Dubai, UAE 31 October 2006 - Nokia, the global leader in mobile communications, and Rotana, the world largest producer and distributor of Arabic music in the world, today announced their collaboration to bring the best in mobile music to consumers across the Arab world. The press event was attended by senior executives from Rotana and Nokia and special guest appearance made by Rotana stars Amal Hijazi and Dina Hayek and Abdallah BelKheir. The Rotana Player application will be available on the Nokia 3250 mobile phone and the N91 multimedia computer.   

Rotana's status as the leading purveyor of music in the Arab world makes the tie-up with Nokia a natural fit.  Nokia has been a leader in bringing spectacular acts and first-time performances to the region's music-hungry audiences, be it through sponsorships of concerts, music awards, or youth competitions and music programs.  And in terms of mobile music technology, the Nokia 3250 and N91 have made mobile music widely accessible to many different types of consumers. 

The Rotana-Player application will enhance consumers' mobile music experience whether they need a trendy and cool handset like the 3250, or a powerful multimedia computer represented in the N91, which can take around 3000 songs. With its ability to give the user access to the latest and most popular tones, themes, wallpapers and games from the world of Arabic music and entertainment, making Rotana-Player the unique answer to Arabic music lovers. Users simply access the application and download to their handset their favourite Khaliji, Egyptian, Lebanese and other Middle Eastern songs, ringtones and wallpapers featuring the most popular artists, in addition, to games and other available downloadable applications.

"Bundling Rotana-Player with two of our most popular handsets shows our efforts to reach out to consumers across the Arab world," said Chris Braam, General Manager, customer and market operations, Middle and Near East, Nokia.  "Rotana represents the latest and greatest in Arabic music talent and we are delighted to announce today our collaboration to bring the best mobile music experience to Arab consumers across the region."

Nokia's agreement with Rotana marks a continued effort by the mobile communications leader to create devices that answer the specific needs of the consumers of their market.  Besides creating communications solutions that are Arabic focused, Rotana-Player allows the fans of Arabic music to now have handsets that can be tailored to their individual music and entertainment tastes as well.

"Being the undisputed leader in Arabic music, Rotana-Player allows music lovers to access to the latest tunes of their favourite Middle Eastern singers. Working with Nokia enables us to deliver our music through Nokia devices with cutting-edge technology and to provide the consumers with unforgettable mobile music experience. With the best of  artists such as Amal Hijazi, Dina Hayek and Abdallah Balkheir who joined us at today's press conference, this is just an example of Rotana's commitment to bring to Nokia users across the Arab world many of the best and most famous talent on the Arabic music scene." Said Youssef Mugharbil Rotana's General Manager of  Digital Media.

"This announcement is actually the first step in our collaboration and partnership with Nokia and we look forward to future initiatives to bring the latest and best of Arabic music entertainment to both Nokia and Rotana audience," concluded Nezar Nagro Rotana's General Manager RMS.

With the Nokia N3250 and N91 users may access the Rotana Player directly from the mobile menu on their devices, enabling them to access them to download and purchase their favourite music while on the go.

-Ends- 

About Nokia
Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations.

About Rotana
Rotana Audio Visual (Rotana) is the world's largest producer and distributor of Arabic music, movies and broadcaster of premium TV channels with direct operations and distributor partnerships worldwide. Rotana broadcasts six TV channels and provides content to TV channels, Telecom Operators, Service Providers and Content Aggregators. Rotana is headquartered in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, with offices in Jeddah, Cairo, Lebanon, Dubai and Kuwait. For more information, please visit: http://www.rotana.net

© Press Release 2006