UAE official vows to achieve full internet penetration

A senior telecommunications official said here Tuesday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was poised to lead global broadband internet penetration. All households in the country will have access to broadband internet in the near future, Mohammed Al-Ghanim, director general of the UAE Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA), said, citing analyst reports. In his keynote speech at a forum sponsored by Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, Al-Ghanim said the UAE has already achieved a broadband internet penetration of 85 percent, one of the highest in the world. According to the TRA's latest sector statistics, he said, the Gulf state, with a population of 8.5 million, has well over a million broadband subscribers. Al-Ghanim praised Huawei for its contribution to upgrading the UAE's information technology infrastructure. "Collaborating with leading global organizations like Huawei and other reputable industry research and consultancy firms, we have been able to create a discussion platform that combines global best practices with local market insights," Al-Ghanim said. "We remain committed to working with all entities in UAE to strengthen the pillars of our knowledge economy through world- class national broadband access." Shi Yaohong, president of Huawei Middle East, said governments across the globe "are going all out to build their next-generation information superhighways, with national broadband networks representing a significant yet vital investment in both economic competitiveness and social wellbeing." He said Huawei has worked on more than 20 national broadband projects worldwide with a market share of over 70 percent. Successful initiatives have already been rolled out in countries such as Qatar, Malaysia, Singapore and Britain, Shi added.