Blackberry CEO to speak at GITEX 2010

49 years old Jim Balsillie, CEO of Canadian company Research In Motion(RIM), maker of the world renowned Blackberry wireless solution will be speaking at the 30th anniversary of GITEX Technology Week on October 18th. UAE is having about 500,000 Blackberry subscribers and as TRA [Telecommunications Regulatory Authority] in the UAE has mysteriously withheld the expected ban on blackberry services in the region, his presentation will be of great importance. The deal among UAE and Blackberry is still a secret as no one knows if Blackberry agreed to install a server in UAE and to give access to the personal data for national security concerns showed by the local governing bodies.

He may be unleashing the new Blackpad to the region in competition with new Tablet PCs like iPad by Apple as samsung is also looking forward to launch its Galaxy Tab.

GITEX 2010

Gitex 2010 – One of the world’s biggest IT event is about to start from 17th October 2010 at World Trade Center, Dubai . Everyone is counting days to experience the gathering of IT and Telecom titans to show the world what their fresh releases and future strategy. Like every year, many companies are waiting for this event to unveil their latest models and research projects.

Cloud computing, Voip, Gitex shopper, elite speakers and a lot more is expected to be offered on 30th anniversary of Gitex Technology Week.

Etisalat will use Alcatel-Lucent’s GPON platform to provide residential and business customers with simultaneous access to several high-definition (HD) TV channels and a Video on Demand (VOD) library – all while enabling them to surf the Internet up to 16 times faster.

“Etisalat is always keen to stay at the forefront of innovation in order to constantly provide our customers with the most attractive and advanced telecoms services. Etisalat’s FTTH roll-out in the UAE – branded eLife – positions Abu Dhabi to become the first capital city in the world with 100% fiber deployment by the end of this year. UAE will be one of the first countries in the world to have a nationwide fiber optics coverage by 2011,” said Essa Al Haddad, Chief Marketing Officer for Etisalat UAE.

“Through this partnership with Alcatel?Lucent, we will be able to accelerate the deployment of new and advanced service offerings that will revolutionize our customers’ triple play and home entertainment experience. Concretely, Alcatel?Lucent’s GPON platform will support the delivery of high-definition television (HDTV), video on demand, and the fastest Internet download and upload speeds,” he added.

“This contract is a key milestone for Alcatel-Lucent as it further strengthens our prominent position in the global – and UAE – FTTH market,” said Amr El Leithy, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s business in the Middle East and Africa. “We are fully committed to continue leveraging this leadership to help our customers transform their networks cost-effectively – catering to the surge of end-users’ bandwidth requirements, closely linked to today’s converged multimedia trend,” he added.

Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its 7342 Intelligent Services Access Manager Fiber-to-the-User (ISAM FTTU) GPON-based platform, and the related Alcatel-Lucent 5520 Access Management System. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent is supplying a range of optical network terminals (ONTs) to install at the end-users’ premises, and will provide Etisalat with its professional services expertise – including project management, installation, commissioning and training.

Alcatel-Lucent is the worldwide leader in the fixed broadband access market, supporting the largest mass deployments of video, voice and data services. Today, one out of three fixed broadband subscribers around the world is served through an access network provided by Alcatel-Lucent. Alcatel-Lucent is currently involved in over 95 FTTH projects worldwide, over 80 of which are with GPON.

Under this Financing MoU, as the strategic partner, Huawei will provide the optimal financing solution to Etisalat. The GFA will help Etisalat and Huawei improve their business efficiency. Both the Financing MoU and GFA will further support Etisalat’s expansion in the future.Furthermore, Etisalat and Huawei will jointly establish an Application Innovation Center (AIC), aims to increase the operator’s competitiveness and sustain its business growth by introducing more customized solutions and applications.
“The agreement will further strengthen our valued relationship with Huawei,” said Mr. Omran, Chairman of Etisalat. “With the on-going strategic partnership, we will be able to provide more differentiated service offerings to the subscribers across our geographical reach.” 

“As the global economic downturn intensifies, both Etisalat and Huawei will jointly overcome these challenges through our partnership that has been established based on mutual trust and a win-win strategy. We are dedicated to addressing market needs in the most beneficial way to both parties and the whole society,” said Madam Sun Yafang, Chairperson of Huawei.

Following the strategic partnership agreement signed in May, 2008, Etisalat and Huawei held the first Etisalat-Huawei Summit this year to review the partnership and explore more areas for co-operation.

MBC Group and Etisalat today announced that over 8mn videos have been viewed through “internet TV” platform on MBC’s Shahed Online offering since its launch in Ramadan 2008.

According to Etisalat’s analysis, over 3 million visitors, of whom 65% are from the Middle East, have viewed 8 million videos on the Etisalat powered Web site www.mbc.net/shahid. This has created a valuable new proposition for MBC’s advertising partners who have enjoyed over 5mn, 5-second pre-roll ads and hundreds of thousands of post-roll ads. 

Dr. Ammar Bakkar, Group Director of New Media at mbc group said: “Internet TV is a next-generation distribution channel which has the capability to deliver both a verifiable and global reach. Our ‘Shahed Online’ service is a success story which we can share with our advertising partners and provide a new and efficient way of implementing their media strategy. These results clearly show that Internet TV is a channel that has the power and ability to attract customers and build brand value.” 

Etisalat and MBC launched “Internet TV” on September 10, 2008 with MBC’s top 9 programmes available for free, on demand. Today there are over 34 shows available online, including entertainment, religious and drama series. 

“Internet TV will change the way broadcasters showcase content and customers access television entertainment. This initiative has shown the potential for Internet TV and provided verifiable and immediate results to MBC’s advertising partners,” Essa Al Haddad, Chief Marketing Officer at Etisalat said.  

“Over the last 30 years Etisalat has invested widely in intercontinental submarine cables and has developed into the regional hub for content and connectivity. This makes Etisalat the premier choice for TV companies and other content providers to develop Internet delivery channels,” Etisalat’s Chief Marketing Officer added.