Etisalat invests for better future

Saleh Al Abdooli, Group CEO, etisalat

Etisalat is on right growth path and introducing concepts and ideas that facilitate not just end users, but also businesses and governments for a better future, its top official says.
Saleh Al Abdooli, Group CEO, etisalat, said the company has made steady headway in the development of the 5G technology and confident of deploying it commercially by 2020. He said etisalat is also paving the way for smarter digital solutions and applications that will mobilise people, businesses and the government sector for a better tomorrow.
"Etisalat is on a growth path for the future, addressing the demands and network requirements in the short as well as the long term. We have invested Dh25 billion over five years including 2016, in advanced 4G LTE and FTTH networks to enable reliable connectivity and some of the world's highest speeds for consumers and businesses," Abdooli told Khaleej Times at Gitex Technology Week on Sunday.
Abdooli, who assumed his office as Group CEO of the company in March this year, said today etisalat customers enjoy the advantage of its fastest 4G LTE network in the UAE at turbo speeds of up to 450 Mbps, covering nearly 95 per cent of the country's populated area.
"This network development will not only help us cope with the massive digital content explosion we anticipate in the next few years, but will also help us shape the environment that 'Internet of Thing' needs to grow and become a way of life for end users," he said.
"During Gitex last year, we conducted the region's first 5G live demo onsite with super speeds of up to 5Gbps. It is the first in series of 5G live demos and trials over the next five years. We estimate the completion of international standardisation of 5G by end of 2017 and aim to deploy it commercially in 2020.
"I must add that our ambitious 5G mobile broadband plan is well-supported by our close partnership with global leaders that makes us confident of enabling a safer, more efficient and more enriched experience for mobile broadband users of 5G in future," he said.
 
IoT a game changer
Abdooli said the journey to realising Internet of Things (IoT) strategies for businesses requires new capabilities starting from designing new products and services to redefining businesses. The interplay with cloud technologies, big data, connectivity and future networks like 5G have also to be taken into account. It is here that etisalat is building on its strengths to contribute to M2M/IoT.
"Through planned investments in some of the core components such as multi-access technologies, IoT Security, M2M Control and Command Centre and state-of-art IoT platform, we are well-positioned to help businesses realise their IoT strategies.
"We have strengthened our M2M/ IoT solutions portfolio focusing on various areas - smart transportation, energy, surveillance and security, critical asset monitoring, healthcare and retail. We also offer security services in the cloud as well as fully cloud based email and collaboration services and mobile device management. Etisalat has also added Big Data, applications and vertical specific offers for education, health and government," he said.
He said this transformation and the move to cloud computing calls for a solid data centre architecture and infrastructure readiness to meet the need for secured data services in the UAE. To that end, etisalat's data centres offer the largest choice of facilities in the region with 10 data centres across four cities in the UAE.
"Etisalat ranks as a top data centre provider of Tier III facilities in the Middle East and Africa region. Etisalat data centres houses an impressive array of new technologies and have been built to the most stringent specifications," he said.
Abdooli said the IoT is adding pressure for CIOs to be ready to provide IT as a Service (ITaS) within the organisation and businesses recognise the importance of adopting various technological advancements to provide timely and valuable information to take business decisions and offer right propositions for their customers and networks. He was of the view that businesses can leverage on the expertise of the partner and continue to focus on adding value to their businesses through partnerships with trusted service providers such as etisalat.
 
Etisalat transformation
As the industry has evolved from the Telco 1.0 phase of voice and SMS, to the Telco 2.0 era of social and customer engagement, Abdooli said etisalat is transforming and thinking beyond connectivity in order to add to the value chain in this hyper-connected and hyper-programmable world. "We are redefining our relationship with our customers and digitising our core business for customer-friendly business processes, which have potential benefits. By providing compelling online digital experiences as well as service automation and more efficient and straight-forward processing of financial transactions, etisalat is improving customer satisfaction, enhancing revenue streams and saving costs."
About etisalat policy for OTTs partnerships, he said success in implementing a digital ecosystem means entering the right partnerships. It means elevating the barrier to technology and encouraging digital adoption. "Ease of use and security for our customers is our elementary consideration in partnering with OTTs. As an example, we introduced carrier billing for Google Play purchases on mobile phones, a first in the region. It eliminates the need for customers to use credit cards. What they buy, gets charged to their consolidated monthly mobile bill or prepaid account.
"Our tie-ups with Microsoft and Samsung app stores for carrier billing are also based on the same principle of enablement, creating an impactful experience, facilitating digital use and minimising barriers to technology," he said.
Abdooli said etisalat has embarked on the Telco 2.0 phase of telecom services, which is all about social interaction and customer engagement. To recap some of last year's major achievements, he said etisalat's customer care centre responded to a massive 55 million calls in 2015. In a vast improvement over 2014, 75 per cent of complaints were resolved during a call in 2015.
"Through the social networking platforms, we resolved over 70 per cent of technical inquiries and complaints in less than 24 hours."
"Keeping with the mobile usage trend, our Etisalat UAE mobile app addresses our customers' need to stay connected on the go. It has recorded nearly two million downloads and 70 per cent year-on-year increase in payment transactions in 2015. The customer outreach 'Live Chat' feature on the app has recorded more than 120,000 conversations with our customer care agents over the past year," Abdooli concluded.
- muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com