du and etisalat sign Interconnection Agreement

The signing ceremony, held at the offices of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) in Abu Dhabi, was attended by His Excellency Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansour, Minister of Governmental Sector Development.

By the agreement, the two operators - du and etisalat - confirm their networks can exchange calls and obtain mutual telecom services.

The agreement followed a year of discussion between the two operators and necessitated collaborations on technical, operational, commercial, legal and regulatory issues. Such complex agreements are known to take several years to resolve in other jurisdictions.

Commenting on the agreement, Osman Sultan, Chief Executive Officer of du, said:

'The interconnection agreement marks an important milestone for the UAE's telecom industry. It is a necessary pre-condition for the launch of our mobile services. In addition, one of the most significant outcomes of this agreement is that it will allow du to offer fixed line calling services across the UAE in a phased manner during 2007. '

'This agreement, which is based on the sound regulatory principles that have been adopted in the UAE, will go a long way in ensuring a healthy and dynamically competitive environment for end-users, considering that du is entering one of the most penetrated telecom markets in the world.'

Sultan added: 'du's Number Booking Campaign was the first initiative in our run-up to the launch, followed by the allocation of numbers. With the conclusion of today's agreement, we come closer to delivering upon our promises to the customers.'

The signed interconnection agreement is subject to ratification by TRA and the board of directors of the two companies. TRA will disclose further details as relevant to the industry.