ulfar was speaking at the Mobile World Congress, which is currently taking place in Barcelona.

“Today, etisalat plays a key role in the mobile government strategy of the UAE, and is on course to achieve 100 per cent fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) penetration — a world first,” he said, adding that he hopes to replicate the UAE’s success across all high growth international markets.

During his speech, Julfar highlighted the growth achieved in Saudi Arabia, where Mobily, etisalat’s operating brand, is the second largest operator in the Kingdom, as it has one of the world’s busiest data networks with 1.3 petabytes consumed daily. He said the company is also actively participating in various mobile for development programmes in Africa.

Commenting on the way customers are migrating online services online from computers to their smart phones, Julfar said, “We see a new wave of connectivity, where big data meets big community, and where the demand for products and services is outgrowing any other industry.”

As for etisalat’s future growth strategy, the CEO said it is defined by a focus to “aspire forward”, with a primary goal of providing customers not only “great efficiency but also greater customer experiences.”

Julfar urged global players to work closely together saying that there is a need to move “from a mindset of competitive value destruction to collaborative value addition.”