Dubai, UAE, 19 September 2016:  The Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Council MENA is pleased to announce the launch of the 8th Edition of FTTH Council MENA Conference taking place from 7th to 9th November at The Regency hotel, Kuwait, under the patronage of HE Salim Al-Ozainah, Chairman and CEO of Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA) of Kuwait. Prysmian Group, CommScope, Detecon and Oman Fiber Optic (OFO) are Gold Sponsors at the event which will be held under the theme “FTTH, The Evolution to the Digital Society” and will witness the presence of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the ICT industry.

As identified in the FTTH Council MENA market study for 2015, FTTH connections are increasing rapidly in the MENA region thanks to broadband networks initiatives, housing programs and mobile backhaul. In 2015, subscribers in the MENA region have reached 2.1 million, an increase of 20%  from the previous year, while the number of homes passed by FTTH/B was more than 5 Million, an increase of 28% from the previous year. The country with the highest penetration rate in the region is the UAE, at 75%, followed by Qatar with 72%, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

“Developing better communication networks is fundamental in supporting smart city services as well as those in e-health, e-government and e-education.  Fiber to the Home (FTTH) technology provides high speed internet services when supporting by well-designed infrastructures and appropriate national broadband strategies. The growth in FTTH/B coverage and take up rate is led by the dynamism of the GCC countries, and notably UAE and KSA markets” says Dr. Safa Nassereldin, Chairman of FTTH Council MENA.

This event will be the 8th edition of the FTTH Council MENA Conference and Exhibition, and a worthy successor of the previous editions held since 2009 in Amman, Beirut, Sharm-El-Sheikh, Doha, Marrakech, Dubai and Muscat. These previous events have received the patronage of the respective Ministers and authorities from the Telecommunication sector and attracted almost 300 delegates annually from 30 countries around the world with typically more than 15 exhibitors from the FTTH industry. 

Pre-Conference Workshops held on 7th November 2016 will be presented by reputed speakers from the field who will touch upon FTTH business & smart solutions through live interactive sessions, including a Mini-MBA in Fibre-to-the Home and Next Generation Access. 

The FTTH Conference taking place from 8-9th November 2016 will open the floor for discussions regarding the region’s latest broadband projects and explore benefits, challenges and efficient strategies to deploy ultra-fast broadband to homes and business within the region. The FTTH Exhibition held alongside the Conference will also give attendees an adequate networking platform to touch base with companies showcasing the latest technologies.
FTTH Council MENA is also organizing the Kuwait Roadshow to explore the fibre infrastructure of Kuwait on 9th November 2016 at 2pm at the venue after the conference.