UAE operators in public war of words

Osman Sultan, CEO of du, claimed the launch of services requires cooperation between the two operators.

The UAE's incumbent operator Etisalat has countered claims by market rival du that it was partly responsible for the newcomer failing to meet its licence obligations.

The spat started as the UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) issued du with a written warning for failure to provide national and international call services from homes and offices in the UAE by the July 12 deadline specified in its licence.

Du CEO Osman Sultan responded by claiming the launch of such services "requires operational and technical steps to take place between the two operators".

He further claimed that du had identified a number of technical issues that needed to be rectified by Etisalat before his company could launch the services and that "du is waiting for Etisalat's confirmation to open lines".

However, Etisalat disputed du's claims suggesting that it had honoured all testing requests as per regulatory guidelines.

"At the current stage of testing, du has not specifically identified any defects that are solely attributable to Etisalat, and that would require Etisalat to unilaterally issue a confirmation of rectification," said Ali Al Amiri, VP of carrier and wholesale, at Etisalat.

"Line opening is not an issue currently, and could not have caused the delays, as the testing needs to be completed first. Etisalat continues to work closely with du and the TRA to ensure that Etisalat's deliverables are completed on schedule," he concluded.

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READERS' COMMENTS

who gains?
Posted by langyaw, Dubai, UAE on Thursday 19 July 2007 at 09:00 UAE time

The new kid on the block is obliged to play the underdog and not ruffle the feathers of the big bird. While in the process of building its resources and market, du should be careful in releasing statements about the big bird. Only when they've become like the big bird can they afford to peck the other. The result of such premature squabbling will only play against du, and the public, as well. The gainer? Still good old Etisalat. Better put your act together, du.

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