Etisalat Group and Cisco Gear Up for the IoT Era with Release of White Paper

Etisalat Group, in collaboration with Cisco, has today unveiled a White Paper outlining its vision for the development of the Internet of Things (IoT). The White Paper - ‘Evolving the Service Provider Architecture for the IoT Era’ - provides a road map for how the service provider network will need to evolve to meet customers’ needs and adapt to the growing IoT market and maintain Etisalat’s position as a leader in delivering next-generation technology advancements to the market.

Analysts forecast that the worldwide IoT installed base will exceed 28 billion by 2020, while total market revenue could exceed US$ 7 trillion. IoT infrastructure must be able to support the demands of high data rates, large numbers of connected things, deep coverage, advanced data analytics, and security and data management capabilities, among other requirements.

“Etisalat has been at the forefront in creating new technology breakthroughs in the UAE and the IoT is in our DNA. We believe that the IoT is vital for regional development and have made a commitment to build best-in-class IoT capabilities to bring to the market. The whitepaper in collaboration with Cisco is an initiative that is aligned with Etisalat’s 2020 technology vision,” said Hatem Bamatraf, Chief Technology Officer, Etisalat Group International. “Our shared vision identifies IoT as a key priority for Etisalat Group, to maintain its position as a leader in delivering next-generation platforms and services to the market.”

As a result, the White Paper provides operators with a road-map and practical approach that paves the way for the evolution in its capabilities and future network architecture needed to realise the potential of IoT. Moving forward, this will involve managing a diverse network infrastructure, as access technologies continue to develop. It also highlights how service providers will need to invest new technologies and advanced networks to ensure the necessary capabilities are in place.

“The Internet of Things is profoundly disrupting business and commerce and shaping the future outlook for service providers. Etisalat Group has been working closely with Cisco to bring IoT-based solutions and the unprecedented opportunities they present to the markets in which it operates,” said Abdelrahman Ibrahim, CTO of Global Service Provider, Cisco Middle East. “Together we are examining the building blocks of an SP architecture that can capture the full potential of IoT by delivering exceptional next-generation user experiences. Our collaboration will help define the future architecture that can be adopted by telcos in the region, building on our expertise in SP architecture transformation and our holistic vision for the IoT.”

The White Paper identifies current and potential activities where IoT will have an impact. These include: Healthcare, fitness and wellbeing, manufacturing, agriculture, utilities, extractive industries, surveillance, logistics, transportation, retail and finance, as well as new applications related to Smart Cities.  

In addition, it outlines the key technologies which will help create more flexible network infrastructure, better able to meet the wide-ranging requirements of IoT.  These are: Implementation of Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) & Software Defined Networking (SDN), Cloud and edge (fog) computing, Low-power wide-area (LPWA) technologies and 5G. The White Paper also addresses the new security challenges that arise from this new area of connectivity.