Dubai, UAE, 2 April 2013: du is proud to announce that it has received the prestigious Independent Teleport Operator of the Year Award 2013 from the World Teleport Association, denoting du's Samacom facility as the world's leading independent teleport.

The Teleport Operator of the Year Award is bestowed upon an outstanding operator of a commercial communications hub that uses a combination of satellite, fibre, and terrestrial wireless to provide value-added services to customers in broadcasting, enterprise, carrier or government markets.

"On behalf of du, I would like to thank the World Teleport Association for this award; it is truly an honour to know that we are leading the way by employing best practice to such a high standard of excellence. My congratulations go to our Broadcast team for their exemplary performance, which has borne fruit against stiff international competition," said Ahmad Bin Byat, Chairman, du. "The broadcast future for our company is bright, with myriad new services in the process of deployment to join our existing portfolio. This, combined with our datamena datacentre, plus Content Delivery Network and fibre-based video services, forms a comprehensive end-to-end service offering for broadcasters."

Dr. Amina Al Rustamani, GCEO, TECOM Investments that manages Business leading business parks like Dubai Media City and Dubai Studio Citysaid: "TECOM would like to extend its congratulations to its strategic partner, du, on this phenomenal international recognition by the WTA. To have been named the world's leading teleport is no small achievement, and is clearly a testament to the impeccable levels of service that du consistently delivers. Without doubt, such facilities played an instrumental role and contributed to the growth and success of the broadcasting sector our business parks and the UAE. 

This win follows on from the previous awards received by Samacom. In 2012, the World Teleport Association ranked Samacom as 8th in its Independent Top Twenty (up from 9th in 2011); 13th in its 'Fast Twenty' (up from 17th in 2011), and 19th in The Global Top Twenty (up from 20th in 2011). du's superior satellite broadcast services in the fields of Playout, Direct-to-Home, Uplink, Turnaround and more, formerly offered under the Samacom brand, were recently recognised locally by Digital Studio.

du acquired Samacom in 2006 from TECOM, to be the core of its broadcasting services. Since then, the number of broadcasting TV channels uplinked by du has grown by 70% to more than 300+ channels, making it the premiere facility in the region. Additionally, its service area has been extended immensely due to investment in broadcasting and television fields by du, and the UAE becoming the MENA region's Media Hub.

For more about du's broadcast services, visit www.du.ae/broadcast.

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About du:
We opened for business in 2006. We offer mobile and fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV services to individuals, homes and businesses. We also provide carrier services for businesses and satellite up/downlink services for TV broadcasters.

As a rapidly-growing enterprise, we have a team of experts working to enhance and expand our bouquet of service offerings. Our people come from over 60 countries - we mirror the rich cultural diversity of our nation, while being able to serve our customers in a variety of languages.

Over 50% of our senior management team and customer-facing employees are UAE nationals, and we remain committed to providing fulfilling opportunities for quality talent in a cosmopolitan working environment.

By the end of 2012, more than 6.45 million people and over 50,000 businesses have chosen to use our services. In a survey conducted by ARC Chart, we were named the Best Mobile Broadband Network 2012 in the Middle East and Africa region. We also ranked first in MENA's Standard & Poor/Hawkamah Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Index in 2011.

du is 39.5 percent owned by Emirates Investment Authority, 20.081 percent by Mubadala Development Company PJSC, 19.5 percent by Emirates Communications and Technology LLC and the remaining stake by public shareholders. du is listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and trades under the name 'du'.
 
For further information, please contact:
Saugat Chatterjee
Public Relations Manager
Brand & Communications
du
Mobile: +971 55 9367045
Email: saugat.chatterjee@du.ae

Reka Sepsy
LeoComm PR
Tel: +971 4 367 6154
Mobile: +971 55 220 68 20
Fax: +971 4 367 2615
Email: reka.sepsy@leocommpr.com

© Press Release 2013