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Du CEO sees internet choice for customers in 2010
Internet customers in the UAE should be able to choose their provider in 2010, according to the CEO of the country's second telecom firm Du.
Osman Sultan described opening up competition on fixed internet access as "the next big thing" but was reluctant to put an exact date on when it might happen.
Speaking at GITEX, he said he was keen for it to happen sooner rather than later.
"I don't have full visibility, but what I can tell you is we will see something happening in 2010, for sure," he said in comments published by ITP.net.
"I would like to see this as soon as possible. I would like to be able to start competing on the non-mobile front in the entire country," he added.
Sultan said that the next phase in the telecom sector in the UAE would be to drive internet competition nationwide, but he added that for Du to be able to do this, it needed to access Etisalat's customers across the UAE.
"No way will there be duplication of the infrastructure - it doesn't make sense to have duplication in infrastructure in that field, so it's about accessing Etisalat's infrastructure and Etisalat accessing our infrastructure," Sultan said.
Competition in the mobile sector increased last week when Du sealed a deal with Apple to sell the iPhone in the UAE.
Separately, the head of the telecom regulator in the UAE said plans for a third mobile operator in the UAE would gather pace over the next few months.
A study will take place into the impact a new entrant will have on the sector, while mobile customers are expected to be able to port numbers across networks by early next year, Mohamed Al Ghanim, director general of the Telecom Regulation Authority (TRA) said.
Al Ghanim added that despite the economic crisis, the telecom sector was still making progress, with profit and growth continuing.
But he said there was a need for caution before a third mobile operator was ratified.
"We have re-studied the entire model and we will be looking at it by the end of this year to see where we are in terms of the third mobile operator. At the moment, it is still a bit premature to talk about it," he said.
Before any new entrant is sanctioned, mobile number portability (MNP) would be introduced, although Al Ghanim said it was not necessarily a precursor to a third operator.
He said that both prepaid and postpaid customers will be able to transfer their numbers across networks, but it had not been decided if customers will face a charge to move their numbers, as can happen in some markets.
For more on GITEX, visit ITP.net.
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Posted by resident on palm jumeriah, dubai, uae on 25 January 2010 at 21:09 UAE time
as residents of Palm we are forced by Nakheel to only use DU for internet, land line and satelitte television and we need one subscription per bedroom-this is a very expensive, now people install own dishes, which are 20% price of DU
Posted by Frank, Dubai, UAE on 21 October 2009 at 16:02 UAE time
People forgetting that UAE is a very young country, and if you compare it to its neighbours that have been around for centuries, they do pretty good in some 30-35 years! Services become better, habits are changing to better, roads are becoming better, life style is becoming better, government transparency is becoming better, and competitions are becoming more and more in most of the fields. Now back to Etisalat and DU: There are big differences and big saving between choosing Etisalat and DU. I am working for a company having around 1000 employees. We use high speed Internet (Leased Line: 100MB), and we have 5 PRI or should I say 150 telephone channels. Till today we were using Etisalat since there were no other choice, then we got DU. They didn't offer better price as all prices are set by TRA, but they provide managed services and incentives such as Pay per Second (not Pay per minute as Etisalat charges), and bandwidth on demand, as during summer time we use less MB and now we use more. A simple calculation gave us saving around 20% in Tele bills, and 45% in Internet bills. So there is a big differences between these 2 companies, and you can not deny that. Comes to the services I believe Etisalat and DU services are very good compare to big shuts such as T-Com, Sprint, AT&T, O2 and Orange. Yes true we need more competitions and cheaper tele and bandwidth rates, but do not forget Korea has 50M population vs UAE only 6M.
Posted by Barak, Dubai on 21 October 2009 at 15:58 UAE time
hahahahahahhahoohohooho hoohohooooooohhhh - joke of the millenium. Lets talk something sensible like farming on moon or mars.
Posted by His Excellency Dr Paul, Dubai, UAE on 21 October 2009 at 15:15 UAE time
Talk of Etisalat/Du as a duopoly is largely false since competition is carefully prevented by the TRA, which aims to keep the revenue rolling in by maintaining high prices for both govt controlled companies. So it is more of a monopoly but with token 'brands' both controlled effectively by the same people.
The WTO rules mean the UAE will have to deregulate its market, I believe by 2015. The issue really is whether the UAE will realise the benefits to the wider economy of improvements and cost reductions in telecoms before this, or whether it will try to do its best to soak businesses and consumers in high charges right up until the 2015 deadline beyond which it would face WTO sanctions.
Posted by VRV on 21 October 2009 at 14:10 UAE time
#ali, since ur quoting something i wrote, i thought i'd clarify my point through that way.
"People who have been here for long think monopolies are fine"
that's yet another assumption from you. Trust me, no one thinks its fine.
"and having a duopoly is a huge step ahead."
huge is a word that hasn't been used..as I said "baby step" since ur quoting my posting.
"However, people who have been to other first world countries realize its just eyewash. Reminds me of people who claim Dubai's driving standards are wonderful just because its better than Cairo or Mumbai."
so basically what u did here: you compared dubai to 1st world cities...but refused to compare it with 3rd world cities??
we either compare or we dont. and the logic says, yes dubai is no where near tokyo, but it's definetly ahead of say cairo. although a decade ago, it was in par with cairo..how do u explain that?
Ali, the real key is to know where we stand. Dubai has all the potential to become better and more advanced than it was a decade ago. We are the generations that is watching things unfold.
If you have very low expectations and standards, you will cheer anything that is above the bare minimum!
Posted by Ali, Dubai, UAE on 21 October 2009 at 12:17 UAE time
"if u had been in uae for over 20 years"
Thats the key. People who have been here for long think monopolies are fine, and having a duopoly is a huge step ahead.
However, people who have been to other first world countries realize its just eyewash. Reminds me of people who claim Dubai's driving standards are wonderful just because its better than Cairo or Mumbai.
If you have very low expectations and standards, you will cheer anything that is above the bare minimum!
Posted by VRV on 21 October 2009 at 11:01 UAE time
i dont know why people turn to assumption when the facts are few clicks away.
for the people saying that the prices are set for both, how do u explain Du charging 450aed for 8mbps and etisalat charging 500aed for the same??
mind you, when both charged around 450AED for 4mbps, it was DU that automatically doubled the speed free of charge and thats another fact for u..so yes, DU is the driving force in all of this.
in any case, no one is arguing that this is not the fair competition we'd like to see, but lets just make it clear.
if u had been in uae for over 20 years, news like this would make u thrilled. we wouldnt have even dreamt to see an emerging company competing with etisalat, let alone demanding nationwide coverage competition now after excelling in their assigned zones.
it's a step to the front, a baby step, but still a step!...and if u cant see that it is a positive thing...then thats a shame...yet another bunch of negative moaners and nothing more.
Posted by Sam, Dubai, UAE on 21 October 2009 at 08:46 UAE time
From the article it's clear that Etisalat & du is collectively deciding the price rather than a clean competition. While the Korean's are planning to upgrade their Broadband speed to 1GBPS by spending billions....
I pity UAE on the price level as well as the facilities provided by the telecom even though they position themselves as one of the best place to live on Earth.
Posted by His Excellency Dr Paul, Dubai, UAE on 20 October 2009 at 16:38 UAE time
J Smith, you ask "who requires faxes?"
You've obviously never purchased a .ae domain name...
Check out nic.ae if you don't believe me. Even now in 2009 you have to print a paper form, fill it in, and fax it to them, unless you want to visit etisalat in person.
This is the UAE's internet domain name authority, but they don't register domains through the internet!
Posted by HD on 20 October 2009 at 14:46 UAE time
Doug while I would agree with most your points, J SMith is also correct in pointing out that it does look like Du is the one driving down the prices regardless of the inner politics and how things work. When we see Du suddenly drop the prices nearly in half, and then it takes months for Etisalat to follow, one would assume that Du is the driving force behind it. It still does not make any sense since as you mentioned, they are not competitors (yet) in the broadband market. Then again what does make any sense in this market.