e& UAE, the country’s premier telecommunications service, is all set to evolve UAE’s telecommunications services – by using AI, robotics, and machine learning (ML).
This news comes off a new whitepaper published by e& – “Unleashing the Power of AI: How e& UAE is Shaping the Future of AI in Telecommunications and Beyond” – stating that they have created a new blueprint for transforming the Middle East’s telecommunications networks and services using modern technology like AI and robotics.
Therefore, how does it plan to create a new telecommunications infrastructure for the UAE and the Middle East? Moreover, how will this transform the lives of UAE’s citizens?
Read this post till the end to find out!
e& UAE: Who Are They?
If you didn’t know, e& UAE is UAE’s biggest telecommunications network and service provider.
e& stands for etisalat and (Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC). Its headquarters is in Abu Dhabi, officially established in August 1976. It’s a public company, and the UAE government owns 60% of its shares, with the rest 40% being public.
Almost nearing its 50th anniversary, e& is responsible for transforming UAE and the Middle East’s telecom architecture. In 1991, the UAE government gave it permission to operate internationally, becoming the primary telecom provider in the UAE. Therefore, e& will soon get all regulatory and policy-making authority in the UAE.
e& has a significant international presence, providing services in all MENA (Middle East and Northern Africa) nations. Besides the UAE, e& provides services in 15 other nations, often with different names and brand identities. Additionally, its users can use the network in 185+ countries thanks to its international roaming agreements.
As of 2024, e& has an annual revenue of AED 54 billion, with a net income of AED 10.3 billion. Moreover, it’s the 18th largest telecom service provider worldwide regarding its subscriber count.
Originally known as the Etisalat Group, its brand got a makeover in 2022 with a new name – etisalat and (e&).
Fun Fact: In 1967, UAE had approximately 36,000 exchange lines. After e& came into the picture, UAE had approximately 737,000 exchange lines by 1998 – an increase of 700,000+ exchange lines in just 30 years!
e&’s AI Milestones So Far
This is not the first time e& is dabbling in the decision to integrate AI into its operations. The company has been steadily making progress in using AI in its operations throughout the last decade.
However, with the sudden boom of AI advancements (especially by OpenAI), the time has finally come for e& to go along with AI integration with total confidence.
Therefore, here is an overview of all AI milestones achieved by e& so far:
2016
In 2016, e& initiated the integration of various analytical AI tools to make better data-driven decision-making. This was overseen by e&’s Advanced Analytics Team (AAT).
2017
In 2017, e& implemented various Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions for improving operational efficiency, accuracy, and productivity. RPA’s implementation was done across multiple e& departments, which led to a drastic decrease in manual operations.
Moreover, a Governance Model was also formed for its implementation, along with the Robotics Center of Excellence (RCE).
2018
e& further expanded AAT with the task of developing machine learning models. This new team was named Machine Learning and Advanced Analytics Team (MLAAT).
The task of this new department was to develop new solutions and ML models for improving the AAT’s predictive forecasting and better personalizing their customer experiences.
2019
2019 was a significant year for AI developments globally since this year saw the development of various AI chatbots. Therefore, e& also decided to bank on it by partnering with Emirates ICT Innovation Center (EBTIC), Khalifa University (KU), and Microsoft.
The primary motive of this partnership was to develop their own AI chatbot and use it to provide better customer services and enhance employee operations.
2020
To conduct more research on the use of AI and create more AI chatbots for better organizational efficiency and enhance customer services, e& partnered with other AI companies to form the AI Center of Excellence (AI COE).
2021
In 2021, e& realized the need to nurture the current and future generations of students with better AI studies. Therefore, e& initiated the AI Graduate Program in many UAE universities.
2022
With the rise of cloud databases and the AI revolution started by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, e& started to initiate more collaborations with various companies like OpenAI and Microsoft.
2023
e& made their most significant leap regarding using AI by integrating it with all their internal operations. This was done as part of its new internal AI-First program to enhance operational efficacy.
2024
This year, apart from initiating its new telecom advancement plan using AI, robotics, and ML, e& partnered with Oracle Corporation to use new super powerful graphics cards (GPUs) like the Nvidia H1000 to enhance all its AI functions.
How Does e& Plan To Use AI To Change UAE’s Telecommunications Industry?
e& plans to power up UAE and the Middle East’s telecom network and all their services using AI, robotics, and ML. However, how do they intend to embrace AI to do so?
Therefore, here are some critical points of their strategy according to their reports:
1. Transforming Their Line Of Products And Services
The first objective of e& is to improve the telecom products and services they provide. This will apply to products and services for all sectors – enterprise government, small, and medium businesses.
Moreover, e& will also start providing its AI models and tools as products for external parties. Therefore, doing so will successfully diversify their revenue streams.
2. Innovating Sales And Marketing Strategies
e& aims to overhaul and enhance its sales and marketing efforts with the implementation of AI.
Therefore, e& has started to build many fully autonomous digital e& stores where AI oversees everything. This will be another significant milestone for e& and AI since it will revolutionize their customer services, marketing plans, and sales processes.
Moreover, e& will implement various gamification techniques to automate and improve their up and down-selling efforts. Therefore, e& will use AI-driven customer sentiment analysis to personalize their sales and marketing efforts. Furthermore, it will also enhance the quality of their products and services.
3. Enhancing Customer Experiences
AI chatbots have become the go-to tool for most companies to enhance their customer experience by automating it. Therefore, e& already uses AI chatbots to provide excellent customer service.
However, they plan to improve it by using new features like personalized voice interactions. Therefore, they will deploy a new AI assistant to meet the requirements of their customers.
Moreover, e& will ensure that all customer requirements are met in real-time. Furthermore, AI can provide the customer experience across all e& products and services to remain consistent and seamless to create the smoothest experience possible.
4. Advancing Telco Networks
Integrating AI in e& products and services and their customer support is not a real challenge. Instead, incorporating AI to improve end-to-end telecom networks is the real deal.
Therefore, e& will implement Full MLOps (Machine Learning Operations). Here, the AI program will manage the telecom network infrastructure, ensuring it stays stable and gives customers the best telecom network possible.
Moreover, e& will ensure that this AI program follows the government’s safety policies for the customer’s safety. Therefore, the AI will not snoop in on customer’s data, ensuring data privacy.
5. Evolving Corporate Functions
Finally, the last function of e&’s AI implementation will be to evolve its corporate functions. Therefore, AI will streamline e&’s business processes to enhance productivity by integrating more automation.
Moreover, AI will empower the new “citizen data scientist” features to empower all e&’s non-technical staff processes. Furthermore, the AI will also help upskill the AI-based skillset of these employees, a testament to e& striving to provide the best telecom products and services.
Conclusion: A New AI-Era For UAE Telecoms
E&’s new ambition of using AI to further enhance the telecom networks and services in the UAE and other Gulf nations will be highly beneficial for every e& network user.
Therefore, if you are an e& network user, you will soon find their services and network to be better than ever. Moreover, you must expect their customer service to improve faster since AI will automate many functions.
Thanks for reading this post! However, if there’s anything else you wish to know about these ambitious plans of e&, please comment below!
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