Giving the keynote speech at Capacity Middle East, Ali Amiri, chief carrier and wholesale officer Etisalat, said that Etisalat was in the final phase of rolling out its 5G network in Dubai. This is part of the Dubai Smart City initiative ‘Smart Dubai’ which was born out of the approach of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid to focus on the city’s unified effort towards its people.
Amiri was very upbeat about the future of wholesale in the region over the next period, saying that: “We are in a period in the next few years where we have to look out for the less obvious opportunities because they are in front of us as I tell my staff."
Amiri said: “We are preparing for the final roll out of 5G in this exciting project in Dubai." When asked how Dubai’s networks would cope with the explosion of data that is coming down the line in the next few years with the rapid introduction of Internet of things (IoT) devices Amiri said: “Many people seem to think that we are surprised at what is happening with IoT. However, we have been busy preparing for this event for a long time. When the mobile phone started to become popular because of its enhanced capabilities many in this industry were surprised. Since then we have been looking to the future as a matter of course and Etisalat has a clear path mapped out to ensure we can cope with what IoT throws at us;”
Speaking on the same panel Khaled Tabbara, senior vice president international wholesale of du said: “We are not being complacent but this massive opportunity is what du was set up to capitalise on. The IoT is not something to fear – it is an opportunity for us to capitalise on and for us to work with our partners employing far more creatively to make sure we get the most out of it.”
