During his keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, CEO of Etisalat Group and member of the GSMA board, praised the UAE government initiative to provide its citizens with world-class smart government services.

The speech came at an important moment for the Etisalat Group, a major telecoms operator in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, as it celebrated reaching 150 million subscribers. This milestone was achieved across 15 international markets.

Julfar presented the compelling growth journey of the company at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This also marked the first keynote address to date by the Etisalat Group CEO at this global event.

Drawing parallels between the fast-paced development of the UAE and Etisalat, Julfar said: “Today, Etisalat plays a key role in the mobile government strategy of the UAE and is on course to achieve 100 percent fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) penetration — a world-first.” “We were the first network in the Middle East to launch GSM, Internet services, 3-G and LTE,” said Julfar.

Highlighting the growth achieved in Saudi Arabia, where Mobily, Etisalat’s operating brand, is the second largest operator and has one of the world’s busiest data networks with 1.3 petabytes consumed daily, Julfar said the company is also actively participating in various mobile for development programs in Africa.

Presenting an optimistic picture of the telecom industry globally, Julfar said the sector is entering a brand new era, but the most critical driver of growth will be “the ability of the telecom providers to adapt, change and innovate.”

Noting the way customers are migrating online services from computers to their smart phones, he added: “We see a new wave of connectivity, where Big Data meets Big Community and where the demand for products and services is outgrowing any other industry.”