Teletimes April 2011.pdf

Etisalat infrastructure enables the future of E-Education
Etisalat offers a vision of next generation learning at MENA ICT in Damascus
The Etisalat Group’s
Senior Vice President for
Corporate Communications,
Ahmed bin Ali, today presented
a vision for the future of
education in the Middle East
region. Providing several
examples of how technology is
empowering tens of thousands
of students located in the
UAE and Etisalat’s other 17
international markets, Ahmed
bin Ali alerted the delegates of
the MENA ICT Forum that the
education is now intrinsically
linked to technology.
Ahmed bin Ali, Group Senior
Vice President Corporate
Communications at Etisalat
said: “The youth of today
are using electronic media
more than any other source
of knowledge. The fact is,
even if schools do not provide
electronic teaching resources
students will still proactively
use the Internet, social media
and electronic books to learn.
Traditional learning techniques
and schools without an
E-Education framework are on
the verge of being consigned
to the very history books that
they try to teach from. This
makes fiber optic networks
and 4G mobile broadband key
technologies to be promoted
by regional governments in the
coming decade.”
Ahmed addressed hundreds of
senior government officials and
senior representatives of public
and private sector companies
from across the Middle East
in panel which he shared with
other leading proponents of
e-learning. This took place at
the third annual MENA ICT
Conference which this year
took place in Damascus, Syria
Etisalat addresses
Etisalat’s Group Senior Vice
President Ahmed bin Ali has
addressed the 4th COMESA
Investment Forum which took
place today at the Madinat
Jumeirah in Dubai. The
conference was attended by
a number of dignitaries and
Ministers from the UAE and
across the African continent
as well as business leaders and
investors from the region.
During the opening keynote
panel Ahmed bin Ali presented
the case for Etisalat’s ongoing
investment and expansion
across the continent which
began in 1999.
Bin Ali explained: “Mobile
telephony will continue
to be the key enabler for
both individual customers
and businesses in Africa.
The continent is currently
witnessing tremendous growth
and there is potential both
to acquire new, first time
customers and also to provide
value added services and
broadband,” he said.
Bin Ali went onto discuss the
positive experience Etisalat
and which was organized by
The Arab ICT Organization
(IJMA3). This year MENA ICT
was held in conjunction with in
cooperation with the World IT
and Services Alliance (WITSA),
the Syrian Computer Society
(SCS), and United Nations
ESCWA organization.
The Etisalat Group is working
with education providers in
the UAE to provide access
to new learning tools. In
particular, the UAE’s National
Research and Education
Network (NREN) which is
also known as ‘Ankobut’
provides dedicated Internet
access for higher education
4th COMESA Investment Forum in Dubai
has had in the emerging
markets of Africa such as
Egypt, Sudan and Tanzania. In
Sudan, Etisalat has expanded
its fiber optic network inside
Khartoum and introduced a
new internet gateway which
has attracted new corporate
customers in the oil, banking
and education sectors. It is
also providing International
Services and Wholesale
capacity to other operators
empowered by its submarine
cable landing station at Port
Sudan. Etisalat’s Egyptian
providers and a connection to
international research networks
to enable a greater level of
participation from the UAE
in global research initiatives.
Etisalat is also making efforts
to proliferate mobile learning
tools through workshops with
leading establishments and
partnerships with innovative
e-education companies.
Etisalat’s subsidiaries in
Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Pakistan
offer clear examples of the
Etisalat Group’s commitment
to education. In West
Africa, Etisalat has adopted
several schools and is helping
to enhance the learning
infrastructure there. In Asia,
Etisalat subsidiaries are
creating Etisalat Knowledge
Centres and providing access
to educational materials at
the Grassroots level. It is
also working with leading
multinationals to create
opportunities for research and
development through a Centre
for Excellence for Internet
Technologies. T
operations have accrued over
15 million customers in less
than four years despite it
being the third entrant to the
Egyptian market.
Building on these successes
Etisalat has extended it
services in more African
countries including Nigeria,
Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger,
Togo, Gabon, Central Africa
and the Ivory Coast. It now
employs over 6,000 people
who provide services to around
35 million mobile subscribers
across these markets. T
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