generation or 3G mobile phones in Japan in 2001 marked a new era in cellular telecommunications. The increased bandwidth and transfer rates accommodated by 3G phones answered the call for true multimedia cellular services - now common in the current breed of smart phones - that could fully support web-based applications and efficiently run phone-based audio and video files. The next generation of 4G systems currently under development will deliver IP telephony, gaming services and streamed multimedia at blazing speeds of between 100 Mbit/s to approximately 1 Gbit/s to signal the next evolution in cellular wireless communications. In Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's largest telecommunications market with a 45 to 50 percent slice of the regional business, 3G and 4G mobile phone sales are expected to significantly drive up telecom revenues to SR97 billion in 2018. With 38 percent of its population below the age of 15 and strongly drawn to new and cutting-edge technologies, the Kingdom is an excellent seedbed for 3G and 4G telecom vendors and service providers alike. Investments of more than SR63 billion in the next seven years are currently being considered for fiber networks, 3G, 4G and Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technologies. More than 40 percent of handsets in the Kingdom are already 3G-enabled, and with trials on LTE, a precursor technology to 4G, currently underway 4G units and services are expected to be introduced soon. "Everything is in place to grow Saudi Arabia into one of the world's top 3G and 4G selling hubs. It has a youthful tech-savvy population, strong market fundamentals due to high mobile phone penetration rates and the exceptional spending power of local consumers, and tight competition which will be conducive to driving down prices and consequently stimulating subscriber expansion. For our part, Info2Cell.com intends to take the lead in leveraging the numerous opportunities we foresee opening up with the rapid rise of the 3G and 4G segments," said Bashar Dahabra, founder and CEO, Info2cell.com. Info2cell.com, the pioneering provider of value-added mobile phone services in the Middle East, is currently developing various mobile service applications to complement the growing popularity of broadband technologies such as 3G and 4G in the Kingdom. The company presently serves more than 40 operators and over half a million Saudi subscribers even as the Kingdom's subscriber numbers are expected to swell by a compound annual growth rate of 7 percent to 46.5 million by 2012. Info2cell.com anticipates demand for high-quality, advanced mobile services to climb dramatically in keeping with the PC-like capabilities of 3G- and 4G-enabled smart phones. "Today's mobiles are capable of browsing the web, streaming live TV broadcasts, supporting audio and video calls, playing games and accommodating productivity tools such as electronic spreadsheets. The line between smart phones and full-featured personal computers is rapidly blurring, which means an open market for applications and services that can maximize the potential of modern mobile communications devices," Dahabra added. Mobile penetration rates in the Kingdom are currently estimated at 175 percent, with mobile units now considered an essential part of business and society, recent data showed. Subscriptions rose 15 percent to 51.6 million by the end of 2010 and could balloon further in the coming period as authorities consider a recent suggestion from the Saudi Shoura Council to reduce the cost of mobile phone calls in the country. As the Arab world's largest economy, the Kingdom has enough funds at its disposal to maximize its 3G and 4G networks and accelerate the adoption of these cellular infrastructures. Mobile phones have become indispensable to the social and economic growth of Saudi Arabia and the entire Middle East. 3G and 4G mobility services will continue to be change agents for the Kingdom and for a region determined to transform itself to a knowledge-based economic bloc and a truly digital society.
