Etisalat and Huawei agree to develop 5G mobile broadband

For the first time in the region, the Etisalat Group and Huawei will cooperate in the development of 5th generation, or 5G, mobile broadband.

Laying the foundation for the next generation of super-speed connectivity, the Etisalat Group and Huawei have announced on Saturday the signing of a new agreement that will see the two companies deepen their cooperation in pioneering telecom broadband services over the next five years across the region.

For the first time in the region, the Etisalat Group and Huawei will cooperate in the development of 5th generation, or 5G, mobile broadband. A joint team will be set up to conduct the trial of 5G services, which are the first-ever trials of their kind across the Middle East.

Julfar honoured as telecom leader of the year Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, group chief executive officer of the Etisalat Group, was honoured as the Telecom Leader of the Year byTelecom Reviewduring the 2014 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The award was presented by Toni Eid, chief executive officer of Trace Media and editor-in-chief ofTelecom Review. In his role, Julfar oversees the 15 markets in which the company operates, providing a new leadership role to enable etisalat to prepare for the next stage of its evolution within the UAE telecoms market and its further transition into the global telecoms environment. — business@khaleejtimes.com

“Etisalat has been committing to enhance the customer experience through nurturing advanced technologies. The 5G mobile network aims to tremendously improve user’s experience with never seen before speed and capacity. The super-fast 5G mobile network will enable new possibilities and offers seamless communication experience,” said Hatem Bamatraf, chief technology officer at the Etisalat Group. “We always fulfill our promise to the communities we serve while maintaining the leading position in the region.”

By 2020, it is estimated that 6.5 billion people worldwide will use mobile networks for data communications and that 100 billion additional “things” — such as vehicles, metres, medical devices, and home appliances — will also be connected via mobile networks.

“We have already achieved many breakthroughs in 5G research worldwide as people, business and cities become further digitally connected,” said Alan Wang, president of Huawei-Etisalat Global Key Account.

“The future of the digital society in the in the region will of course take a collective effort to realise. As Huawei extends its longstanding relationship with etisalat, we look forward to opening up new possibilities that can address society’s demand for higher-capacity, seamless mobile communication experiences.”

While 4G telecom services are still relatively new in the Middle East, the research and development teams have already been working on developing fifth-generation networks that can deliver tremendous data rates over the current 4G telecom networks.

Etisalat-SAP partnership

Meanwhile, etisalat on Saturday announced it has partnered with SAP to deliver a comprehensive range of enterprise mobility services and solutions to businesses of all sizes in the UAE.

Under the partnership, which was announced during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, etisalat will build and offer cloud-based and on-premise mobility management solutions, based on a robust mobility platform from SAP. Such solutions offer companies a lower entry cost for enterprise-grade mobility management with faster time to market, thereby minimising the cost and risk of implementing and maintaining a mobility infrastructure. They also offer flexibility and scalability to any organisation, geography and usage model.

In order for businesses to leverage mobility for their competitive advantage, etisalat mobility solutions address the development and usage of mobile applications, control of mobile devices, security and compliance requirements, as well as the management of the overall enterprise mobility strategy.

— alvin@khaleejtimes.com