Abu Dhabi, August 13 (WAM) - e& and e&’s arm in the telecommunications sector today announced the successful testing of enhanced limited capacity technology (eRedCap) on its network, making it the first telecom operator globally to achieve this milestone.

This achievement confirms a practical path for enterprises and government entities to migrate widely deployed Internet of Things (IoT) applications from 4G networks to a more simplified and energy-efficient IoT platform on 5G networks.

eRedCap is designed to support large numbers of connected devices that do not require the full performance capabilities offered by 5G networks.

The technology is suitable for a wide range of applications, including smart utility meters, industrial sensors and controllers, asset and fleet tracking, payment devices, building management systems, security devices, and some wearable devices.

It provides enterprises with better battery life performance and cost efficiency to support large-scale operations while offering a ready path forward toward an advanced 5G ecosystem.

“The value of eRedCap technology lies in its ability to transfer practical and daily-use IoT applications to 5G networks, while achieving the right balance between cost, power consumption, and coverage,” said Abdulrahman Al Humidan, Vice President for Network Development at “e&”. “By proving these capabilities on our commercial networks, e& is providing service providers, manufacturers, logistics providers, smart city management companies, and other sectors with a reliable path to scale connected devices as the sector moves beyond 4G LTE in the long term.”

At the industry level, eRedCap technology contributes to greater compatibility between networks and devices, which helps simplify application processes, reduce complexity, and enhance scalability within IoT systems.

Enterprises can gradually standardize more IoT use cases on standalone 5G networks instead of relying on separate paths for high-performance 5G applications and LTE-based IoT applications.

All this contributes to simplifying the management of device lifecycles, enhancing security levels, ensuring service quality, and supporting the reallocation of the 4G LTE spectrum in the long term without the need for devices that support the full potential of 5G for each application.

eRedCap technology builds on the power-saving features of RedCap technology, providing a more sustainable environment with wide area connectivity support for IoT and longer battery life for connected devices.

Thanks to its low maximum data transfer rates and narrow 5 MHz bandwidth, the battery life of an IoT device increases from one year to three years in RedCap technology, up to five to ten years in eRedCap technology, which is comparable to the performance of low-power wide area (LPWA) technologies.

eRedCap matches LTE Cat-1/Cat-1bis in terms of cost, coverage and battery life, making it an original alternative based on independent 5G networks for legacy IoT devices. It supports the sector’s transition to more energy efficient networks while phasing out fourth generation (4G) LTE networks.

The live commercial test conducted by Etisalat UAE successfully demonstrated eRedCap's ability to provide data transfer speeds of up to 10 Mbps on low-tech devices operating with eRedCap technology, using a narrow bandwidth of 5 MHz within the NR-FDD spectrum. The data transfer unit was integrated into the live commercial network to verify eRedCap services.

This achievement reinforces Etisalat UAE’s leadership in transforming advanced 5G standards into practical capabilities with commercial value that support the digital economy in the United Arab Emirates.