Wireless Short Messaging Services (SMS) present tangible revenue generating opportunities for Arab cellular operators, concluded a recent report by the Arab Advisors Group. SMS-based applications hold the competitive edge over newer Wireless Internet technologies like WAP, since cell-phones already are SMS-enabled, and do not require any technical alterations to the handset.
The introduction of prepay mobile tariffs in which people could pay for their airtime in advance and thereby control their mobile phone expenditure is regarded a catalyst, accelerating the take up of SMS in the world cellular markets.
According to a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), prepay mobile users send significantly more SMS messages than do postpay subscribers. This is because the heaviest SMS users tend to be young -- a feature characteristic of the region's population -- and they are thus also more likely to prefer the cost-saving prepaid system.
The Arab Advisors Group report points out that SMS messages and prepay services have already dealt the deathblow for the struggling paging services in the region.
SMS applications include Simple Person-to-Person Message, Notifications, SMS Chat, SMS-based Information Services, Ring Tone Downloads, and Corporate Email among others, the report detailed.
The Arab Advisors Group report reveals that cellular penetration in the ten Arab markets researched— Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — reached a combined 7.4 percent at yearend 2000. That is 12 million GSM users from a total population of more than 162 million people.
The UAE had the highest cellular penetration rate — more than 52 percent, while Algeria had the lowest at 0.32 percent.
“The strong growth in the Arab GSM markets will continue. It will be fuelled by prepay service and the introduction of competition in major markets, not least of which the Algerian market whose dismal penetration level will surely be reversed when the market gets the second GSM operator within the coming year,” analyst Sarah Alalul anticipated. — (Mena Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
