Chosen as the best provider in the category “ICT support and services” for businesses

Dubai, UAE, X December 2010: Proving once again its status as a top-class provider of business solutions, du was honoured at SME Advisor’s Stars of Business Awards 2010 under the ‘ICT Support and Services’ category. The award, which was handed over to du’s Chief Commercial Officer – Farid Faraidooni during a ceremony, demonstrates du’s success in providing top-of-the-line ICT-related support and services aimed towards its valued SME business customers.

“We are proud and honoured to receive this prestigious award, which demonstrates our commitment to serving the needs of our business customers. Over a short span of just three years we have created a rich portfolio of business products across mobile , fixed and data services. Furthermore, we have moved away from the ‘one size fits all’ approach and have segmented the market in order to successfully optimise offerings according to each individual segment’s needs,” commented Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer, du.
Highlighting key business issues for SMEs since its launch in 2005, SME Advisor is the only magazine of its kind which caters to this fast-growing and increasingly important segment. The SME Advisor ‘Stars of Business’ Awards 2010 aim to encourage regional businesses and best practice.
In spite of challenging market conditions, du has established itself aggressively within the business sector with year on year growth by acquiring more than 20,000 business customers (SME & large enterprise across the UAE), with more than 300,000 business mobile users in a highly penetrated market. Within a short span of three years, the company has managed to achieve a 37 per cent customer market share in mobile including business and consumer customers across the UAE.

Today, du has more than 14 offerings on mobile and multiple offerings on fixed and data to cater to large, medium and small sized companies’ telecom needs. Some of the first offerings in the UAE and region created by du are:
 
Product Innovation:
•    One world one rate on all incoming calls while roaming on mobile
•    Per second billing
•    Power bill : analytical online tool for total reporting, analysis & cost control

Segmented offers:
•    Business Super Plan: First of its kind offering in UAE for Small & medium segment with included international minutes, national minutes, SMS & data.
•    Premier Plan: Aimed towards large enterprise, it is the first plan in the region which had a postpaid and prepaid on one SIM.
•    PaYG CUG: Tapping into the hospitality & service sector need, this plan caters to mobile needs with 100percentage mobile calling discounts among company employees & keeping control of costs through prepaid platform. The plan is designed for service sector companies.
•    Premier G: Targeted plan for Government organisations with calling benefits on national calls & within the group. This is our recent announcement targeted specifically towards the Government sector, with its unique requirements.

Smartphone choices:
•    Blackberry Plus Voice: First of its kind handset installment offers for SME segment. This plan aims to reduce CAPEX for the company by offering installment based plan.
•    iPhone for Business: Another unique smart phone plan for SME segment to reduce total cost of ownership while endorsing smart phones to drive business efficiency.
•    Blackberry Plus: Targeted offer for large enterprises reducing CAPEX with a contractual obligation.

Smart solutions:
•    Telemetry:  We provide automated machine to machine data communication and today many companies are benefiting from continuous automated business solutions across the UAE. The service also caters to the following:
o    Vehicle tracking
o    Meter reading
o    Transportation & fleet management
Mobile broadband:
•    du’s Business Mobile Broadband is provided over du’s state-of-the-art high speed mobile Dual carrier data network (HSPAplus) giving download speeds of up to 42.2 Mbps – the first telecom operator in the UAE, and among the few operators in the world to offer this speed.


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