Welcome to the marcus evans 4^th Annual MENA Telecoms Executive Forum 2008. This comprehensive and high-level event will examine the evolving telecommunications environment as a whole, emerging technologies, service developments and strategies that will ensure market players remain competitive in deregulated as well as newly converging markets.

The Middle East has demonstrated explosive growth in recent years, with liberalisation increasingly becoming the buzz word of the region. The region boasts of some of the highest mobile penetration rates in the world and is witnessing rapid growth as competition drives the market and promotes investment in the telecoms sector. Already incumbent Telcos are entering a phase of consolidation, buying new licenses and acquiring established operators in other areas of the Middle East and Africa.

With mobile tariffs at their lowest, operators will need to differentiate themselves from the competition and capitalise on emerging technologies by introducing new value-added services and enhanced service portfolios. This in turn will drive growth in the already rapidly-growing Internet and Broadband markets, allowing scope for triple and quadruple play services.

With the levelling of fixed-line opportunities, many countries will witness a shift towards wireless technologies, currently demonstrated by successful WiMax deployments in various parts of the region. The roll-out of Next Generation Networks (NGN) will provide operators with the opportunity to deliver converged voice and data services, which are sure to become the benchmark for innovation in the Middle East.

The marcus evans MENA Telecoms Executive Forum provides a unique opportunity for attendees to assess the growth potential of the region. Executive-level speakers will share their vast experiences discussing some of the most pertinent issues facing the MENA Telecoms world today. Speakers will gather to discuss the current and future opportunities associated with liberalization, expansion and consolidation, fixed and wireless broadband services, as well as emerging technologies, WiMax, 3G, HSDPA and the multimedia services associated with these.