Etisalat will upgrade business broadband speeds

Etisalat said that its move was a response to the rise of social media and business applications used by entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Etisalat said the speed upgrade was a response to the rise of social media and business applications used by its business customers. Sarah Dea / The National

With competition set to open up the fixed-line internet market, expects to open up,Etisalat is offering to more than double the broadband speeds of its existing business customers at no extra charge.

This week onwards a customer with a 4 megabit-per-second (MBps) connection, for example, will be automatically upgraded to 10MBps, Etisalat said. Higher-speed accounts will also be increased.

Network-sharing of the country’s fixed-line telecoms infrastructure is expected to come into play before the end of this year, which means businesses and consumers will be able to choose their network provider. Currently users are limited to the provider that has built the infrastructure in their area.

Du ended Etisalat's monopoly of the telecoms sector in 2007, but the company was limited to serving the newer areas of Dubai in the fixed-line market. It has advocated infrastructure sharing ever since in a bid to increase its market share and competition in the sector.

“It could be a customer retention strategy ahead of the possible introduction of competition in the fixed broadband market,” said Matthew Reed, the chief analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media.

But Etisalat said that its move as a response to the rise of social media and business applications used by entrepreneurs and start-ups, suggesting that the increased speed would help business productivity and profitability.

“To support this demand … Etisalat has invested billions in developing a solid fibre-optic infrastructure,” said Salvador Anglada, the company’s chief business officer. “Among other benefits, Etisalat’s speed upgrades will provide faster and extremely reliable internet connection, ensuring increased efficiencies, better global connectivity, reduced costs and improved customer service, resulting in increased profitability.”

The high cost of telecoms services was highlighted by the information provider IDC as one of the biggest obstacles to small-to-medium sized businesses in the country.

“Our large base of [small business] customers will experience significant increases in their businesses’ internet speeds,” said John Lincoln, a senior vice-president for the small business sector at Etisalat. “Because there is no extra cost for the upgrades, it also results in huge savings and thereby increased profitability.”

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