The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Etisalat UAE has been recognised as the fastest mobile network operator globally by Ookla Speedtest.

Ookla, the global leader in fixed broadband and mobile network testing applications, data and analysis recognised Etisalat for being the fastest mobile network operator worldwide in 2020 providing its subscribers the most superior experience with the fastest mobile speeds from anywhere in the world.

This major achievement is a testimony of UAE’s leadership’s vision to transform the country to a digital first and knowledge based economy.

The ranking is based on analysis by Ookla of millions of tests actively initiated by customers across every network to check internet speeds using various applications on web and mobile platforms. The Speedtest Awards for top network providers are determined using a ‘Speed Score’ that incorporates a measure of each provider’s network speeds (download and upload) to rank network speed performance.

With a download speed of 115.89 mbps and an overall ranking in the ‘Speed Score’ at 98.78 mbps, Etisalat is the only operator globally to rank higher than 90 as per Ookla Speedtest data. Etisalat is also the winner of the Speedtest Awards for both fastest mobile network worldwide in Q1-Q2 and Q2-Q3 in 2020 and fastest fixed broadband network in Q3-Q4 2019.

Hatem Dowidar, Acting CEO, Etisalat Group and board member of GSMA said: "This is a milestone achievement and a testament to our relentless efforts towards our strategy and vision to ‘Drive the digital future to empower societies’. Our corporate strategy has enabled us to consistently push boundaries, by responding swiftly to the global digital advancements and proactively deliver cutting-edge services and solutions to our customers. We will continue to focus on creating the world’s best and leading networks across our markets to deliver long-term value to all our stakeholders.

"Thanks to the vision of our wise leadership in the UAE in positioning the country among the most digitally advanced globally and inspiring us to realise our efforts by delivering world-class networks, infrastructure and innovative services. We are also grateful to the leaders for their continuous support and want to express our gratitude to all our loyal customers for their confidence in driving us to accomplish our goals of driving digital innovations for a better future.”

The achievement is significant in current times when the pandemic caused global crisis highlighting the importance of a robust and up-to-date network. Etisalat’s individual efforts in building one of the most advanced networks greatly impacted the country’s overall performance - and as a result the UAE was ranked the fastest country in the world in January, March and July 2020 for average mobile download speed, as reported on the Speedtest Global Index.