Innovation On Speed - Dial

As the region’s telecommunication companies drive forward a series of innovations, we look at how telcos are pushing the tech limits in increasingly new and exciting ways.

- Neil King

FOR A REGION WITH SUCH HIGH smartphone penetration, it’s hardly surprising that the GCC’s telecommunications industry has emerged as one of the most innovative in the world.

Penetration of 82.2 per cent puts the UAE at the top of the global ranking, while IDC data shows that 23.6 million mobile phones were shipped to the region in 2018: impressive enough on its own, but not a patch on the peak of 33.9 million units in 2015.

In turn, telcos across the Gulf have been upping their game – spending on technologies, initiatives and projects in a bid to keep pace with the region’s appetite.

A recent example is UAE operator du, which announced that it expects to spend up to Dhs1.4bn ($381m) this year in capital expenditure – up from Dhs1bn ($272m) in 2018 – as it works to roll out 5G services.

In 2017, the Gulf ’s largest operator, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), announced the establishment of STV – a technology venture fund of $500m – with a view to tapping into artificial intelligence and virtual reality. In October last year, STV led a $21m Series A funding round into B2B cloud communications platform Unifonic – one of the largest Series A investments in the Middle East technology sector.

Not to be outdone, Zain Group CEO Bader Al Kharafiannounced the company had spent $750m in 2018, making a number of investments, laying the foundations for 5G, building its fibre footprint, and ensuring interconnectivity to help power the Fourth Industrial Revolution in its markets.

5G in sight

The big talking point for telcos in the region today is 5G. Du’s investment is just the latest in a long line of announcements from operators about the network, which is about a year away from being operational.