Mobile and fixed line phone consumers will have freedom of choice for the first time following the granting of a telecommunications licence to Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company (EITC).
EITC Chairman Ahmad Bin Byat said the signing of the full services telecom licence by the UAE Supreme Committee for the Supervision of the Telecommunications Sector (SCSTS) marked a new era in telecommunications in the UAE. "This is an important milestone for the telecommunications industry, the economy of the UAE and for consumers across the country.
"Customers now have a second telecommunications company that will begin providing advanced and diverse services and freedom of choice.”
EITC will provide advanced mobile and fixed line services, broadband internet and pay TV packages.
The licence, which grants EITC the right to install, operate, and manage a public telecom network providing services across the United Arab Emirates, was signed by SCSTS Chairman, Engineer Sultan bin Saeed Al-Mansoori, the Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Mohammed Nasser Al-Ghanim, and the Chief Executive Officer of EITC, Osman Sultan.
It gives EITC approval to offer fixed and mobile telecom services in the UAE and says that the company can deliver international calls, Internet services among other services.
Engineer Sultan bin Saeed Al-Mansoori, said that introducing a second telecom operator enabled the UAE government to realize its vision to introduce competition to one of the most significant, dynamic, and vital sectors in the UAE.
"The UAE government is keen on creating the needed environment and sustaining the already leading role that the UAE telecom sector is playing in the region and, moving towards becoming one of the best telecom sectors in the world," he said.
Mr Bin Byat said EITC aimed to provide customers with better experiences by providing them with superior products and services; offering products and services that were simple to use; kept them better informed and entertained; and made them more productive.
EITC would deliver services including voice, data, and video over a reliable high speed broadband network.
“We will champion next generation and convergent services and offer customers the flexibility to communicate the information they choose, the way they choose, using whatever communication device they choose.
“A recent poll showed that more than 80% of people in the UAE believed a second telecommunications company would make a difference and we intend to prove them right,” said Mr Bin Byat.
