Dubai: Du sees network infrastructure sharing deal with etisalat, which is expected to happen before the end of the year, to impact the results little by little, especially on fixed voice services, Othman Sultan, CEO of du, told Gulf News.
Both telco operators were expected to start network sharing this month. “I don’t think fourth-quarter results are not going to be impacted by the sharing deal as one month has already been over,” he said.
“We will be meeting our double-digit revenue growth in the next quarter.”
Going forward after the next quarter, he said the agreement will have an impact on revenues as there will be competition in the fixed-line business.
The network sharing deal will initially happen in the voice and internet services but not on IPTV (internet Protocol television).
IPTV is a system where television services are delivered through internet rather than the traditional satellite or cable formats.
Sultan said that IPTV will happen at a later stage. It will translate into more value for customers.
“If the network sharing deal happens, du will gain in the short term as it will have a wider area of coverage,” said Bhanu Chaddha, telecommunications research manager at IDC.
In the long term, it is a mixed scenario; he said and added that etisalat’s services are not available in the new Dubai area. Du will have a wider addressable consumer market while etisalat will gain access to denser commercial areas like Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City.
“It is difficult to speculate whose revenues will increase or fall, it depends on the operators’ offerings and who will be able to attract new subscribers,” he said.
