Wednesday, Mar 28, 2012

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--It is "difficult and disappointing" that Apple Inc's (AAPL) new iPad tablet computer's fourth-generation wireless capability is incompatible with the mobile data network in the Middle East region, a senior executive of Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, or Etisalat, the region's biggest telecom provider by market value, said Wednesday.

"The way that the frequency is chosen is not the one that we and Europe are using--which is difficult and disappointing," said Matthew Willsher, Etisalat's chief marketing officer.

At the global launch of its latest version of iPad earlier this month, Apple had promised sharper screen resolution and faster network speeds than its year-old predecessor.

While Apple wasn't immediately available to comment, Matthew Reed, a senior analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media said that from among the several variants of long-term evolution, or LTE, services available, Apple has focused on one that is used by operators in North America.

The variant of LTE used in the new tablet from Apple is one that works in the 700MHz spectrum band--but none of the LTE networks that have been launched in the Middle East are using that spectrum band, Reed said.

Etisalat in September launched fourth-generation, or 4G, mobile network services in all major U.A.E. cities, with an investment of 6 billion U.A.E. dirham ($1.63 billion).

"I'm sure that in the future that there will be [Apple] models that have LTE version that works on our LTE network," said Willsher.

Apple hasn't officially launched the latest iPad in the Middle East region although grey market sales have been robust, store owners in the U.A.E said.

Reed also said that the news was a disappointment to both operators and customers. "When the operators heard that the new iPad included LTE, they would probably have hoped that it would boost take-up of their LTE services," said Reed.

Other operators in the region that have launched LTE services are Zain Saudi Arabia, Saudi Telecom Co., or STC, and Etihad Etisalat, or Mobily, the Saudi unit of the U.A.E's Etisalat.

-By Shereen El Gazzar, Dow Jones Newswires; +971 444 61684; Shereen.elgazzar@dowjones.com

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

28-03-12 0919GMT