Andrei Torriani, Chief Product Development and Technology Officer at Wataniya Telecom, says: "We want to improve quality and Ericsson has the best solution from a cost, quality and technical perspective. In addition, we've been building a good relationship with Ericsson during the past couple years, which helped us in our decision."

The relationship he refers to includes the recent joint venture with Ericsson Mobility World to create a developer center for Wataniya Telecom called Wireless World. And the current testing of Ericsson's video-streaming platform, used in offering a trial version of mobile TV to Wataniya's subscribers.

Torriani describes Kuwait as one of the most dynamic mobile markets in the Middle East. "It has 85 percent mobile penetration and Kuwaitis are eager to test new features and try new technology. Phones are fashion and everyone wants to have the latest model. In fact, 40 percent of Wataniya's customers upgrade their handsets 2.5 times a month, on average," he says. "Operators need to ensure quality and a breadth of applications and services to meet customers' demand and expectations."

The GSM agreement supports this, as Ericsson will provide Wataniya with an upgrade of its radio network to get full EDGE capability. It also includes the supply of base station controllers (BSCs) and radio sites with relevant implementation and value-added services.

Wataniya vice-chairman, His Excellency Sheikh Khaled Hamad Al Sabah, says: "The agreement with Ericsson paves the way for a new generation of faster, higher-performance and dynamic services from Wataniya, and will consolidate our reputation as a leader in providing the latest and most innovative services to our customers."

Despite this need for speed and the Kuwaitis' interest in new technology, Torriani says the most prevalent services are about the same in other countries. "There is no killer application in Kuwait. The most popular services remain ringtone downloads, combined voice and data applications and WAP-based services."

One way to stimulate the development and commercial launch of new applications is Wataniya's Wireless World, an application developer program started in conjunction with Ericsson Mobility World. "We recognized a need in the region for a type of incubator, a place for wireless applications to be developed. Our market demands a program that takes into account local requirements concerning culture, language, business practices and reflecting the types of industries we have here in Kuwait - oil, that is," Torriani says.

As a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Torriani says there's an economic boom in Kuwait. Taxes are low, the economy is robust and there is investment in the country be other GCC members. "This is reflected in the mobile market. For 2004, Wataniya has noticed an increase in data revenue of 170 percent. And our customer average revenue per user (ARPU) has increased to USD 5 a month," he says.

The cooperation with Ericsson Mobility World is partially responsible for these positive figures. Torriani says: "The pipes can be in place but they need good content and applications running through them to be of interest to our customers."

As for 3G, Torriani says it is coming, "we just need to work out how to deploy it." He says he hasn't seen a strong case that overrides other broadband technologies, such as GSM with EDGE. Nevertheless, he expects 3G to be introduced in 2005.

Read more on Ericsson's GSM/EDGE solution here. http://www.ericsson.com/products/hp/GSM_Releases_pa.shtml

Find more information on Ericsson Mobility World here. http://www.ericsson.com/mobilityworld/

Visit the Wataniya homepage here. http://www.wataniya.com/