Etisalat, du shared network deal to help end telecom monopoly in UAE

Etisalat and Du’s latest agreement to set up a shared bitstream network could help foster competition in the market, as well as end the fixed-lines monopoly in the United Arab Emirates.

Etisalat (Emirates Telecommunications Corporation) and Du (Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co) signed on Monday a deal to allow both firms to offer fixed-voice and broadband infrastructure. The firms have been offering the service on trial basis for a limited number of customers since July 14.

“The UAE has become the first country in the Middle East that offers its customers the possibility to subscribe from the operator of their choice,” Hamad al-Mansouri, director general of the UAE’s telecom regulator, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), said in a statement.

The service covers broadband and voice, but may consider television services in nine to 12 months, he said, noting that the regulator and the companies have been working for the past six years to implement the network sharing strategy.

In the first phase, services will be bitstream. Operators will adopt passive infrastructure sharing in phase two. Bitstream access is designed for customers and small-sized business, while the latter caters to big businesses.