|~|Ahmad-Abdulkarim-Julfar2001.jpg|~|Julfar’s dual role of being GM of eCompany and Etisalat Dubai allows for a high degree of integration. |~|For a company expecting its technological competence to go a long way in protecting its leadership in the market once a new operator arrives, the idea of making the head of company’s technology arm the operational head of the market in which the greatest amount of competitive pressure is expected to be exerted makes sense.
This is exactly the move that Etisalat took earlier this year by appointing Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, already the general manager of its internet and technology arm eCompany as general manager of Etisalat Dubai. No doubt the idea is to leverage Julfar’s technological knowledge and experience in preparing Etisalat for the first wave of competition that is expected to occur in the first half of the new year.
“IT and telecoms are converging and it makes business sense for the two businesses to converge also,” says Julfar. “Dubai has been leading in the development of e-government services, which the government has been promoting strongly,” he adds.
The Gitex exhibition in September showcased just how closely the technological and operational functions at Etisalat are working more closely together, with the view to “bring the operator closer to its users,” as Julfar puts it. With a list of services ranging from web-hosting through to internet access, remote access to email and m-payment applications, Etisalat is making a concerted effort to be a broad-based technology provider, which is cultivating a culture of customer loyalty ahead of the addition of competition.
Julfar is also acutely aware of the changes taking place in the transport layer at Etisalat, an area of the business that benefits tremendously from efficiency-driving initiatives and network optimisation.
||**|||~||~||~|“Etisalat has always been a leader, been ahead in the testing of new technologies,” proclaims Julfar, and a number of ongoing trials appear to support his statement. The operator has a WiMax trial currently taking place, with Julfar seeing real benefit in the technology as a tool to enable backhaul connectivity. The operator has already concluded a pilot of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technology and is set to roll out Ethernet to the home in a few months’ time offering speeds of between 10 and 100Mbps.
Should, as is widely expected, the Dubai freezones’ telecoms provider TECOM be identified as the primary strategic partner behind the second operator, Etisalat Dubai’s preparations will no doubt have been well-placed. TECOM has been in the process of establishing a world-class telecoms network, having already invested in FTTH infrastructure, and has been developing its own international landing station at Jebel Ali, linking to the Falcon System, a high-speed submarine network. TECOM also recently invested in independent European voice and data network operator Interoute, further bolstering TECOM’s access to intellectual property.
“We have always worked with a competitive mentality,” claims Julfar. “Our services and prices are the best, and we are also very profitable. We welcome competition because it will help bring out the best in us,” he adds.
Bringing out Etisalat’s best has extended to seeing the operator begin the long-overdue process of segmenting its 4-million plus mobile subscriber base effectively. Allowing subscribers to change from prepaid to postpaid accounts while still retaining their original numbers marks Etisalat’s first steps towards product differentiation.
“Etisalat has a lot of potential, and what we require now is the icing on top of the cake,” Julfar explains, referring to the operator’s stated goal of interacting more with customers.
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