Emirates litfest to livestream UAE astronauts’ session to over 99,000 students from 284 schools

As the official Communications Partner of choice for the 12th Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), is taking another giant leap for the UAE’s connected future by powering a series of 5G-enabled live streams from the Education days at the award-winning and popular literary event in the region. These are the first literature sessions to be streamed locally over a 5G network in the entire Middle East.

The sessions at Emirates Airline Festival of Literature that will be livestreamed by du include the ‘Eight Days in Space’ session featuring Emirati space pioneers Hazza Al Mansoori, Sultan Al Neyadi, and Salem Al Marri. In addition, du will livestream a Creativity and Innovation session with Lebanese writer Rania Zaghir, and a session titled ‘Making a Stand’ that features Ziauddin Yousafzai – the father of Nobel Prize laureate and world-renowned education advocate, Malala Yousafzai.

Jameela Al Muhairi, Minister of State for General Education, said: “We are so excited about this live broadcasting opportunity. It will bring Emirates Airline Festival of Literature into our schools and more of our students will be able to listen, get engaged and be mesmerised by the stories and adventures told by different authors. We trust that our teachers will enjoy these sessions with their students by discussing the stories and laughing or crying about them together. We believe that these broadcasts will change classrooms and inspire students to participate in a creative learning journey.”

Fahad Al Hassawi, Deputy CEO – Telco Services, said: “We at du are thrilled to be championing innovative ways to broadcast and expand the reach of this outstanding literary event to viewers across the nation and the world. The youth of tomorrow will play an important role in leading the next generation of progress for the UAE, which is why we are proud to be honing our 5G technology and network to empower future minds. With this first-ever 5G live stream, students from schools registered in the country can enjoy the inspiring sessions and ideas that Emirates Festival of Literature presents. In addition, du’s intelligent network evolution is the catalyst for greater societal and economic empowerment. By 5G livestreaming these sessions, this is a prime way for us to showcase the connected possibilities that enhanced mobile broadband connectivity can create for the UAE’s key industrial verticals, especially the education sector, due to the high speeds and low latency of this technology.”

Isobel Abulhoul OBE, CEO of the Foundation and founder of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature said: “In my wildest dreams I had never imagined being able to reach schools on the edge of the empty quarter or reach the shores of the Indian Ocean. Thanks to du’s technology and determination to make this happen, it is no longer a dream. Imagine almost 100,000 students will be joined in celebrating space, education, and imagination.”