The brand that matters in telecom in 2026

Fast Company Middle East unveils the Brands That Matter 2026 list, celebrating 32 winners across 19 categories. These brands are making a real difference, combining purpose with performance to create lasting impact. From advertising and banking & finance to retail and technology, they’re reshaping industries and championing values that matter most today

Every smart city, every AI deployment, every digital government service runs on telecom infrastructure. Across the region, that dependency is sharpening operator focus and attracting fresh investment into networks that need to be faster, more resilient, and significantly more intelligent. Connectivity is no longer a utility. It is a strategic asset.

du 

For moving well beyond the network it was built on

du has moved from being just a connectivity provider to becoming a full digital services operator. Its 5G network now handles more than 70% of mobile traffic and covers 99% of the population. The new 5G-Advanced service, which reaches speeds of 5.1 Gbps, is the first of its kind to be launched commercially in the region. du Pay, the company’s financial platform launched less than two years ago, has processed over AED 1.5 billion in transactions, reached one million downloads, and supports remittances to 200 countries, mainly helping blue-collar workers and migrant communities. The company has also reorganized into three sub-brands: du Tech, du Infra, and du Business. It has rolled out sovereign cloud infrastructure with Oracle Alloy and formed AI partnerships with Nvidia, Microsoft, and AWS.