H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim currently holds the position of Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority; an authority certified according to the Telecom Law issued by Federal Decree No. (3) of 2003 and its amendments to regulate the affairs of the telecommunications sector and ensure the creation of a fair competitive environment in the local market. In the year 2004, Al Ghanim was entrusted with establishing a telecom regulatory body, where he was able in a record time to set up "the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)”.
Under the supervision and management of Al Ghanim, the TRA succeeded in implementing the regulatory framework of the sector through developing the necessary policies and regulations such as the competition framework, interconnection agreements between providers, pricing policies, and the implementation of the National Spectrum Plan which is considered to be the first of its kind in the region. Under his leadership, the TRA licensed the second telecom operator in the UAE; putting an end to a more than a thirty year old monopoly in cellular communications. Al Ghanim seeks through several initiatives and projects launched by the TRA to improve the telecom sector’s market in the UAE in order to compete internationally by focusing further on the growth of scientific knowledge in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and by promoting skills and national human capital in areas related to the sector.
The UAE is considered one of the advanced countries in the telecom field which ranks the second in terms of contribution to the national GDP of the country following the oil and gas sectors. Furthermore, the international presence of the UAE in the telecom sector is considered an international activity due to its intensive participation through the TRA in all workshops and conferences organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and international organizations. The UAE has several unique ranks in telecom regulation at the regional and global level where it was highly ranked in a number of indicators assessing the telecom sector in accordance with international reports thanks to the efforts and dedication of a distinguished generation of telecom engineers.
Al Ghanim is considered one of the most distinguished telecom engineers in the UAE and the region who was able to accomplish in a brief period several achievements at an academic and professional level. After acquiring his B.A. in Engineering with excellence and honors from Etisalat University College in 1994 (known now as Khalifa University now), he worked with Etisalat Corporation where he successfully ascended the career ladder and was assigned to several managerial posts. In 1997, Al Ghanim joined Thuraya Telecommunications Company to occupy a number of positions the last of which was Senior Manager Product Development.
Moreover, Al Ghanim was in charge of the UAE Telecom and e-Commerce chapters during the Free Trade Agreement negotiations between the UAE, USA, and Australia and occupied a number of posts in the past including Vice-Chairman of the UAE Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Fund (2006-2009), Chairman of the UAE Institute for Advanced Science and Technology (2006-2009), and Board member of National Media Council (2008-2010).