ericsson's WCDMA system which is the first step towards the third generation of digital cellular systems. Until then, however, GSM will continue   

to evolve towards better capacity and coverage and will offer more services through employing features like CAMEL.  

Phone density lagging across region  

Even high income Arab countries suffer teledensities well below the world average for high income states, Dr Mohamed Ezzat Fakhr el Din, Senior Adviser for the Arab States at the ITU warned Congress yesterday. Looking at indicators of telecommunications density, he also showed that waiting lists for phone services were growing as fast as the number of lines added. But there was some good news for delegates: he pointed to evidence that once countries get 10 lines per 100 inhabitants, it is much easier to achieve the transition to 30 lines per 100, and could be done in less than 10 years.   

Electronic commerce Lebanese style  

Lebanese Websurfers can take advantage of genuine on-line banking, thanks to KLELine's on-line secure payment service. KLELine's CEO Abdallah Hitti showed how his company's value added service in Lebanon would enable customers to buy products on the Internet and have their bank accounts automatically debited. 'The customer downloads software first, they register their password and name at the bank. We give them an account number and the client visits a Website where he wants to buy a product. We upload to the merchant's Website information on the customer and the authorization is made,' he said.   

Transformation model needed  

Arab states need a model for transforming their telecommunication organizations into competitive companies, said Khalil Aburizik, Acting Head of the Regional Office for Arab States at the ITU. 'It is easy to change organizational structures and this will produce results. But it is the culture of an organization than needs to be changed and this takes time,' he told Congress. Management Information Systems need to be implemented, meaning staff must be retrained and redeployed, changing the staff culture. 'Getting ready for the transformation means allowing one to two years for re-engineering. But you must allow between five to seven years to integrate total quality management practices into the transformation process,' he said.  

Multimedia by satellite broadband  

Tens of billions of dollars will be invested in satellite broadband projects over the next few years, Herve Sorre of Alcatel told delegates on the third day of Arabcom 98. He showed how multimedia was a booming market with an estimated 400 million Internet users by 2005 and how data traffic is set to overcome voice traffic by 2000. 'Analysts predict over $75 billion investment in broadband satellite systems by 2010, so we face a race against competition and time,' he said. He outlined how Alcatel company SkyBridge will introduce in 2001 a global broadband communications system using a constellation of 64 low earth orbiting (LEO) satellites - this would allow high quality communications services on a global scale, quick and low cost deployment of telecommunication infrastructure and optimum usage of the frequency spectrum.  

Two-way paging is on the way  

Two-way paging is the coming thing: this was the message from Mike Dunne, of Glenayre. 'The benefits of two-way paging is that the user is in control of technology and not the other way round,' he told Congress. He said there were four C's in delivering an effective two-way network: Capacity, Coverage, Capital and Channels. He said 'With capacity it is important to define early on what the network capacity will be. You need to know your budget and put good a good business case. Looking at coverage, you must know how much area you wish to cover. And channels - how much spectrum do you have?'  

Telecommunications 'essential to the army'  

Communications excellence is core to the Lebanese Army's operations, said Colonel Nabil Mansour of the Lebanese Army. 'It is essential to develop our communications if we are to use our skills and resources effectively, so we can reach a situation where we are no longer dependent on any country or system,' said Colonel Mansour. Arab countries have a lot of money and much capacity, but he said the problem the region faces is that it doesn't have the concerted effort between large and small groups - in addition to the fierce wars that have been waged in the past. 'We are buying technology not producing it, so before buying we have to study it very carefully, so technology can be part of us and we part of it,' the Colonel said.  

New Public Network for data traffic  

Data traffic will soon overtake voice traffic and has already done so in the US and UK markets, Ascend's Mark Purdon said yesterday in an address on the opportunities in deploying Narrowband PCS Systems. As a result, a new public network infrastructure is needed to accommodate this growing reliance on an open, service-oriented WAN backbone. Ascend has termed it the New Public Network. 'In light of fact that bandwidth usage becomes less efficient if it is based on a system optimized for voice, it is more practical to offer services over data network including voice with is Frame Relay and ATM-based,' Purdon told Congress.  
  

Best provision of Rural telecoms services  

Wireless Local Loop is fast emerging as the new option for delivery of telecommunications services to the home, according to Jerry Wight, Manager of SR Telecom. To properly address the requirements of rural subscribers - particularly important in the Arab world - demanding voice services and fast connection to the Internet, Wireless Loop systems are the preferred solution, he told Congress. 'A key element of a Wireless Loop solution is the ability to transmit over an obstructed Non Line of Sight path. This in turn necessitates a low frequency of operation below 1 GHz,' he said.   

Keeping the customer satisfied with BACCS  

The last 15 years have seen a revolution in the way telecommunications organizations bill their customers, Michael Hughes, Project Manager at Dar Al Handasah consultants told Congress. Looking at the role of Advanced Billing and Customer Care Services (BACCS), he gave this piece of advice to delegates: 'You need to offer your customer something special, offering him better services so you will keep him. Because keeping customers is cheaper than getting new ones.' BACCS software tends to come in two varieties, he said: either as a package or bespoke. Some telcos are developing their own BACCS to support their business, like in the UAE. Some, like Deutsche Telekom, are buying packages from major consultants like Andersen Consulting. Most importantly, your BACCS system has to be flexible and fit the changing business rules to keep one step ahead of what the customer requires.   
  

Internet growth is 'phenomenal'  

Focusing on the way Internet solutions are impacting on today's Public Telephony Networks, Ericsson Product Marketing Manager Hani Madani gave a stark example of this phenomenal growth sector. He pointed to the 5 million new Internet users subscribing each month and a projected 500 million worldwide subscribers by the year 2000. 'Internet users are now more in   

demand than GSM users in Europe today,' Madani told Congress. He also demonstrated a new Ericsson product, Phone Doubler, that enables Internet surfers to make and receive calls while still connected to the Internet. Calls are forwarded to an Internet Voice Gateway which produces a signal on the user's PC - who can then decide whether to accept the call. If he does, then 13Kb is allocated for the voice, with the rest of the 64Kb used for the continued Internet usage.   

Wrapping up the proceedings for the third and final day of the Arabcom 98 Congress, Walid Dweik, Chairman of Jordan's Telecommunications regulatory commission , thanked the organizers for the conference. 'It has been a great source of information and we've all learnt a great deal over the last three days,' he said. Thanking Arabcom Organizer Katia Tayar, he said her efforts over the preceding months and during the event would be felt for 'days, months and years'. He then thanked Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafic Hariri under whose auspices the event was held, and promised to send a telegram expressing the thanks of Arabcom 98.  

It was agreed to send a Letter to the General Secretary of the ITU, explaining the wish of all the participants to nominate " ARABCOM " as The Arab states Telecommunication event, and it was approved to Organize each year an ARABCOM gathering all Ministers, General Directors, Executives, Developers, Operators, Manufacturers, Decision makers under one roof to continue the discussions started, and to enhance the role of international Organizations regarding Telecom development in the Arab world.   

Arabcom organizers welcomed any invitation regarding Organizing the show in different Arab states.   

Katia Tayar finished the session by announcing her new position as given from all participants 'Telecommunications Ambassador for the Arab world ' and thanked all who had contributed to the event's success. 'I hope you will all get positive results from Arabcom 98 as we enter the 21^st century,'   

Be there at ARABCOM 99, she said.