Etisalat accompanies media representatives to visit Huawei in China to keep them updated on the technology sector

During the week- long visit, they attended high level meetings and undertook various field tours to the Huawei headquarters and many of its plants, research centers and labs. The visit aimed to view closely the work details and phases related to the development of solutions, services and products that Huawei provides to the ICT sector in general and to the Etisalat network in particular.

Travelling between the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Shanghai, the visiting members were given exclusive access to a number of Huawei's state-of-the-art global facilities. Amongst the locations visited were Huawei's Global Headquarters, the company's largest global R&D center, as well as Huawei's showrooms featuring the brand's subsidiaries. The meeting with Huawei senior executives provided an overview about the company's plans of expansion within the Middle East over the coming years—focusing on its strategic partnerships with industry leaders in the region like Etisalat.

"This initiative is a significant part of Etisalat and Huawei's close cooperation in pioneering the world's most advanced ICT products and services, which in turn can deliver faster and more accessible telecom services to our customers across the UAE. There is no doubt that the new generation of communications will have a vital role in enhancing the development process in all communities," noted Mr. Jaber Al Janahi, Vice President of Corporate Communications at Etisalat.

"While the ICT industry is widely recognized as an immense driver of national competitiveness and economic development, Huawei also acknowledges that the technology involved in network planning has many different facets. We thus feel that it is important to work with entities like Etisalat and the media to showcase to the public how innovations happening in places as far off as China are interconnected with concurrent research around the world, and how these collective advancements are in turn delivered to individuals each and every day," notes Mr. Leo Xu, Vice President of Huawei Middle East. "This is especially relevant in today's global economy where companies like Etisalat and Huawei need to stay in constant dialogue on how new technologies can better serve users worldwide—regardless of where the technology originates. It is best if the media representatives to have this direct knowledge in order to reach the public."

Over the years Etisalat and Huawei have set many regional firsts within the telecom sector including several in the UAE. In 2011, Etisalat and Huawei announced the signing of a contract to commence deployment of the region's widest 4G LTE network in the UAE, which was realized last September and is now expected to fully cover the nation's populated areas within the next two years. Earlier this year, Etisalat Academy also signed a memorandum of understanding with Huawei to introduce the first certified LTE training programs in the region.

Other notable collaborations include the Arab world's first commercial deployment of a 3G UMTS network in 2003, the launch of the region's first HSPA+ network in 2006, and the building of the world's largest GPON FTTH fiber network during 2008 in UAE.

The Middle East is one of the fastest growing regions worldwide for Huawei with regional contract sales across the Middle East in 2011 totaling $3.22bn, a 20% increase from the previous year. Through the company's 140,000-plus employees and 20-plus years in the ICT field, Huawei has established end-to-end capabilities across the telecom, enterprise and consumer markets which have been deployed in over 140 countries serving more than one-third of the world's population.