Middle East’s telecom companies were urged to monitor and support start up technology companies by a top official of Dubai Internet City (DIC), a free zone base for companies targeting regional emerging markets.

Start-up technology companies could be a vital source of innovative products and services, said Malek Al Malek, executive director of DIC, speaking at the third annual TelecomFinance Middle East and Africa (TMEA) 2009 conference which ends today (April 29) at the Park Hyatt Hotel, Dubai.

“Start-up companies can greatly reduce time to market and the cost to develop new technologies for telecom companies,” said Al Malek.

“While some telecom operators around the world have already started dedicating resources to monitor the market for innovative technology companies, the Middle Eastern telecom industry would also benefit from a similar business model.”

In his address, Al Malek looked at the sweeping changes that the Middle East has been experiencing in the past decade that has created a trend where telecom companies have had to remain competitive by constantly offering new innovative products and services to support the infrastructure of telecom service providers.

“The new generation has become more educated and savvy, and they are demanding more choice,” Al Malek noted.

“This is why the telecom infrastructure has had to ensure it delivers superior and differentiated services and telecom networks that are also able to facilitate the availability of converged services – something that consumers have come to expect from their telecom service providers today.”

Al Malek went on to demonstrate the potential for growth in the region’s telecom industry by making reference to a number of key sources including the Global Information Technology, report recently released by the World Economic Forum and Insead business school.

The report shows that the Middle East has been the biggest beneficiary from ICT advances in the past eight years, with countries in the GCC key players in promoting and developing the structural transformation of the region’s physical infrastructure.

Al Malek emphasised the market opportunities available in the region as the amount spent on IT services, in the telecommunications sector for the UAE, is estimated to top $97 million by 2009 and $133 million by 2011, according to the recently published IT White Paper: ‘A Middle East Perspective’. – TradeArabia News Service