The president of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, issued a federal decree appointing His Excellency Majed Sultan Al Mesmar as the new director-general of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA).
Holding a degree of Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Al Mesmar has served as the TDRA’s deputy director-general of the telecommunications sector since joining in 2010 and has been the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ICT Fund since 2017.
He has profound working experience of more than 30 years in telecommunications and regulations, holding various senior-level management posts at several telecom operators locally, regionally, and internationally. These include being the senior vice president – Special Projects (UAE) at Etisalat Group; chief technical officer at Mobily (Saudi Arabia); and chief operating officer at Etisalat DB Telecom India Pvt Ltd.
He actively participates as well in many international events, including those of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In fact, he was elected as chairman at the highest ITU authority, the Plenipotentiary Conference 2018 (PP18). He also chaired the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2018 and represented the UAE in several summit sessions.
Talal Humaid Belhoul, chairman of TDRA’s Board of Directors, praised and recognized the major role played by Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Al Mesmar’s predecessor, and commended what TDRA has achieved during recent years in establishing UAE’s place as a leading country in the ICT sector.
"Over the last period and under the management of Hamad Al Mansoori, TDRA has made great strides not only in the telecommunications sector but also in digital transformation, as it aptly played its regulatory and enabling role, in line with strategic variables and general trends of the UAE. TDRA has been a strong supporter of UAE’s efforts towards realizing the concepts of 4IR, smart cities, and development based on the digital knowledge economy," he said.
