Etisalat officially launches FTTH network in Abu Dhabi

UAE-based telecoms operator Etisalat has officially launched its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network, dubbed ‘eLife’, in the capital Abu Dhabi. The new network will be able to provide double-play services bundling broadband internet and fixed telephony to the 665,000 households that are currently connected to it. In the future Etisalat plans to offer high speed internet at download speeds of up to 100Mbps over the network, as well as a video-on-demand (VoD) service and high definition (HD) TV. The telco has reached the final stages of rolling out the FTTH network in the city; upon completion, expected before the end of 2009, Etisalat claims that Abu Dhabi will become the world’s first 100% FTTH-connected capital. The company is also in the process of connecting Dubai and Sharjah to the eLife network and plans to connect all of the UAE’s households by 2011.