Dubai: Du is set to remove the barrier between data bundles and the devices, further simplifying it for customers, Fareed Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer at du told Gulf News on Wednesday on the sidelines on Gitex Technology Week.
“We had over 20 post-paid data bundles and moved down to five data propositions now. We are also going beyond this by simplifying it further. We are working to simplify data package plans,” he said.
He added that du has separate data bundles for Blackberry, iPhone, etc. “We want to delink this. So you can use the same data bundle irrespective of the device, that means you can change the device any time you want,” he explained.
In order to make it more controllable for customers, du has launched a data portal on the devices where customers can know how much data they have consumed and how much balance left.
“You will get notifications when you touch 80 and 90 per cent of your package and once you touch 100 per cent we will stop the internet connection. However, that does not mean that is the end. If the customers have crossed the limit, they can buy additional data bundle on the portal as well as change their data package at any point,” Faraidooni said.
Customer in control
Du’s main intention is to give control to the customer.
“We will be investing more in infrastructure. Our 3G HSPA+ (speed of 42mbps) covers more than 99 per cent of the UAE population. The investment will accelerate the intake of LTE in the country and using data.
“We are giving more attention to efficiency. This will fuel growth across sections. We will be offering more managed services and solutions for enterprises across major verticals,” he said.
The telco operator currently has over 47 per cent of the active mobile market share in the UAE.
He said, eventually data will constitute major part of the revenue. By end of second quarter, 15 per cent of the mobile revenue comes from data. “We expect to cross 30 per cent by end of 2014,” said Faraidooni, adding that how the growth in data can be accelerate, remains to be seen.
“So far we have a good momentum. We are fuelling the momentum with further investment in our infrastructure and by working with handset manufactures to make LTE devices,” he said.
Du on Wednesday started offering Samsung’s 8.9 LTE device, said Faraidooni, without divulging further details.
Regarding expansion plan, Faraidooni said: “The shareholders have not decided to move outside the UAE. But we will continue to explore and assess the opportunities and place it on shareholders table. The UAE operations will be our top priority.”
