Page 26 - SAMENA Trends - January-February 2023

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

The Group's efforts were recently crowned cations and international partnerships with vide innovative digital-centric services that
by the declaration of e&’s net zero targets such admired brands as Etihad Airways, the add to its journey as a global brand.” Brand
by 2030, marking a further step in con- Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix, Manches- Finance is the world’s leading independent
firming our commitment to reduce carbon ter City Football Club, and African football branded business valuation and strategy
emissions across our business and to step giants Al Ahly SC. Commenting on e&’s authority. Founded in 1996 and headquar-
up our efforts for global climate action." Eti- ranking in this year’s report, David Haigh, tered in London, it aims to ‘bridge the gap
salat Group changed its brand identity to e& CEO and Chairman of Brand Finance, said: between marketing and finance.’ Brand Fi-
in February 2022, as part of a wider strate- “As the telecommunication industry faces nance evaluates over 5,000 brands across
gy to accelerate resilient long-term growth. commoditization, e& has taken bold steps all sectors and geographies every year.
Successfully aligning all its business verti- to reposition its brand identity to unlock The 500 most valuable brands are includ-
cals and subsidiaries, e& raised its brand new opportunities. This transformation has ed in the Brand Finance Global 500 report.
profile globally through impactful communi- enhanced the competences of e& to pro-

etisalat by e& launches the MENA region's first enhanced 5G Standalone
network for consumers and businesses, building on the success of its

2018 5G Non-Standalone launch

etisalat by e& today announced the first and cloud gaming. In addition to providing allow us to offer our customers the latest
commercial deployment of comprehensive individuals with a more efficient broadband in high-speed and low-latency connectivity.
5G Stand-Alone (SA) network in the experience, the service can also serve Our recent collaborations have enabled us
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) for as an alternative broadband option for to increase the quality of our services, while
consumers and businesses. This marks a businesses. By leveraging the advantages creating a more reliable and cost-effective
significant improvement over the previous of 5G SA Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), experience for our customers. We are proud
generation of 5G Non Stand Alone (NSA) companies can improve their operations to be leading the way in 5G technology
currently available in the market. etisalat by and customer experience. Khalid Murshed, and are committed to continuing our
e& first launched the previous generation Chief Technology & Information Officer efforts to provide the best services in the
of 5G NSA commercially in 2018, which of etisalat by e&, said: "We are pleased industry." This commercial deployment of a
was the first of its kind in the region. to announce our successful investment comprehensive 5G Stand-Alone network is
With this deployment, etisalat by e& has in 5G Standalone technology. This is a based on Service Based Architecture (SBA),
transitioned from using a 5G radio access significant milestone as we look to deliver including the capability of edge computing,
network on an existing 4G LTE network to end-to-end 5G solutions in UAE, providing network slicing, 3GPP SA (defining standard
a more advanced 5G network. The latest our customers with the latest digital for 5G) guided network orchestration and
version of the 5G network will provide innovations and superior experience and service-based architecture. Launching the
customers with access to a dependable laying the foundation for new revenue 5G Stand-Alone Fixed Wireless Access (5G
nationwide standalone network that can streams. The 5G Standalone network will SA FWA) as the first service will open a new
support a wide range of applications.
These applications include massive
machine-to-machine communication
solutions, real-time device-to-device
networking, ultra-reliable, low-latency
functionality for autonomous devices and
next-generation Internet of Things (IoT)
devices. Standalone 5G technology offers
additional capacity and significantly lower
latency, making it essential for innovative
use cases such as Industry 4.0, industrial
IoT, commercial augmented and virtual
reality, and large-scale digital sensing. The
etisalat by E& 5G Stand Alone (SA) service
is designed to offer a more satisfying and
productive user experience. Users can
enjoy high-speed broadband connectivity
comparable to fibre-optic connections,
which provides an enhanced experience for
high-demand applications such as 4K video
streaming, high-quality music streaming,

26 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023