UAE telco Etisalat is trialling 5G network capabilities covering multiple locations for an oil and gas corporation.

The aim is to provide it with a high standard of data security and digitalisation over a mobile network capable of delivering large amounts of data reliably.

The trial addresses a requirement of the oil and gas industry to have globally certified technology and demonstrates the ability of 5G networks to handle the enterprise traffic and enable faster transfer of uplink data related to real-time monitoring and video surveillance over a wide geographical area. This effectively paves the way towards the digital transformation of industries operating over vast areas.

“This will be a game changer and another milestone we have achieved in transforming the oil and gas sector,” said Marwan Bin Shakar, senior vice president at Etisalat. “It supports their digital transformation goals as well as addressing long-awaited industry requirements to have reliable communication with complete control of their sensitive user data.”

The oil and gas sector is the biggest industry vertical in the Middle East. Therefore, any endeavour to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness will impact the region’s economic growth. Moving forward, the 5G network technology should enable other sectors such as public safety, healthcare and manufacturing.

Etisalat is also moving towards 5G Advanced and working to enhance its network capabilities to support the latest 3GPP releases with all technology stakeholders. The 5G Advance service will include enhancements in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR) that will enable highly intelligent networks that can support a wider variety of use cases.

Etisalat also plans to adopt machine-learning-based techniques at different levels of the network to improve the service offerings and guarantee a greener network.