The UAE’s telecoms regulator has no plans to licence a third mobile phone operator, said the head of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in an interview on Dubai TV.
According to Mohammed al-Ghanim, the regulator’s director general, the incumbent…
The UAE’s telecoms regulator has no plans to licence a third mobile phone operator, said the head of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in an interview on Dubai TV.
According to Mohammed al-Ghanim, the regulator’s director general, the incumbent operators Etisalat and Du, which are both owned by the UAE’s federal government, will continue to enjoy their profitable duopoly for the forseeable future.
Al-Ghanim’s confirmation that the regulator has no plans to allow a competitor into the market means that the UAE will remain the only Arab market to lack a foreign-owned operator.
When the regulator broke Etisalat’s monopoly, it did so by awarding a new licence to another state-owned enterprise rather than an established telecoms company.