du celebrates a family of 5 million customers and the fastest nationwide mobile data network

Following its achievement of providing 99.8% of the urban population in the UAE with the fastest nationwide 4G mobile data network, du celebrated its expanding mobile customer base – which is closing in on the five million mark – during GITEX Technology Week 2011.

The company invited its customers to visit its stand (Z-G10, Zabeel Hall) at GITEX, to experience a first-hand demo of mobile broadband speeds up to 150Mbps, through internet keys being showcased during the event.

“It is thanks to our ever-expanding du family of close to five million customers that we are who we are today – the fastest-growing telecommunications company in the UAE,” commented Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer, du. “I’m touched by how quickly we’ve won the hearts of the UAE’s population in just under five years of operations.” 

“Our customers are already enjoying the fastest nationwide 4G network and we have taken the strategic decision to make LTE commercially available only when devices such as LTE smartphones become available in the market,” added Faraidooni.

Hatem Bamatraf, Senior Vice President, Network Development and Operations, du said, “Our customers were the first to experience the fastest nationwide 4G mobile broadband in the UAE when we first upgraded our network to HSPA+ in March 2011. We are proud to be the first in the region to introduce the LTE 1800MHz mobile spectrum. The du mobile broadband network is now capable of reaching amazing download speeds, having already demonstrated speeds of up to 150Mbps, which will further enhance our customers’ experience.”

He continued; “Our partners in this project are Huawei, Nokia Siemens Networks and Cisco. We chose to work with these three organisations because they are leaders in their fields, and their input will be instrumental to the successful realisation of our ground-breaking network enhancement.”

Previous major milestones achieved by du’s network include the infrastructure installation of Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON)-capability to ensure more efficient spectrum for broadband users, as well as an increase in capacity with the introduction of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and dual carrier HSPA+, placing du within the top five telecom operators globally. du’s GPON complements its state-of-the-art, UAE-wide Fibre to the Home (FTTH) network, the first to be deployed in the UAE, into which the company has invested over AED300 million; FTTH will support the enhanced LTE experience.

Since its inception, du has invested heavily in its network infrastructure, with a capital expenditure programme that has exceeded AED7 billion in less than five years; focused efforts to continuously improve the system will lead to an expected AED1.6 billion being spent in 2011 alone, as investment continues to be the primary focus in building the company’s mobile network.