When it comes to your choice of telecommunications services in the UAE, options are scarce. Businesses and users can decide between Etisalat, the oldest telecommunications provider in the UAE, and the only other provider, du. But now, a new player has entered the market, Virgin Mobile.
Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co (EITC) has announced that they have acquired a license from British entrepreneur Richard Branson’s privately owned Virgin Group to operate Virgin Mobile-branded services in the country. For those of you unaware, EITC is also the holding company that owns du. According to a press conference held earlier today, EITC will launch services using the Virgin Mobile brand in the UAE within weeks.
According to the EITC CEO, Osman Sultan, EITC’s license term is for over five years, granting it full rights to ownership, management and operation of the brand in the UAE. To help manage the new brand, former Virgin Mobile Saudi Arabia Chief Executive Karim Benkirane has been appointed managing director of the UAE brand.
According to Mr Sultan, du and Virgin Mobile will not compete head-to-head, but will instead focus on different areas. The latter is expected to be consumer focused. However, Virgin Mobile will use EITC’s network and infrastructure in the same way that du does.
The launch of the new brand comes right in the middle of a restructuring process that has taken EITC months to implement. Virgin Mobile’s financial success will contribute towards EITC’s quarterly results, the same as du, and is expected to boost EITC’s financial performance.
The exact details about packages and services Virgin Mobile is expected to deliver have not been disclosed. Currently, users can register over on the brand’s UAE website for a chance to be on the beta team.
