Dubai: Etisalat is providing better value for postpaid mobile phone customers than du in the UAE, according to new study conducted by US-based telecommunications research firm Tarifica, a unit of T3i Group.
The Tarifica Score is a comprehensive algorithm that weighs every feature of a mobile plan (including usage allotments, geographic coverage, data speeds, value added features and promotional elements) against its total costs, determining its precise consumer value relative to all other offers in the country. Scores range from 0 (worst) to 100 (best).
Plans were divided into two categories, “With Phone” and “SIM only,” and then subdivided into four price segments, creating a total of eight groupings. While etisalat and du each won the Tarifica Top Value Plan award in four market segments, in half of those that du won there was no qualifying plan from etisalat — meaning these wins were uncontested.
“In the majority of cases where etisalat’s plans were compared head-to-head with du, the former offered demonstrably better consumer value. This value differential was driven by the fact that etisalat’s plans had higher average download speeds, generally included more services and were offered at lower prices than those from rival du,” said Tarifica analyst Susan Cray.
The telecom operators were unavailable for comments.
Both the telecom operators have been offering packages to rival others in bid to add more subscribers. With the launch of mobile number portability (MNP), the competition has become intense.
Etisalat had 10.8 million subscribers while du had 7.5 million as of third quarter of this year.
Even when du offered promotions such as the 10GB data promotion, she said that the improvement in features only tended to raise the consumer value of its plans to the base level of etisalat’s offers.
“In short, whether individuals are looking to maximise their mobile spend or have the fastest speed, we would generally recommend etisalat,” she said.
In today’s mobile marketplace, she said that consumers are flooded with hundreds of plan variations and constantly shifting promotions and deals — the majority of which come with different costs and services and access networks of differing strengths.
The Tarifica Score is currently deployed in a dozen countries on five continents and its methodology has been recognised by worldwide business and technology publications, including The Financial Times.
