Page 7 - SAMENA Trends - November 2020

FEATURED SAMENA TRENDS

Today Etisalat’s mobile network is Therefore, the journey this year for Etisalat During the pandemic,
recognised by Ookla as the fastest in has been transformational, internally and
the world showcasing high speeds all externally. ‘Living Digital’ is the focus • More than 10 million
throughout this year. UAE network and way ahead, within Etisalat digital Etisalat mobile sub-
ranked with the fastest mobile download transformation was always on the agenda
speed worldwide in January, March and making the shift to operating to an ‘only scribers enjoyed free
July 2020. Etisalat is also the winner of digital platform’ easier. Today as we all face browsing to over 800
Ookla’s Speedtest Awards for fastest fixed an unfortunate crisis, Etisalat has showed
broadband network in Q3-Q4 2019 and was resilience and remained committed towards websites related to
recognised in the same year as the leading the communities it serves, minimising education, health and
operator for fastest mobile and broadband business impact on our operations, our
network. With a download speed of 115.89 customers and subscribers. This was done safety in addition to
mbps and an overall ranking in the ‘Speed by speeding up on the implementation of free mobile data being
Score’ at 98.78, Etisalat is the only operator all digital channels, delivering in the new
globally to rank higher than 90 as per environment and addressing challenges made available to over
Ookla Speedtest data. The achievement faced by consumers and businesses. 12,000 students
is significant in current times when the
pandemic caused global crisis highlighting Despite the unprecedented market • Overall growth in
the importance of a robust and up-to-date challenges facing the industry locally and video conferencing
network. globally we ensured business continuity
and readiness. Thanks to the UAE vision and VoIP on both fixed
Etisalat ranked as the and Etisalat’s strategy, we are geared to and mobile network

fastest mobile network support and serve the entire community during the peak of the
making it possible for businesses to work
in the world remotely, millions of students to enjoy pandemic of more than
distance learning and all citizens have
Q. How would you explain Etisalat’s journey access to vital services. Our network 250 percent.
in 2020 so far especially that we are all joined one of the most robust and digitally • Traffic increase in
living in very different times and facing equipped showcasing infrastructure
unique situations at work and home? preparedness and ability to adapt and streaming services and
implement during today’s extraordinary video by more than 50
A. Etisalat Group’s long term projections times.
have always set goals to transition from percent while in gaming
a traditional telecoms operator into an With overall data traffic on the telco it grew more than 200
integrated ICT solutions provider. The network surging exponentially, Etisalat’s
pandemic pressed the fast forward button, resilient advanced network remained percent
however, accelerating a technology shift dependable and secure to proactively
already taking place. assess and manage anticipated increases in bandwidth demand. During the peak of
the pandemic there was an overall growth
in video conferencing and VoIP on both
fixed and mobile network of more than 250
percent. The traffic increase in streaming
services and video by more than 50 percent
while in social media and gaming it grew
more than 80 and 200 percent respectively.
We offered all the connectivity tools and
services people needed to continue to
communicate and conduct business,
including the fastest network in the world
and 5G connectivity. Our teams worked
on making sure support was provided to
all our customers, including government
departments, large enterprises, SMBs and
our subscribers across the country.

Etisalat’s advanced network and its
ability to adapt and implement plays an
instrumental role during the pandemic. In

7 NOVEMBER 2020