Etisalat and Sandvine reveal latest Middle Eastern internet trends

DUBAI, UAE and WATERLOO, ON, Oct. 16, 2014 /CNW/ - Etisalat, the Middle East's leading telecom operator and Sandvine, (TSX:SVC) a leading provider of intelligent broadband network solutions for fixed and mobile operators, today announced the latest Internet usage trends from the Middle East. The data was discussed in-depth for the first time at GITEX Technology Week in Dubai in order to highlight the uniqueness of Middle Eastern Internet usage patterns, and to share knowledge and experience with operators in the region on how they can use business intelligence tools to increase revenue, reduce network costs, and gain vital insight into network activity.

The data presented was collected as part of Sandvine's Global Internet Phenomena Program which, together with Sandvine's Internet Phenomena Blog, is industry-renowned for revealing the latest facts, fads, and future trends about consumer Internet usage from networks around the globe.

Some of the unique traits found on select Middle Eastern networks include:

• Instagram is now the leading generator of social networking traffic and consumes almost twice the bandwidth of Facebook on some mobile networks
• Snapchat and WhatsApp are the two leading third-party messaging applications and combined can account for as much as 10% of total mobile traffic
• YouTube is the single largest source of mobile traffic, accounting for over 25% of downstream traffic
• On one fixed network, subscribers rushing to update their iPhones and iPads to iOS 8 caused a 13% spike in usage on the day the software update was released in September

"As one of the world's leading telecommunications operators, we are redefining broadband to focus on superior customer experience, smart cities and ICT leadership," said Esmaeel Alhammadi, SVP / Network Development of Etisalat. "Our partnership with Sandvine is part of our strategy to gain best-in-class business intelligence that ultimately allows us to successfully continue the path of innovation, improve competitiveness and maintain our position as market leaders."

UAE is home to the world's most ambitious plans to create smart cities and will be hosting the World Expo in 2020. In the lead-up to major projects like these, Etisalat uses data from Sandvine's Global Internet Phenomena report as a key benchmarking tool in order to enhance the quality of experience for their customers and to help the UAE achieve its goal of having the most advanced infrastructure in the world.

"Subscribers in the Middle East are among the most enthusiastic consumers of social networking and messaging applications in the world," said Chris Colman, SVP, Sales, EMEA. "I am glad to share the latest Internet usage data at GITEX, and hope the information can be used to improve the quality of experience and variety of service tiers available to subscribers throughout the region."

ABOUT ETISALAT
Etisalat is the Middle East's leading telecommunications operator and one of the largest corporations in the six Arab countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, with a market value of approximately Dh81 billion (US$22 billion) and annual revenues of over Dh32.9 billion (US$9 billion). A multinational, blue-chip organisation, Etisalat has operations in 15 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Nearly 42,000 people are directly employed by the company.

For nearly 40 years, Etisalat has helped the UAE sustain a position as the region's main hub for business, trade and foreign investment by providing reliable and high quality services. It is one of the global telecommunication industry's innovation pacesetters, powering its home country, the UAE, into the top ten nations list by providing the latest technologies first.

ABOUT SANDVINE
Sandvine's network policy control solutions add intelligence to fixed, mobile and converged communications service provider networks to enable services that can increase revenue and reduce network costs. Powered by Sandvine's Policy Engine and SandScript policy language, Sandvine's networking equipment performs end-to-end policy control functions including traffic classification, and policy decision and enforcement across the data, control and business planes.  Sandvine's products provide actionable business insight, the ability to deploy new subscriber services and tools to optimize traffic while enhancing subscriber Internet quality of experience.

Sandvine's network policy control solutions are deployed in more than 250 networks in over 90 countries, serving hundreds of millions of data subscribers worldwide, www.sandvine.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this release which are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements") and are made pursuant to the "safe harbour" provisions of such laws. Statements related to the scope of deployment of Sandvine's products by a specific customer, the potential revenue opportunity with any particular customer or in any market segment, the benefits of Sandvine's products and services to be realized by customers, Sandvine's market position, future opportunities, product development plans and demand for Sandvine's products and services are forward looking statements, as are any statements relating to future events, conditions or circumstances. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve both known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Sandvine to differ materially from the results, performance, achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, changes in internal deployment strategies or plans by specific customers; the growth of broadband internet usage and levels of capital spending on broadband network management systems; the timing of orders and manufacturing lead times; changes in customer order patterns or customer mix; insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; increased competition in the broadband network equipment industry; dependence on the timely development and market acceptance of new product offerings and standards; rapid technological and market change; manufacturing and sourcing risks including dependence on key suppliers and key technologies; dependence upon indirect channel sales and resellers;  factors such as business and economic conditions and growth trends in the broadband network equipment industry and in various geographic regions; global economic conditions and uncertainties in the geopolitical environment including the impact of regulation related to the internet and the delivery of internet services. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions, and Sandvine does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking

SOURCE: Sandvine

INVESTOR CONTACT: Rick Wadsworth, Sandvine, [phone] ext. 3503, [email protected]; MEDIA CONTACT: Dan Deeth, Sandvine, [phone], [email protected]