ABU DHABI 11 May 2017: One of the key focus areas of the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), is to to raise the country’s ranking among the top 10 countries in the National Readiness Index (NRI) in the World Information Technology Report.
And part of that effort is to increase the Internet bandwidth for each user.
“The TRA works with the two parties [Etisalat and Du] in several sub-indicators that contribute to the development of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) services in the country, thus affecting the country’s global ranking, including fixed broadband internet services and increasing the Internet bandwidth for each user.” said the TRA in a statement.
It has also begun the process of adopting the 5G technology in the UAE.
TRA has signed a new strategic partnerships agreement with a number of institutions and organizations in the UAE. It signed a partnership agreement with Etisalat and du at its headquarter in Abu Dhabi. The agreement is part of the TRA’s plan of action aimed at achieving the objectives of the UAE National Vision 2021.
TRA reviewed with the two companies ways of cooperation and intensifying efforts to achieve the objectives of the NRI, to raise the UAE’s position and reach the ranks of the best-developed nations in the world during the next five years. The meeting dealt with how to consolidate the country’s leadership in global indicators.
“Etisalat and Du are the leading providers of telecommunications services and an important part of the country’s ICT provisioning system. The partnerships with the TRA are part of the strategic direction that we are seeking to establish, which contributes to the support of the road map we have set in order to reach the top 10 in the NRI,” said Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General.
23rd in Rank
The Global Information Technology Report, published by the World Economic Forum, is based on reliable data from the best global organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the World Bank and the United Nations. The report ranked the UAE in 2015 ranking 23rd among 143 countries. The NRI measures the economy’s ability to use ICT to increase competitiveness and development.
The NRI consists of 10 key indicators, with 53 sub-indices divided into two, the 27 quantitative indicators and the 26 qualitative indicators, which measure the network readiness of countries. This indicator is a measure of the willingness of countries to use ICT in four areas: the political and regulatory framework, the business and innovation.
The availability and cost of ICT infrastructure, the availability of skills to ensure optimal use, and the extent to which (individuals, companies and governments) are ready to use and benefit from this technology, and the economic and social implications.
It is worth mentioning that the TRA works according to an integrated and clear plan. Since last year, it has launched a number of initiatives that fall within the vision of the TRA and its strategic objectives in order to improve the ranking of the country in the NRI (quantitative indicators). This ranking is influenced by other factors such as polls, which account for half of the index’s results.
The TRA team, headed by Tariq Al Awadhi, Executive Director Spectrum Affairs, identified the most influential indicators to highlight in the media campaign and organized awareness campaigns with the concerned entities with the aim of defining the achievements associated with most indicators.
By Rajive Singh