The next generation of advanced mobile telecom services, commonly known as 4G, is expected to continue spreading rapidly throughout GCC, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia leading the way, said industry experts.

Ushered in with the advent of long term evolution (LTE) technology, 4G allows smartphone users to migrate from 3G’s largely voice-based offering to enjoy the super-high Internet speeds – 150 Mbps downlink, 50 Mbps uplink – required to access massive volumes of video and data.

The 4G revolution and LTE technology will be among the key discussions at this year’s Gulfcomms, held at Gitex Technology Week 2012, running from October 14 to 18, 2012 at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Gulfcomms is the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region’s largest and most important platform that focuses exclusively on the enterprise level telecoms sector.

The headline sponsor of this year’s Gulfcomms is Vocalcom, a provider of social contact centre solutions, mobile and Web live customer service software, among others.

With a recent International Telecommunication Union (ITU) report noting that youth account for 60 per cent of the population in the Arab world, it comes as no surprise that platforms such as video sharing and social media and smartphone applications are fast being adopted as a key part of a digital lifestyle.

According to research powerhouse Gartner, the sale of smartphones grew 58 per cent in 2011, with units sold worldwide in 2011 reaching 272 million – this accounts for 31 per cent of all mobile device sales.

LTE is enjoying dynamic growth and uptake among global operators, including the UAE’s Etisalat and du, as its technology is easily merged with legacy mobile technologies, making the upgrade from 3G quick and cost-effective.

“Our participation at Gitex reaffirms our position as a leading telecommunications provider. It gives us the opportunity to speak directly to even more of our customers than ever, to understand what they need so that we can continue to innovate to better meet their requirements,” said Hala Badri, executive vice president Brand and Communication, du.

“A special attraction for us this year is the prestigious ITU telecom World 2012 we are supporting and participating in, apart from Gulfcomms and Gitex Shopper.  We look forward to an eventful participation at Gitex Technology Week for the seventh consecutive year.”

“We have several reasons for participating in Gitex, not least of which is to make our customers, both existing and potential, aware of the bouquet of services we offer, and interact with our peers in the industry.

“Every year we showcase our most innovative products on promising platforms such as 4G, to demonstrate the ways in which business can be simplified for our Enterprise customers, or to show individual customers how our value-added products can add to their communications experience,” Badri added.

Driven by early deployments by STC, Zain and Moblily, Saudi Arabia’s LTE subscriptions are highest in the GCC region with over 390,000 expected to register by Q4 2012, representing 457 per cent growth over 2011, according to ABI Research.

Dong Wu, vice president, Huawei Middle East said: “As Huawei Enterprise is seeing considerable growth in the MENA region, Gitex offers us a useful platform to cultivate relationships as well as to showcase our portfolio of ICT solutions, with a particular focus on desktop cloud applications and the application of cloud computing in different industry scenarios.”

“We will also be showcasing our solutions for data centres, cloud computing, enterprise networking and wireless, Unified Communication & Collaboration (UC&C), video conference and telepresence solutions. Nothing beats the opportunity to meet customers, VIP guests and channel partners face-to-face and share information and ideas.”

“Companies such as du and Huawei realise that Gulfcomms is the one, single event each year at which nearly all of their stakeholders will be present and fully expecting to see the world’s very latest communications technologies and related solutions on display,” said Trixee Loh, senior vice president at Dubai World Trade Centre, organiser of Gitex.

Themed “Where Technology Means Business”, the 32nd edition of Gitex is set to connect more than 138,000 industry professionals and over 3,500 suppliers from 144 countries. – TradeArabia News Service