In 2020, the UAE was ranked first in the world in several global competitiveness indices that assess the development and quality of global telecommunications infrastructure.
In a report titled “UAE is a pioneering country in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector 2020,” the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority includes the most important results achieved by the country in the telecommunications sector last year, based on numbers and indicators issued by relevant international organizations specialising in the field.
This is one of the authority’s contributions to 17 global competitiveness studies with 142 competitiveness metrics.
As an embodiment of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority’s vision, which states that the UAE is a leader in the ICT field, the study tracked the crucial role that the telecommunications sector plays in the country’s growth in numbers and facts.
The UAE ranked first in the world in terms of mobile broadband Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants and the index of public-private collaboration and its effect on technological growth, according to the report.
The UAE ranked first in the world in terms of Internet and telecommunications sector competitiveness, government purchases of advanced technology goods, and mobile broadband speed, as well as having the highest fibre-to-home penetration rate.
In several global competitiveness indices that assess the growth and efficiency of telecommunications infrastructure, the country has also retained first position. In this regard, the UAE ranked first in the world in terms of mobile network coverage and access to mobile phone services as a proportion of the population.
According to the study, the UAE maintained its global leadership in competitiveness indices that calculate the rate of subscriptions to mobile broadband Internet and mobile services in countries around the world, with the mobile broadband Internet subscriptions index and the mobile phone subscriptions index ranking first and second, respectively.
According to the most recent Global Competitiveness Report published in 2019, the UAE has improved its global ranking on this axis from 24th in 2017 to second in 2019. Despite the pandemic, the nation is still ranked second in the world in 2020.
The UAE also continued to lead technological development indicators as a result of its high-quality communication infrastructure and the desire of the country’s various sectors to be equipped with cutting-edge technology, which helped the country’s various sectors adapt to the COVID-19 crisis and gain flexibility in dealing with the situation.
In this regard, the country was ranked first in the world in the index of Public-Private Partnerships and their Influence on Technological Growth, as well as the index of Virtual Professional Networks Use.
According to global competitiveness indices that assess the amount of countries’ infrastructure expenditure, the nation also ranked first in the Global Infrastructure Investment Index. The United Arab Emirates came in third in the world for investment in telecommunications services and fourth in the world for foreign direct investment and technology transfer.
The most significant results obtained by the country in indicators such as the capacity of the communications system to keep pace with changes, the future readiness of the communications and IT technology market, the e-government survey, the global indicator of readiness for variables, and others were included in the study.
The authority expressed gratitude to all of its collaborators in the communications and information technology industry, including the government, private sector, academic sector, and all members of society, for their contributions to the report’s achievements.
“The progress achieved by the UAE in the global indicators of the telecommunications sector is a reflection of the wise leadership’s directives to strengthen the telecommunications sector, as it is one of the main enclaves,” Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Head of the UAE Digital Government and Director-General of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, said in response to the report.
The results are the result of a sustained and cumulative effort over many years in which the authority’s work teams collaborated with their private sector partners, primarily Etisalat and Du, he added.
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