SAUDI Arabia will invest up to SR37 billion in its telecom sector this year alone, with future forecasts predicting investments of up to SR50 billion by 2015, putting growth rates at more than the rest of the GCC telecom markets combined. Being the largest telecom market in the GCC, Saudi Arabia accounts for 66 percent of total mobile subscribers, 59 percent of total fixed-line connections and 58 percent of total Internet users. Despite this, only 38 percent of the Kingdom's population are connected to the Internet. Coupled with this, favorable economic and demographic conditions and the opportunity for telecom-related companies to compete, do business and gain profitability in this high growth, TELSA – the annual only dedicated B2B telecommunications and ICT Exhibition and Conference in Saudi Arabia – will be held on Feb.10-12, 2013 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh. The forthcoming event is under the sponsorship of all three Saudi telecom providers, STC, Mobily and Zain, as well as the support of the Kingdom's telecom regulator, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), in addition to market and technology leaders in Web security and WAN optimization, Blue Coat Systems. “For this reason, we are delighted that this year's TELSA will provide the perfect platform and a unique opportunity for all those wishing to enter the Saudi telecom market to network with key local, regional and international operators, regulators, service providers and government agencies and gain a first-hand look into market dynamics and regulatory framework in the Kingdom,” said Hussain Al-Harthy, Managing Director, National Exhibitions Company. The TELSA exhibition is free to attend for business professionals and is expected to attract over 3,000 industry-related visitors. Due to the success of last year's one-day conference, the summit has been expanded to three, one-day summits, which will include the Saudi Telecoms & ICT Summit, the Saudi Broadband Technology Summit and the Saudi Cloud Innovation Summit, featuring expert analysis, insightful opinions and engaging debates among more than 500 Saudi and international telecom delegates. Presently among the most sought-after information concerning the Saudi telecom industry is broadband technology. According to a report issued by NCB Capital, growth in the telecom sector is mainly focused on broadband, representing a huge opportunity for potential service providers. NCB Capital believes the telecom sector has strong growth potential with the outlook for broadband remaining stable with lower costs on handsets expected to increase penetration rates. The latest CITC figures indicate that broadband penetration reached almost 40 percent in the third-quarter of 2012 or 11.73 million users due to the expanded use of smart phones and offerings of various data packages by mobile operators. Fixed broadband subscriptions including DSL, fixed wireless (WiMAX), FITx and other fixed lines have also grown during the same period to around 2.25 million subscribers at a penetration rate of 36.5 percent of households Kingdom-wide. TELSA supports the government's vision for growth and improvement of products and services in the telecom industry, highlighting iconic infrastructure development and providing direct access to Saudi Arabia. — SG
