RIYADH – The 2nd annual TELSA, the only dedicated B2B telecommunications and ICT Exhibition and Conference in Saudi Arabia, begins today (Feb. 10) at the Four Seasons Hotel, Riyadh, with the official support from the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) and under the patronage of Eng. Abdullah Al Darrab, Governor of CITC. The event will end Tuesday (Feb. 12). Saudi Arabia is by far the largest telecom market in the GCC, accounting for 66 percent of total mobile subscribers, 59 percent of total fixed-line connections and 58 percent of total Internet users. In addition to this rapidly increasing industry and large market share, the big growth areas potentially lie in Internet and broadband usage, with only 38 percent of the country's population with Internet connectivity. Couple this with favorable economic and demographic conditions, and the opportunity is there for telecom-related companies to compete, do business and gain profitability in this high growth, sustainable market at the biggest annual telecom event in Saudi Arabia. Highlighting the importance of TELSA 2013, Hussain Al-Harthi, Managing Director, National Exhibitions Company, said “it has been announced that 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. For this reason, we are delighted that this year's TELSA will be inaugurated by H.E. Eng. Abdullah Al Darrab, Governor of CITC, illustrating the commitment by government bodies and regulators toward the continual growth of this important sector.” He added that this year, TELSA is sponsored by Zain, Integrated Telecom Company and Blue Coat Systems, and will feature many more companies that are participating as exhibitors. Also new this year, due to the success of last year's conference, the Coference has been expanded to three 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 300 Saudi and international telecom delegates. There is no doubt that TELSA is the leading telecom event in the Kingdom for local and international professionals, supporting 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 the region's biggest telecom market in the GCC – Saudi Arabia. — SG
