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Middle East mobile penetration exceeds that of the United States. Mobile subscriptions in the Middle East are expected to cross the 250-million mark during 2012, with mobile penetration rate reaching 107%, exceeding North America for the first time. Subscriptions will rise further to 352 million by 2017.

Iran continues to be the biggest mobile market in the Middle East with 82.91 million subscriptions. Second is Saudi Arabia with a 50.8 million active subscriptions.

All three of Saudi Arabia’s mobile operators have unveiled LTE services, with Etisalat poised to launch the service in the UAE. LTE subscriptions in the Middle East will number 1.94 million by 2014 and will reach 15 million by 2017.

According to a recent research paper by university professors Noura El Housni, Sakib Ali, and Rafi Ashrafi, the fast growing number of mobile subscribers in the region is expected to support the rise of mobile commerce throughout the region. The study revealed that a five year forecast estimates mobile commerce’s potential reach to be 900 million subscribers in the Middle East by late 2011.

To shed light on the meteoric rise of mobile proliferation and the accompanying progress of m-commerce in the region, the ArabNet 2012 Digital Summit will feature leading executives from the telecom industry including:

Hassan Kabbani, Advisor to the Chairman, Oger Telecom

Hassan Kabbani joined Oger Telecom in October 2011 as advisor to the Chairman and serves on the Board of Directors of Oger Telecom as Non-Executive Board Member. Hassan Kabbani has accumulated 21 years of experience in telecommunication operations’ management. Five times CEO of major telecom operations in the MENA region. In October 2003, he served as the CEO of Orascom Telecom Algeria ("OTA") –“Djezzy”. In September 2008, he joined Mobinil in Egypt as CEO and Board member; under his leadership, Mobinil was able to increase its customer base by 50% reaching 30 million subscribers in 2011 and successfully rollout the 3G services.

Hatem Dowidar, CEO, Vodafone Egypt S.A.E 

Hatem Dowidar the current CEO of Vodafone Egypt S.A.E, enjoys more than 20 years of experience in multinational companies, where he spent 10 years of them in the telecommunications business. Dowidar initially joined Vodafone in 1999 as the CMO of Vodafone Egypt. He was appointed as the Global Director of Consumer Voice Services in Vodafone Group in the HQ for 18 months. After this he became the CEO of Vodafone Malta for two years and in 2007, he returned back to Vodafone Group in England and appointed as CEO of Partner Markets with partnerships covering over 45 markets in five continents.

Ghassan Hasbani, CEO, STC International

Hassan Hasbani joined STC from the global management consulting firm Booz & Company, where he led the firm’s Middle East Communications and Technology practice. Hassan has more than 17 years of experience in the telecom industry in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Hassan's responsibilities are primarily focused on supporting STC in creating value across the global community of partners and operating companies. He's the Chairman of the Board of Axis in Indonesia, and a board member in Maxis Communications Berhard in Malaysia, Turk Telecom, Viva Bahrain and Kuwait.

Firas Abi-Nassif, Advisor to the Minister of Telecommunications

Firas currently serves as Advisor to the Minister of Telecommunications in Lebanon and Managing Director at Fortitude Partners, a New York-based Private Equity fund. Prior to that, Firas was Director and Head of Technology & Telecommunications Investments at Vision Capital Advisors, a New York-based hedge fund. Prior to that, Firas worked at Credit Suisse’s Technology investment banking group in New York specializing in corporate finance and M&A. Firas was a founding engineer of Airvana, Inc., a worldwide leading vendor of wireless infrastructure equipment, acquired by a consortium of private equity firms after going public on the NASDAQ.