Major Milestone For du’s Launch of Services du, the UAE’s new national telecom operator, today signed the Interconnection Agreement with etisalat. The signing ceremony, held at the offices of the TRA in Abu Dhabi, was attended by HE Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansour, Minister of Governmental Sector Development. By agreeing on the terms of the interconnection agreement, the two operators have now ensured that their networks can exchange calls and they can obtain other services from each other. It took almost a year for the two parties to finalise the agreement which has multiple dimensions – technical, operational, commercial, legal and regulatory – that are complex and often take several years to resolve in other jurisdictions. Commenting on the agreement, Osman Sultan, Chief Executive Officer of du, said: “The interconnection agreement marks an important milestone for the UAE’s telecom industry. It is a necessary pre-condition for the launch of our mobile services. In addition, one of the most significant outcomes of this agreement is that it will allow du to offer fixed line calling services across the UAE in a phased manner during 2007. This agreement, which is based on the sound regulatory principles that have been adopted in the UAE, will go a long way in ensuring a healthy and dynamically competitive environment for end-users, considering the fact that du is entering a telecom market that is one of the most penetrated in the world.” Sultan added: “du’s Number Booking Campaign was the first initiative in our run-up to the launch, followed by the allocation of numbers. With the conclusion of today’s agreement, we come closer to delivering upon our promises to the customers.” The signed interconnection agreement is subject to ratification by TRA and the board of directors of the two companies. The extent of details of the Interconnection Agreement that can be made public will be decided by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).