Etisalat plans VOIP foray

UAE telecoms operator Etisalat will offer Internet-based phone calls by the end of the second quarter of this year, Gulf News.com reports.

Only Etisalat and Du are licensed to provide voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) services in the UAE, while Skype is among the foreign VOIP providers that have been banned from operating in the region.

Etisalat operates in 17 markets, and has reported declining revenues in seven of the past eight quarters, which it attributes to the rise of Du and VOIP usage, ITP.net states.

Essa Haddad, Etisalat's chief commercial officer, explains that the telecoms operator is waiting for the UAE regulator before VOIP prices are finalised.

The telecoms regulator previously indicated it would not allow significantly cheaper VOIP tariffs, Wireless Federation says.

However, analysts warn that will do little to persuade UAE residents to switch from Skype, which can still be accessed locally despite the ban.

Etisalat is driving its ePlus VOIP platform to improve customer loyalty and stem the subscriber churn to Du, which has built up 46% share of mobile subscribers since 2007.