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The activities of the UAE 5G Conference, organized by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), started today with the participation of prominent officials and experts in this field to discuss the reality, prospects, challenges and opportunities related to 5G. The Conference takes place in the Westin Dubai Marina and Marina Beach Resort.

During the first day of the conference, which brings together more than 400 experts and officials from different countries, several sessions have been held to discuss the most important issues related to 5G and its potential impact on various aspects of economic, social, educational and commercial life.

In the opening speech, H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori welcomed H.E. Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), experts and speakers representing government, private and academic sectors, indicating that the conference is in line with the directives of the wise leadership to continuously foresee the future and prepare to shape it in a way that serves the community and individuals and enhances happiness. H.E. Al Mansoori said: “Today in this conference, we want to clarify facts. The term “5G” has become the source of many speculation, scenarios, promises and warnings. Those who know and those who do not have become experts, benefiting from the widespread new social media platforms. Some picture a rosy prosperous human future, and others spread fear and panic, while people follow both sides, searching for credible information to satisfy their curiosity.”

H.E. Al Mansoori added: “We believe in the future, and that technology should be at the service of humanity and its aspirations for a decent life, sustainable development and happiness. Therefore, we confirm that we have come a long way in establishing the foundations of 5G, in cooperation with our partners in the private sector. We have launched a national 5G strategy, and our telecom service providers have already started implementing 5G on a commercial scale with vigorous and measured steps based on the outcomes of the World Radiocommunication Conference held in Egypt, which resulted in the allocation of a number of frequency bands for IMT.”

H.E. Al Mansoori indicated that all the steps that have been taken fall within the context of the UAE 5G Strategy, which is a unique strategy in the region, as it maps the road to accommodate and implement 5G during the next few years.

The first session of the UAE 5G Conference focused on the application of 5G by region, and the factors affecting the deployment of technologies such as population density, nature of the region, human activity, etc. The session also discussed the latest experiences, developments, opportunities and the immediate need of the market. During the second session, entitled "emerging technologies in 5G networks per sector", the speakers discussed the most important technologies that will benefit from adopting and disseminating 5G networks such as Augmented Reality (AR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The third session of the first day focused on 5G Impact on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The speakers stressed that the industrial revolution civilization leaps will be achieved through adopting 5G technologies as they have the ability to drive economic growth in the region beyond the capacity of the past generations of mobile technology.

This conference is scheduled to complete its work tomorrow with a number of discussion sessions, which will address the security of 5G, the role of standards in making 5G safer, the 5G regulatory environment, and the 5G security and infrastructure.

It is worth to mention that the UAE has ranked first in the Arab Region and fourth globally in the launch and use of 5G networks, according to the Global Connectivity Index, issued by Carphone Warehouse, which is specialized in technology benchmarking. This achievement is the result of the efforts of the telecommunications sector in general, and TRA in particular, as the main driver of 5G launch in the UAE. In recent years, TRA has collaborated with the operators to raise the telecom sector readiness to enter this state-of-the-art technology, which contributes to the UAE’s global leadership and makes it first to deploy and operate 5G networks.