UAE heavyweight e& penned contracts with Ericsson and the country’s Cyber Security Council, covering the development of autonomous networks and a separate project to target the deployment of 5G-powered drones in its home market.

Announced at the Gitex Global event in Dubai, the agreement with Ericsson will see the pair partner for three-years to explore the benefits of autonomous networks, which the companies believe have the potential to “transform” mobile networks.

This will also deepen e&’s own moves around responsible AI deployments, and there are plans for the partners to focus on key areas encompassing use of the technology to boost innovation, network autonomy and environmental sustainability goals.

As part of the deal, Ericsson and e& will develop a “strategic roadmap” to assist the development of autonomous networks over several years, as well as explore the ways AI can support network performance, customer care and wider green objectives; the latter of which involves efforts around building energy-efficient networks.

Ericsson will provide its expertise in AI, 5G and cloud technologies.

CTO at e& International, Sabri Yehya, said the agreement “marks a critical step in our journey toward autonomous networks, which will not only transform the way we operate but also enable us to meet our ambitious net-zero targets”.

Yehya added e&’s responsible use of AI will help it drive “positive changes across the industry and civil society”.

Drones

Separately, e& will introduce 5G drones as part of its collaboration with the UAE’s cybersecurity council, a tie-up geared towards solidifying the country’s security infrastructure and drone traffic management.

The “UAE drones”, as the operator called it, are equipped with threat detection, prevention and response systems.

They will be employed as part of the country’s cybersecurity tools, complete with a cloud platform to “unify processes across multiple stakeholders, including operators and government agencies”.

e& CEO Masood M. Sharif Mahmood said the drones mirror the company’s “capacities beyond connectivity as a comprehensive digital solutions provider”, in line with UAE’s target to establish itself as the centre of “technology-led solutions”.