Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The UAE’s two telecommunication giants, du and Etisalat, should focus on gaining more from internet services rather than relying heavily on phonecalls’ revenue.
If they continue such reliance they will become “out of business”, as the future is for data services and e-texting, Baker McKenzie’s chairman Habib Al Mulla told Arabian Business.
“They used to charge around AED 2 per message, but now with WhatsApp, nobody uses messages anymore. The same thing will happen with calls. It is only a matter of time before calls will become free, whether telecommunication operators like it or not,” he added.
For the sake of the future, both telecom operators must work on plans to provide high internet speed, Al Mulla said.
“Data is the future. So if you have more speed in data, that is where the money is going to come from,” the top official remarked.
Du reported an 18.8% year-on-year growth in net profit for the first half of 2018, recording AED 965 million.
Etisalat posted a 6% year-on-year increase in its consolidated net profit during H1-18, registering AED 4.3 billion.
