The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) announced the completion of the interconnection process between the UAE service providers, as part of the Internet Exchanges Union initiative “United IX”.
This initiative aims to link SmartHub IX platform supported by Etisalat by e&, and UAE-IX platform supported by Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company du, to serve as an interconnection ecosystem at the national level.
This partnership includes Etisalat’s SmartHub IX, and du/datamena, with the support of TDRA. The connection of the two platforms allows the interconnection of all connected customers, regardless of the service provider, and is the first cooperation of its kind in the Middle East.
Commenting on this step, H.E. Majed Sultan Al Mesmar, TDRA Director General, said: “This initiative is part of TDRA’s efforts to develop the telecom sector infrastructure, enhance interconnection and integration to serve the objectives of attracting investments, providing the best experience for global companies such as emerging technology companies and service providers, in addition to enhancing speed of data transmission, and improving response time.”
H.E. Al Mesmar added: “We would like to thank everyone who contributed to United IX achievement, especially the Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC, "Etisalat by e&", Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company “du”, and all other parties involved in this project. We appreciate their cooperation to overcome challenges and achieve this goal, which will make the UAE a hub for interconnection at the regional level. The parties worked together for a long time before reaching this result, and today we are reaping the fruits of this effort, which reflects the correctness of our bet on the ICT sector to create a prosperous future in light of the major digital transformations.”
In turn, H.E. Masood Mohamed Sharif Mahmood, CEO of Etisalat by e&, said: “This cooperation, the first of its kind in the Middle East, with the support of TDRA, will contribute to enhancing the capabilities of our SmartHub IX platform in line with the overall strategy of e& group to provide digital transformation technologies and innovative solutions to the telecom sector’s customers in various fields. It is also in line with the vision of the UAE leadership in enhancing the country's leading position as a hub of ICT and data in the region, while meeting the diverse requirements of telecom infrastructure at the international level. For us, SmartHub IX is a key supporter of our digital infrastructure in the region, and we are committed to making it the partner of choice for carriers, cloud service providers, Internet providers, and companies looking for business-class data centers.”
H.E. Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du), said: “seamless and reliable communication is an essential pillar for modern organizations that seek to keep pace with the requirements of the digital future. Therefore, providing enhanced communication capabilities supported by an interconnection ecosystem that meets the requirements of organizations is the main driver of our new partnership with DE-CIX and Etisalat. As part of this partnership, du will harness the world-class capabilities of our datamena center to create and design hybrid environments for ICT systems. Our interconnection services and solutions that we will provide under this partnership will enhance the capabilities and quality of modern communication technologies, enabling our partners and all stakeholders to establish direct and secure communications and link their operations across multiple sites, as well as achieve savings in time and costs.”
In its 10th year, UAE-IX is the first carrier and data center for neutral internet exchange in the Middle East, connecting global networks, network operators and content providers in the GCC region, with 3 terabytes of connected customer capacity, United IX serves nearly 100 customers, including global corporations, carriers, cloud, content providers, emerging technology platforms, as well as banking and financial services companies.