Etisalat announces 500,000 residential broadband subscribers

This figure was presented during a presentation on the future of broadband services in the region, which was delivered by the company's Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Nasser bin Obood.

Bin Obood was speaking at the Broadband Global Summit which is taking place in Dubai from March 10-11. During his keynote, Nasser bin Obood highlighted major opportunities for operators in the region which will be opened up thanks to advances in Internet technologies.

"To succeed in broadband in the future, a company must be service and application driven and not just capacity driven. We have now crossed the five hundred thousand broadband subscribers mark in the UAE, which brings Internet penetration to around 60%. This is above many international benchmarks and means that to grow penetration even further, we need to take a different approach - we need to be service driven."

said Nasser bin Obood, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Etisalat.

Etisalat's executive presented four areas of potential growth including digital home technologies; smart home technologies; IPTV and technical support. Etisalat has made advances in each area through investments in companies such as UT Technologies, SoftAtHome, its cable TV provider E-Vision and through the launch of free online Internet support software.

"Mobile broadband access will complement fixed-line services and help to drive Internet connectivity across the region," bin Obood continued comparing the growth in broadband penetration in the UAE with other parts of the world. "The UAE today enjoys an excellent position in terms of broadband penetration per household, higher than parts of Europe. This is a mature market, where growth will be fueled by a proposition made up of value added services such as the 'digital home' and IPTV."

Etisalat has also recently announced the availability of fixed-line broadband services of 8 Megabits per Second (Mbps) and 16 Mbps for customers who are connected to its next-generation fibre network (FTTH). Etisalat aims to connect the entire city of Abu Dhabi to fibre by mid of 2009, making it one of the first cities in the world to be fully connected by FTTH and the first city and capital in the Middle East to have full FTTH connectivity.

Etisalat is also preparing to provide UAE customers with mobile broadband services using HSPA+ which will enable downloads in excess of 20Mbps.

"Smartphone and broadband subscribers are driving the Internet market today and this is why in the UAE and across the Middle East, Africa and Asia we are continuing to invest in next generation infrastructure and services to provide the highest quality to our customers," Bin Obood concluded.

ITU Acknowledges Improving ICT Access in Emerging Markets

During his presentation, Nasser bin Obood addressed the recent ITU ICT Development Index (IDI) in which 154 countries from around the world were ranked based on various factors including the use of, and access to, telecommunications and Internet services.

"The UAE is the country of the future and our investments in next generation technologies are helping to grow the nation's international reputation as a hub for trade and commerce as well as tourism," bin Obood continued. "We are taking this expertise and best practice and sharing this across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, helping to improve access to the Internet and positively contributing to national economies."

The UAE improved eight positions in the latest IDI study, which was published in March 2009, to 32nd place, making it the highest ranked nation from the Middle East and Africa region. It also improved its ranking in terms of ICT usage, with its score growing 300% to be positioned 22nd in the world.

Each of Etisalat's subsidiary markets also saw significant increases in their international rankings, with Pakistan (Etisalat has a 26% stake in incumbent operator PTCL) seeing the largest improvement of any country in the world jumping 19 places.

Moov has helped Benin grow 14 places in the league tables, and Canar supported Sudan's growth (13 places) through its investment in fibre optic technology. Saudi Arabia, serviced by Mobily, improved 8 rankings whereas the Ivory Coast and Gabon, both serviced by Atlantic Telecom's Moov, grew their position by 6 and 3 rankings respectively. Other markets improved by at least one position.