Liberalization, the process of opening markets to competitive players, is driving fast-paced change in Jordan, and nowhere is this change being felt as much as in the telecommunications sector, stated Jordan Telecom CEO Pierre Mattei.
On a visit to Dubai to promote Jordan Telecom's Convergence 2002 conference event to the Gulf's Information Technology (IT) community, Mattei has invited leading IT market players to visit Jordan and see the effects of liberalization on Jordanian mobile, fixed and Internet communications.
“We've got a highly competitive mobile and Internet market in Jordan and we're preparing Jordan Telecom to face competition in 2005. Put those together, and you have the catalyst for a tremendous pace of change,” said Mattei. “We can offer services today that are beyond those on offer anywhere else in the region and that are driving new business opportunity and growth in Jordan today. It's not slowing, either. Convergence 2002 will mark the start of a new era in innovation in Jordan.”
Convergence 2002, the annual business communications and technology conference held in Jordan, is to see the rollout of new products, services and initiatives from Jordan Telecom, as well as from national GSM provider MobileCom, Internet service provider Global One and content company e-dimensions.
The conference, held in Amman on July 16, 2002, will host over 1,000 delegates drawn from the business, technology, education and government communities in Jordan and the region. “We're saying to businesses in the Gulf, ‘come to Convergence' so that they can see what we're doing, what we're building in Jordan,” said Mattei.
Mattei believes that Gulf-based businesses have an opportunity not only to invest in building operations to service the local Jordanian market but to use Jordan's technology base to expand Internet and other technology-based market opportunities to the Levant and beyond.
“If you are in the Gulf today and you want to expand operations to the Levant, Mediterranean and Europe, then we can support your operations with competitive and advanced communications services. If you want to establish Internet-based businesses, we can support your hosting, content creation, access and logistics needs. If you want to open regional operations beyond your Dubai base, we can support that too.”
Jordan has a highly competitive two-player mobile GSM market and an equally competitive Internet market, where 12 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are currently operating. Says Mattei: “We're by no means perfect: there's a huge amount of work still to be done at Jordan Telecom and we're trying to build not only network capabilities but stronger customer services as well. But I believe Convergence 2002 will show just how much we have built until now.”
Jordan Telecom, with an estimated capital of 520 million Jordanian dinars, started operation under its new name in 1997 as Jordan's foremost provider of communications services. The company operates the Jordanian national technology infrastructure, delivering the infrastructure for a number of ISP's and mobile service providers. France Telecom along with The Arab Bank signed in January 2000 a $508 million deal to acquire 40 percent of Jordan Telecom. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
