UAE- Etisalat invested AED15b in its fiber optic network, says Al- Abdouli 

(MENAFN - Emirates News Agency (WAM)) The Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (etisalat) has invested a total of AED 15 billion on its fiber optic network, CEO of Etisalat Saleh Al Abdouli told WAM in an interview.

"No returns have been made yet from the fiber optic network by etisalat, but with this achievement, we contributed to the process of sustainable development in the UAE and achieved network readiness," Al Abdouli added.

"For etisalat, investments in infrastructure is long-term and it would contribute to the development of other sectors such as education, healthcare, business, banking, hospitality and others," he explained.

Four years ago, etisalat made a brave, historic and strategic decision to implement this giant project. The total length of the fibre optical network that etisalat currently deploys all over the UAE equates to five times the distance between the earth and the moon, consisting of a total of 2.8 million km of cable being deployed all over the country, he noted.

The completion of this project contributed to the UAE being ranked amongst the top five countries in the Arab world in the Network Readiness Index (NRI) and ranked 24th in the world according to the Global Information Technology Report 2011 issued by the World Economic Forum, outperforming many countries.

Abu Dhabi is the first capital city in the world that is entirely connected to the fibre optic network. In October 2010, etisalat became the first regional telecom operator to achieve speeds of 100 Mbps. It recently achieved speeds of 300 Mbps in testing its 4G mobile broadband technology, the fastest in the world.

The speed of 300 Mbps will be announced soon by etisalat, the official said. The speed was a breakthrough for the international telecommunications industry.