Etisalat launches pre-commercial 5G

Etisalat plans to deploy 5G services in major UAE cities during 2018 in preparation for the major planned events during 2018-2020.

Etisalat on Sunday announced pre-commercial launch of 5G ultra mobile broadband in certain locations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The UAE's largest telecom operator revealed in a statement that 5G services was tested using an advanced 5G based drone that was equipped with 360 degree Virtual Reality camera with 4K streaming experience in live environment achieving up to 5Gbps in downlink and 2Gbps in uplink with low latency and strong IoT connections.
The announcement came a day after the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority's (TRA) allowed the local mobiles operators to start deploying 5G networks in phases from 2018.
The telecom operator reaffirmed that it would deploy 5G services in major UAE cities during 2018 in preparation for the major planned events during 2018-2020 including World Government Summit, AFC Asian CUP, ITU PP-18 and Expo 2020.
Du, also successfully conducted a trial over its commercial mobile network of the new massive Mimo (multiple input, multiple output) solution, a 5G technology that will revolutionise connectivity for users through high speeds.
Marwan BinShakar, vice-president at du for Access and Transport Network Planning, told Khaleej Times in an interview earlier this year that the telecom operator is likely to officially roll out its 5G technology by the second half of 2019.
The implementation of 5G will facilitate handling big data transfer between machines and Internet of Things, as well as expanding the speed and capacity of multiple folds of Gigabits per second.
The implementation of 5G will revolutionise the way the UAE residents browse, download, share contents and use video chat on their gadgets due to massive increase in data transfer and broadband width.
In October, etisalat set a global record in the industry by achieving its fastest 5G live trial which reaching 71Gbps. Apart from creating new business opportunities, the 5G technology will help the UAE achieve its goal of deploying intelligent transport system, autonomous cars, smart health and education services among others. The new technology will also enable wireless access services for data, voice and TV using compact Customer Premises Equipment device.
"In addition to the 5G and smart city strategies, we will continue our digital transformation journey by further developing new capabilities including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, network virtualisation, automation and Internet of Things," said Saleh Al Abdooli, Group CEO, etisalat.
- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com