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KIOGE-2014

Communication  without Borders

It is still believed in Kazakhstan that satellite communication is an omnipresent phone. Even on advertising billboards an oil-industry worker is often depicted holding a mobile phone and looking meaningfully into the distance against the blue sky background. This image has become so familiar to us that satellite Internet, video transfer, security control on pipelines, helping geologists with the data transfer, online conferences in steppes or at  sea and the "SOS" button for anyone who might be caught in a difficult situation - all this seems unreal. Meanwhile, satellite communication is able to significantly optimise the work, save time, effort and money.

Nabil Ben Soussia, Regional Director, IEC Telecom in Kazakhstan

Nabil Ben Soussia, the Regional Director of IEC Telecom in Kazakhstan, told Petroleum correspondent that breaking the moulds associated with satellite communication in Kazakhstan is a challenging task. Clients order a well known Thuraya phone not having a clue about the possibilities of satellite communications.

-This year, your company operates under a new name. Please tell us about the rebranding and IEC Telecom Group activities in the world.

- Our company was previously called O'PLUS TELECOM. Two years ago we joined the IEC Telecom Group international family. The change of the name indicates that we are not partners of IEC Telecom working under the contract, but a part of international group. IEC Telecom is interested in the Kazakhstani market, that is why the company has decided to work with Kazakhstan directly. This is the main message of our rebranding. We have opened branches in Almaty and Astana for a reason, since we are planning major investments into the development of local business.

IEC Telecom headquarters is located in Paris for already more than 20 years. We have been operating in the United Arab Emirates for the last 18 years. There are also major branches in Singapore, Norway, England, Sweden, Afghanistan and Congo.

In Africa security is ower top priority. In the Emirates we provide services for oil and maritime organizations. In France, we mainly work with the UNO and humanitarian missions. In Kazakhstan, the most important customers for us are oil, gas and shipping companies, as well as security agencies.

-What services do you provide to the oil companies?

-We focus on the customer’s needs. And offer package solutions, allowing him to simplify and optimise business processes. Thuraya satellite phones are in demand as of today, but this is the minimum that we can offer to the client. We offer high-quality Internet connection in any point of Kazakhstan - at sea, in steppe and in mountains, literally everywhere.

Our modems are compact, lightweight and offer customers tremendous opportunities. For example, if you need urgent advice of the European specialist at the oil field, you should stop the production and wait for his arrival for a few days, losing multimillion profits. Or you can contact him by satellite Internet and receive an on-line consultation. Communication quality even allows to conduct live television broadcasts.

Or imagine, for example, an accident in the pipeline. How much time, money and effort will it take to assess the accident and send the specialists? And if the accident is serious and requires involvement of Emergency Situations Ministry? It is better to know about it at once. The videocommunication, which we also offer, will allow to  assess the seriousness of the situation remotely.

In Iraq, for example, we put the motion sensors every kilometre along the entire length of the pipeline. It is clear that this is due to the political situation and the serious threats in this country. Kazakhstan, fortunately, has no such threats, but our technology can solve a number of other tasks, such as process organisation, emergency alerts and control over important objects.

We can greatly simplify the job of geological exploration expeditions. There is no longer any need to return to the office or to the base in order to transmit the receicved data for analysis, it can be sent on-site.

You can also organize the transport movement control to know when and where the car is, or if it have taken the wrong turn, or if something had happened in the road, to send help in time. In extreme cases, it is possible to remotely disable the moving car, i.e. stop it. If sensors indicate that the car strayed off the course, and there is a suspicion that it was hijacked. It can be stooped until the connection with the driver is established.

In addition, all staff can be provided with the "SOS" button for all occasions.

And there is many more ways to use satellite communications.

We have experience in dealing with more complex tasks than providing only voice communication, and we want to apply this knowledge to solve the problems that companies are facing in Kazakhstan, companies, find out their needs and offering them an optimal solution.

- Is it expensive?

-It all depends on how to take it! Someone, for example, camayn compare a passenger car with a jeep and say that it is cheaper. But this does not mean that it is better for a person who works in the mountains or desert. Because for him the SUV becomes a means to get to work, while the passenger car will be a source of problems. Same as in our case. A person who uses the GSM connection in a city or locality, will access the cost of the satellite communication and decide that it is too expensive for him. And anyone who knows where and how to use our communication will use services to organize his work and increase efficiency.

We offer unlimited packages. Their advantage is that the customer can plan his expenses by paying a fixed cost.

The Internet is not the expenses. It is a tool that enables faster, safer and more efficient work. It can save our customer 3-4 days a month. Now count how much it will be moneywise.

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