Page 22 - SAMENA Trends - November-December 2019

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Etisalat Highlights Role of 5G in Empowering the

Digital Economy at MoE Workshop

Etisalat highlighted the role of 5G in Dhabi. The workshop attended by senior technology requirements in the region.
empowering the digital economy during government officials focused on how key 5G plays an important role in the global
a workshop held by Ministry of Economy industry verticals will play a significant economy. The major milestone for Etisalat
in Abu Dhabi. Dr. Ahmed Bin Ali, Group role in contributing to the growth and and the telecom industry was the launch of
Senior Vice President, Corporate boost the economy of UAE. Etisalat the first commercial 5G wireless network
Communications, Etisalat, was speaking embarked on its 5G journey in 2014 when on 14th May 2018 in the UAE, becoming the
at a workshop focused on ‘Utilizing future it began construction of its network first telecom operator in the MENA region
studies in development plans’ organized with a dedicated team of engineers to achieve this technological breakthrough
by the Ministry of Economy in coordination and specialists dedicated to build and set an industry benchmark. Expo
with GCC General Secretariat in Abu advanced infrastructure supporting future 2020 was also the first major commercial
customer in MEASA to partner with Etisalat
on 5G in July 2018 delivering a unique and
memorable experience for the millions
of visitors. Through its network rollout
and the pioneering launch of the first 5G
handset in the MENA, Etisalat managed
to provide UAE customers with an
opportunity to experience the power of 5G
technology. It is expected that the telecom
sector contribution will grow to $4.8 trillion
(4.8 per cent of GDP) by 2023 as countries
around the globe increasingly benefit
from the improvements in productivity
and efficiency brought about by increased
take-up of mobile services. Looking further
ahead, it is forecast that 5G will contribute
$2.2 trillion to the global economy over the
next few years, with key sectors such as
manufacturing, utilities, and professional
and financial services benefiting the most
from the new technology.

Etisalat and Huawei Complete Industry’s First Trial of Compact Optical

Cross-Connect

Etisalat, the UAE-based telecom- optic network, such as an optical mesh network. Esmaeel Al Hammadi, Senior
munications services provider, has worked network. The cutting-edge technology will Vice President, Network Development at
with Huawei to complete the first trial of help reconstruct and simplify optical layer Etisalat, said: “This joint innovation project
compact all-optical cross-connect (OXC) architecture to build a future-oriented with Huawei is a result of Etisalat’s focus
for the transport industry, enhancing network infrastructure. This solution will on its vision and strategy of ‘Driving the
connectivity and speed and delivering significantly improve network scalability, digital future to empower societies’. This
cutting-edge technology that promises shorten time to market (TTM) for new has motivated us to continuously invest
to simplify optical architecture to build services, and reduce operations and to provide superior network services for
future networks. The ‘OptiXtrans series maintenance (O&M) costs. The OptiXtrans our customers. This new solution with
OSN 9800 P32C’ trial cements Etisalat’s OSN 9800 P32C is a large-capacity Huawei will enhance development of the
leading position in innovative technology OXC device that can be used in the infrastructure and simplify the network,
for transport networks and promotes backbone or aggregation layer. It meets reducing service provisioning time,
application of the OXC solution. An OXC the requirements for fast grooming of and improving efficiency in operations
is a device used by telecom carriers to large-granularity services and separated and maintenance to provide an optimal
switch high-speed optical signals in a fiber east-west deployment in a transport network experience for customers.” “We

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