Following the money.

(From Arabies Trends)

How has the Middle East telecom market grown over the last couple of years? And what's your forecast for the next couple of years?

The most impressive thing I saw in the Middle East is the growth of mobile operators, the creation of some regional powers, some very important mobile operators active at the regional level and new markets. An operator like Orascom Telecom is in the Middle East and the Arab world, but also has a very important presence in Pakistan. Another group, Investcom, is in Cyprus.

There is a phenomenon of regional operators, and there is also the issuing of new licenses in mobile telephony. We have seen that in countries like Bahrain. There is the process for the second mobile license in Saudi Arabia. There is a great deal of activity in the Middle East, or the extended Middle East if you consider countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the reconstruction is ongoing and where the mobile operation is quite successful.

So what does this mean for companies like Alcatel?

It translates into a lot of opportunities, which now have to be transformed into orders. Many of these new licenses are in the pipeline, so I expect some new orders in the second half of the year. We are still in the phase of witnessing the awarding of those licenses or presenting offers for the new operators.

How much business can all of this lead to? Not necessarily for just Alcatel.