Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), the Dubai-based telecoms operator known as du, is tapping into the potential of the metaverse to enhance its network capabilities, its chief technology officer has said.
The company is working on a “strong programme” to construct digital twins of its data centres and infrastructure to boost operational efficiency, decrease costs and improve quality, Saleem AlBlooshi told The National.
“The metaverse is unavoidable. As a direct result of this, using the internet will result in a higher level of emotional engagement,” he said.
“We consider the metaverse to be a game changer in the next phase, and its anticipation drives network bandwidth,” he added, referring to the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted over a network and which is expected to increase significantly with the growing number of users.
The digital twins will be able to simulate various scenarios, which, in turn, can be replicated in the company's actual physical operations, Mr AlBlooshi said.
The metaverse is the emerging space where people can interact in virtual worlds using three-dimensional representations.
The technology can allow companies to streamline operations through interactive means. In the case of industries, it can immerse workers in a digital replica of their infrastructure with the help of hardware such as augmented reality headsets and the related software.
In a recent global survey by Accenture, 71 per cent of respondents said shifting to the metaverse will have a positive business impact.
Du boosted its network infrastructure investments by “more than 100 per cent” in 2021 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr AlBlooshi said. Those investments did not involve the metaverse, but have set the company up for its latest plans to tap into the virtual world.
As with other industries that needed to cope with the new reality stemming from the global health crisis, the pandemic prompted du to ramp up their investments. Before Covid-19 hit, the company in 2019 said it was increasing its capital expenditure by 70 per cent to boost the roll-out of its 5G services.
“The acceleration of investments shows the commitment of the telecoms industry in rolling out better infrastructure,” Mr AlBlooshi said.
“Networks that will deal with the metaverse must have huge capacity, computing power and low latency to be able to accommodate the components of the metaverse, particularly blockchain networks and connected devices that are expected to explode in the coming years.”
The number of connected devices globally, which will comprise the Internet of Things, is projected to more than double to about 29.4 billion by 2030 from an estimated 13.1 billion in 2022, data from Statista show.
The pandemic also shifted the company's business model by making it more agile to keep up with the fast pace of change in user demographics, particularly in providing services from offices to homes and, eventually, any place users decide to perform their tasks, he said.
Historically, telecoms companies have never failed to address the demand from consumers ... otherwise, it would've been a disaster
Saleem AlBlooshi,
chief technology officer, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company
“Customers today are more attached to the network; therefore, we have to ensure that the criteria or the way we are managing this whole infrastructure has to change according to the changes of our customer needs.”
It also prompted du to tap into artificial intelligence, which, Mr AlBlooshi said, enables the company to further digitise its network and, more importantly, predict user behaviour.
Meanwhile, the shift to the next mobile communication standard, 6G, is expected to be sooner than the gap between 4G and 5G, Mr AlBlooshi said. He added that while still at an early stage, regulators are already engaged in discussions to define the technology and draw up its accompanying standards.
“Historically, telecoms companies have never failed to address the demand from consumers,” Mr AlBlooshi said.
EITC reported a 26.2 per cent increase in its second-quarter net profit, boosted by sustained demand for broadband and mobile services.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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