Tuesday, Feb 03, 2009
(This item was originally published Monday.)
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Emirates Telecommunications Corp., or Etisalat, said Monday it signed an agreement with Apple Inc. to bring third generation iPhones to the United Arab Emirates by Feb. 15 and subsequently to Saudi Arabia.
Both Etisalat and the U.A.E.'s second operator Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co., or Du, held discussions with Apple Inc. to provide the iPhone last year. Etisalat was the first of the two U.A.E. operators to approach Apple in 2007.
"Discussions were difficult as Apple wanted only one operator to run the iPhone in the U.A.E. but the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority was against the idea of increasing competition between Etisalat and Du," an Etisalat official, who declined to be named due to company policies, told Zawya Dow Jones.
The official said Apple iPhones will be launched in the U.A.E. by Feb. 15 and in Saudi Arabia through its Saudi affiliate Etihad Etisalat, or Mobily, later in the month.
Du Chief Executive Osman Sultan told Zawya Dow Jones by phone that "we don't have yet any agreement but we are still trying."
Mike Davis, program director at Etisalat said the company won the right to sell the iPhone after it proved that it could meet Apple's requirements, which ranged from product advertising to offering customer care and sales training.
"We are established in the Middle East and Africa and our pockets are deep enough to meet their requirements," Davis said. "Any small carrier would be challenged to be able to meet Apples' minimum commitments."
Davis said Etisalat is the 14th largest telco in the world by market capitalization and has a subscriber base of 63 million users in 17 different countries.
Etislat expects the U.A.E. to have the highest concentration in the world for iPhone users once launched due to its large male population, most of which are aged 28-35 years, Davis said.
"We expect more revenues to come out of the U.A.E. than Saudi but Saudi will also do well in terms of iPhones sold because a lot of the video content that will be available is not available to our competitors" Davis said.
Analysts in the region said by offering the latest technologies on the iPhone, Etisalat will gain more business from high-end users and this may translate into stronger profits.
"It should allow Etisalat and Mobily in Saudi Arabia to lock in high end 3G users through postpaid contracts with handset subsidies offered by the telecom operators," said Kunal Bajaj, telcos analyst at HSBC in Dubai.
-By Tahani Karrar, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 364 4965 Tahani.Karrar@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-02-09 0422GMT
