While you might expect the petroleum industry to be the only business talked about in Kuwait, it has been the telecom sector that has given the country’s economy a boost in recent years. The Kuwaiti mobile market has one of the highest mobile penetration rates in the Middle East (around 85%) and subscribers there are enthusiastic about trying new technology and testing new features. Phones are fashion and owners are keen on upgrading their handsets frequently.

Recently, Wataniya installed a new EDGE-capable radio network from Ericsson, enabling the operator to offer mobile high-speed data services. Wataniya's 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."

Niklas Sonkin, Wataniya’s chief strategic officer and director of Business to Business, says setting the trend in a market such as Kuwait is a key success factor. “It is extremely important to offer solutions that will position Wataniya as the prime driver in the enterprise telecom market,” he says. One such solution being provided by Wataniya is push e-mail, which enables the operator to push content (e-mail in this case) over the internet to a targeted audience. This service is made possible by the Ericsson Mobile Organizer and was the first to be sold in the Middle East.

Despite that fact that the Kuwaiti market is primed for advanced services Wataniya faced the unique challenge of a shortage of local content and applications to offer its subscribers. To solve this, the operator took the innovative step of creating its own developer program to ensure that profitable new services were market ready. The new development center called Wireless World is a joint venture with Ericsson Mobility World and is a forum for local application developers to bring their ideas to fruition. Jamal Al-Dousari, manager of Wireless World, says: “Our market demands a program that takes into account local requirements concerning culture, language and business practices. We are the missing link between the developer, operator and the consumer". Whether upgrading their network or insuring the new applications get developed, Wataniya is taken the steps to insure its continued leadership in the region.