en.Wedoany.com Reported - Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of UAE telecom operator du, said in a recent interview that the company is transforming from a traditional connectivity service provider into an infrastructure enabler for the UAE's digital economy, aligning its strategy with the nation's digital transformation and knowledge economy development direction.
In the digital era, the telecommunications industry is no longer limited to providing traditional connectivity services but has become a foundational force supporting smart cities, artificial intelligence-driven industries, data flows, and sovereign cloud environments. du's role has evolved from a connectivity provider to a key supporter of broader national resilience and economic growth.
du's investments in 5G and 5G-Advanced networks, fiber optics, cloud services, and data centers aim to provide infrastructure for the Internet of Things, autonomous systems, and next-generation digital services. The company has adopted a "design for resilience" approach to business continuity, leveraging network redundancy, proactive risk management, and solutions such as Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) and Backup as a Service (BaaS) to ensure that enterprise and government customers enhance their resilience during uninterrupted digital transformation.
In terms of investment strategy, du is focusing on AI infrastructure, including AI Park and the national hybrid AI platform, while expanding its data center footprint through hyperscale investments and submarine cable systems to enhance the UAE's connectivity coverage and domestic resilience as a global digital hub. Digital services such as du Pay and global technology partnerships form part of its growing service portfolio.
du recently launched the corporate venture capital platform du Ventures, aiming to support startups in fintech, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud, and enterprise technology through a structured mechanism. The platform leverages du's infrastructure, enterprise reach, and customer base to accelerate the transformation of ideas into commercially viable solutions. This move is seen as a structural manifestation of du's transformation from a traditional telecom operator into a technology enterprise, with its offerings expanding from connectivity to a complete digital stack, including platforms, data, intelligence, security, and applications.
In terms of cybersecurity and data sovereignty, du supports organizations in regulating critical data and meeting compliance requirements while innovating, through sovereign cloud, data centers, and ICT solutions. Its national super cloud platform provides sovereign protection via Tier III data centers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, combined with geographically diverse redundancy, to build a secure, highly available digital foundation for demanding industries.
Looking ahead to the next five years, Al Hassawi stated that success will be marked by du becoming an indispensable part of the UAE's digital future, achieving synergistic operation of infrastructure, cloud, AI, cybersecurity, and venture capital-backed innovation. He envisions government and regulated industries viewing du as the preferred sovereign infrastructure partner, and hopes that du Ventures will cultivate a generation of local digital companies contributing to the UAE's innovation economy.
