UAE telecom body partner in media summit

Abu Dhabi, Oct 21 (IANS/WAM) The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been named event partner of the 2013 Abu Dhabi Media Summit, which starts Tuesday at the Yas Viceroy Hotel in the UAE capital.

The three-day event will focus on the transition towards a fully digital future, placing particular emphasis on the digital capabilities of the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, East Asia and China.

Under the theme of 'Leveraging the Digital Age', the Abu Dhabi Media Summit will again gather global leaders from the digital domain to address Internet evolution in some of the most dynamic emerging markets of the world.

"The Middle East shows the highest Internet user growth rate in the world, after it rose from 3,284,000 in 2000 to over 90 million today," said Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, director-general of the TRA.

"In the UAE, 73 percent of the population is using the Internet, increasingly so via their mobile devices. UAE smartphone penetration figures already reach three out of four residents," he added.

He said that the Abu Dhabi Media Summit in particular acted as an excellent platform to address high-level, forthcoming trends that are influencing this digital transition.

"By encouraging the industry's development and public awareness towards digital opportunities, the Abu Dhabi Media Summit strongly aligns with our aim to stay ahead of the trend as a regulator in one of the most digitally advanced countries of the Gulf," Al Ghanim said.

--IANS/WAM

ab/dg