Du remains frustrated over geographic zoning

UAE telco Du has expressed frustration that it is still restricted to specific geographic areas in the country for its landline services, even though it is supposed to have a network sharing agreement with rival network, Etisalat.

Du’s CEO Osman Sultan voiced frustration with the situation, despite the two companies have been in negotiations for four years over the issue.

“It’s clear we are disadvantaged because of the limited geographical zone where we can connect customers. Opening this to the entire nation, it’s clearly a game changer,” Sultan told reporters on a conference call.

Du and Etisalat have settled the technical issues of sharing their networks, but have not agreed the financial details.

Du wants nationwide coverage for its landline services so that it can sell bundled products to its mobile customer base.

“Being able to bundle this properly will become more and more important – this is an important track of growth that we are deprived of today,” said Sultan.