Tuesday, Jul 19, 2011
CAIRO (Zawya Dow Jones)--United Arab Emirates' Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, or TRA, said Tuesday that the commercial launch of infrastructure sharing between the country's two telecom operators is due December, a move that will boost competition between the two telcos.
The two operators, Emirates Telecommunication Co., or Etisalat, and its rival Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co., or Du, had the soft launch for the fixed line voice and broadband services last week. The soft launch is regarded as the "final stage" of testing and the operators will assess customer feedback on all aspects of the service, the regulator said in an e-mailed statement.
"We will soon enter a phase of strong competition in fixed services," said Mohamed Al Ghanim, Director General of the TRA in the statement. "We hope that this final stage of testing and implementation is successful so that we can see a commercial launch before the end of the year."
Analysts have previously said that infrastructure sharing will lead to more competition between Du and Etisalat, possibly leading to tariff reductions, and will result in reduced operating expenditure and capital expenditure on new infrastructure. Infrastructure sharing could also increase Du's fixed-line and broadband access to all U.A.E. customers and allow it to further enhance its top line, according to analysts.
Etisalat, which Monday posted a 16% decline in second-quarter profit, said network sharing would lead to cost efficiencies.
Abu Dhabi-listed Etisalat shares trade down 0.9% at AED10.80 while the Dubai Financial Market-listed Du shares trade flat at AED3.15.
-By Shereen El Gazzar, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 446 1684
Shereen.elgazzar@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
19-07-11 0909GMT
