IBM has signed a five-year contract worth US$280 million with Saudi mobile service provider Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) to manage its information technology operations. The contract will be self-financed and will lead to improvements in Mobily's products as well as making the company more flexible.

Recently, Mobily has selected Gemalto's Machine Identification Module for deploying machine-to-machine services. This will be the first implementation of dedicated M2M technology in the Middle East. The Gemalto devices will be installed for upcoming Saudi M2M projects in the power management and transportation industries such as smart grid metering and fleet tracking.

Source: Telecom Lead