Dubai: Mobile wallet services, currently awaiting the green signal from the UAE Central Bank, will go live within two to three months in sync with Dubai’s Smart City initiative, according to an etisalat official.
“We are in discussions with the Central Bank to give guidance on the way forward. It is very vital for the Smart City initiative and will give a tremendous boost to e-commerce and mobile commerce,” said Khalifa Al Shamsi, chief digital services officer at etisalat. “As a provider we are ready. We are hoping to start the service by end of the year or the beginning of the next.”
When asked what the stumbling block is, Al Shamsi said the Central Bank is working on their vision on how the service should evolve.
The first question which comes to mind regarding the Smart Government and Smart City initiatives is whether the infrastructure is strong enough to support it. Al Shamsi said that box is ticked as the UAE has a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) penetration of more than 80 per cent.
The next question is the penetration of smart devices. “We are number one in smartphone penetration rate globally, so that box is also ticked,” the official added.
“The Smart City initiative is a step ahead of Smart Government; it is a global trend. In the UAE, we are far ahead of other countries as we have a strong infrastructure.
“The major components of success are already there. Our role as a telco operator is to bring value.”
Etisalat covers 99 per cent of the populated area with 3G and 85 per cent with 4G LTE. With the Smart City initiative, all entities will work in partnership and share information. “Innovation only comes when private and public sectors work hand-in-hand. Etisalat has already set up a team to fast forward the Smart City initiative. “Competition is great but the priority will be to work in collaboration in joint projects,” he said.
To increase the speed of home internet usage, etisalat has launched 500-Mbps for e-life customers and 10-Gbps speed for corporates. Speeds can be further increased but it has to be done in phases and demand needs to be there, officials said.
