du and mobile doctors launch 24/7 physician helpline (UAE)
In partnership with Mobile Doctors 24/7 International who are licensed by Dubai Healthcare City, du launched a unique Physician Helpline– the latest addition to its roster of Smart Health services. This affordable around-the-clock phone service provides indispensable support to du’s customers by giving them access to licensed and experienced medical professionals at any time – day or night.
The launch coincides with World Health Day. In keeping with this theme, du and Mobile Doctors believe that every individual and family deserves to have immediate and unlimited access to quality physicians, regardless of patient location or time of the day. Mobile Doctors’ new service provides du customers with access to instant home care, telemedicine, telemonitoring and professionals with decades of clinical experience via a technology-enabled patient-centric approach to needed healthcare. At less than $3 a day (terms apply) – anyone, anywhere can now have access to a Mobile Doctors on-staff physician. This endeavour brings to life the vision of a healthy nation as laid out by the leadership of UAE.
Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer, du, said that the 24/7 Physician Helpline is an invaluable service for their customers, giving them the reassurance that, no matter when or why they might need medical assistance, they will have a team of professional physicians available to them. He added that they are very pleased to offer this service following a successful pilot project by Mobile Doctors. This fully operational and value-added initiative will prove as an essential tool in ensuring their customer’s well-being, all the while delivering measurable benefits to the insurance and corporate sectors as well.
He added that the Mobile Doctors Physician Helpline is another example of how the telecommunications industry is able to participate in the national healthcare ecosystem, for both the welfare of their customers and to support their government. By providing such mobile health services, they can reduce the burden of high cost healthcare on the public sector and improve capacity utilisation of quality healthcare across the UAE, thus saving funds that can be distributed elsewhere.
The Mobile Doctors Physician Helpline was first made available to 40,000 select du customers by Mobile Doctors for a free of charge 60-day pilot project earlier this year. Statistics gathered by Mobile Doctors, du’s partner, have shown that, during the trial period, the majority of users were aged between 20–39 years-old (52%). This is reflective of the socio-economic needs of this group, which includes dual-income families and on-the-move executives who are more likely to benefit from the mobile connectivity and on-demand services. Also very encouraging was that a quarter of patients were less than 12 years-old (26%), thus increasing the availability of quality medical care for children.
According to Dr. Jamie McReynolds, Chief Medical Officer of MD24-7, many patients find that they or their family members are faced with symptoms that leave them unsure of what is needed exactly. Subsequently, they may feel that the Emergency Room is their only choice. Mobile Doctors is able to help patients with any symptoms to assess and understand their affliction, so that the right decision can be made.
du reports 90 percent customer satisfaction score (UAE)
Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (‘du’) today released its inaugural Quarterly Reporting System, demonstrating Customer Service Report scores for the year 2011. This is the first of its kind report for both the region and the industry, demonstrating improvements and transparency in Customer Service Channels from 2010.
Placing customer satisfaction as a top priority, du has established and implemented Customer Service parameters with the aim to elevate the level of service, to improve upon its target standards. These improved, streamlined systems have introduced higher efficiencies through du’s Contact Centres email, Directory Inquiries and social media channels leading to quicker resolution and a higher level of customer satisfaction.
Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer, du, said that the Customer Service Report is a first of its kind report initiated by any telecom service provider in the UAE that lends itself to demonstrate improvements and transparency in the area of Customer Service. At du, they are committed to constantly streamline their systems and processes to improve and evolve customer service experiences.
He added that a milestone which is dear to them was the opening of a new customer care centre in Fujairah in 2011, which is managed and staffed entirely by UAE nationals to provide local voices for local support.
du announces ‘The Executive Plan’: the new business class mobile plan (UAE)
du has introduced ‘The Executive Plan’ for its users which is a premium experience that ensures total comfort and ease during their business travels. It offers the ultimate communications solution to keep one connected no matter where they are in the world, with bundled national and international minutes; generous roaming benefits; a choice of national data or international BlackBerry service; a special number inclusive of a smartphone.
In addition, the plan entitles the customer to a free annual membership to Priority Pass with access to over 600 airport lounges in 300 cities over 100 countries. Additionally, dedicated Customer Care services are available 24/7 to take care of any communications needs. Users can avail all these benefits and conveniences for US$ 273 per month.
Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer, du, said that they wanted to create the perfect plan for busy business executives and small business owners across the UAE – a plan that’s reliable, that makes business travel convenient and even easier, and delivers a premium experience time and again. The executive plan is an essential communications and experience tool for business executives on the move. The benefits not only give peace of mind, but also help to make business life easier whether in the UAE or abroad.
Business customers can subscribe to ‘The Executive Plan’ at du Shops in more than 40 locations across the UAE or contact their account manager or du’s channel partners.
Du introduces voice hubbing service (UAE)
Du has launched a voice hubbing service which is aimed at Middle East and Asian voice carriers wishing to transit the UAE.
According to the company, voice hubbing service demonstrated the company’s unique capability in the region to aggregate large volumes of traffic to key destinations. The service leverages voice bilateral agreements established by du with over 100 major global carriers.
According to Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer, Du, the company handles four billion minutes of international traffic annually. Such volumes provide them with a very strong base on which to negotiate better termination rates on behalf of their Middle East and Asian carrier partners wishing to outsource their voice interconnection.
Du’s voice hubbing service is supported by a newly commissioned IT platform delivering state-of-the-art wholesale billing and a minimal cost, fully automated routing system.
Faraidooni noted that Carrier partners choosing to join the Du voice hub will be assured guaranteed traffic continuity over premium direct routes. Combined with Du’s flexible service support, 24/7 monitoring capabilities and a dedicated international carrier relations account team, the Du voice hubbing service will quickly become a major gateway for traffic in and out of the region.
du launches new Point of Presence in partnership with Saudi Telecom for seamless inter-office connectivity between UAE and KSA
Recognizing the need for optimum connectivity between businesses in the UAE and MENA region, du today announced a partnership with leading KSA operator Saudi Telecom to launch a new Point of Presence (PoP) in the UAE. The PoP is a multiservice node that will enable the delivery of secure and reliable inter-office connectivity, meaning du’s enterprise customers and carrier partners will benefit from seamless data services between the UAE and KSA.
Launching the facility, Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer of du, said,: “With this latest PoP, in collaboration with, we can now include KSA in our carrier grade global Virtual Private Network solution for our UAE based business clients as well as providing our Carrier Partners with a One-Stop-Shop solution for transit services into KSA. We are dedicated to providing businesses with reliable and secure data services between their offices in the UAE and across the region, and this new service will mean our business customers and carriers can operate cross-country with increased ease, convenience and peace of mind.”
du’s UAE based business clients can now enjoy a number of benefits including the extension of carrier grade Virtual Private Network (VPN) to their KSA based office, a multiple class of service offering to cater to different office applications and a one-stop-shop for their global VPN solution. In addition, Carrier Partners will benefit from seamless IP Data Services between UAE and KSA, greater reach in respective markets for data service connectivity, and a one-stop-shop offering for services into KSA.
STC General Manager of Marketing, Abdulhameed Al Hamad, stated: “We are pleased to announce the establishment of our latest PoP in the UAE. This is a major milestone in our Saudi Global Management.
Network “SGMN” rollout into major regional economic hubs including the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, India, UK and Singapore, and we look forward to working with du to provide premium data services between offices based in the UAE and here in KSA. SGMN is a global Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) and available in key hub destinations around the world. As one of the largest regional Internet Protocol (IP-based) networks, it provides services for leading global enterprises from a variety of industry sectors, including financial services, manufacturing, logistics, as well as oil & gas and pharmaceutical industry. SGMN network is based on the latest state-of-art technology and is extremely reliable and diverse”.
“STC has a solid track record of successful cooperation with du and we believe that STC’s strengths within the Kingdom and the region and du’s network in UAE will make this a very exciting and complementary partnership for the overall benefit of our domestic and international customers, “Abdulhameed Al Hamad added.
du’s International Carrier Relations (ICR) strategy is to focus on the interconnection of the GCC regional carrier MPLS network to expand its IP Data Services reach to all major GCC countries and to provide seamless Layer 2 Ethernet VPN and Layer 3 IP MPLS VPN services.
UAE defer prepaid iPhone 4 sales
The UAE based mobile network operator, Du has deferred sales of Apple’s iPhone 4 to prepaid tariff customers following an increase in people unlocking the handsets then selling them on the black-market.
The phones are subsidized by the company but can be sold with market-ups of 50-80% by black market dealers if they unlock or jailbreak the handsets.
According to Du’s COO, Farid Faraidooni, they became aware of this trend through the company’s network technologies, which detected a number of iPhone4 smartphones that had been sold by them and yet were inactive within the country. They also received information from abroad that smartphones sold by du are actually operating in neighboring countries.
According to sales assistants at Etisalat stores across Dubai, they have also been instructed to suspend sales of the prepaid iPhone 4, but blamed the decision on a lack of handsets to sell, not a ban by the company HQ. The iPhone 4 was launched in the UAE last September.
Du improves indoor mobile coverage with Alcatel-Lucent Femtocells (UAE)
Du has announced that it will be deploying Alcatel-Lucent supplied femtocells for its fixed and mobile converged services, scheduled for launch by the end of 2010.
Leveraging its existing fixed and mobile infrastructure assets, du will now deploy Alcatel-Lucent’s small cells technology to help its customers overcome indoor mobile coverage issues.
Accordig to Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer (du), Alcatel-Lucent’s expertise enables them to provide their customers with the fastest and highest-quality network connectivity – across fixed and mobile, both indoors and outdoors. Building on Alcatel-Lucent’s Small Cells approach, they can satisfy the increasingly demanding mobile service requirements of their residential and business subscribers – answering their need for crystal-clear voice and high-speed data services, no matter where they are and through any 3G-enabled device.
Alcatel-Lucent will provide its end-to-end Femto-based 9360 Small Cell portfolio – consisting of the 9361 Home Cell, the 9362 Enterprise Cell, the 9366 Small Cell Gateway, and Small Cell Management & Customer Care systems.
Alcatel-Lucent’s small cells automatically come into service without requiring any manual configuration by the end-user. Moreover, du will benefit from Bell Labs’ self-organizing network (SON) innovation, reducing handover failures by as much as 80%.
Du expects infrastructure sharing deal by 2011
As per the top official of the company, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, popularly known as du, is confident that the infrastructure sharing deal with fellow telecom giant Etisalat will be rolled out by the first quarter of 2011.
According to reports citing Chief Commercial Officer Farid Faraidooni during GITEX Technology Week 2010, the company would expect to start the actual commercial launch of fixed services over a shared infrastructure by the first quarter of 2011. The company is at very advanced stages at finalizing the deal with Etisalat, under the umbrella of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, and hopefully this will be concluded at the end of the year and will go commercially by the first quarter of 2011 after testing and quality assurance procedures.
The company believes that this scheme will help its revenues, specifically in the fixed-line segment — as it will be able to further reach out to consumers in the UAE. This will allow Du to expand the footprint to the rest of the country. There will be a progressive rollout all over the UAE in a phased approach. Du is showcasing its latest offerings for the telecommunication market, which are one of the most advanced globally.
According to Farid Faraidooni, today the company offers the highest mobile broadband rate in the region, and du is only few telcos that has it worldwide. Du’s HSPDA+ mobile broadband technology can reach as high as 42.2Mbps — the highest by industry standards — and it covers more than 98 per cent of the UAE population. Du is always very keen to deploy the latest technology. They don’t [just] talk about it, they implement it.
However, Faraidooni pointed out, the limitation on this high-end technology is that not many devices in the market are able to support this. According to him, the company hopes these devices that can support the high broadband rate will be available in the market soon. Du will continue to invest in the mobile network and enhance the broadband experience.
Faraidooni also added that Du is currently doing trials with several vendors for the Long-Term Evolution network — which is also known as 4G — but did not give further details.
Considering the recent US$207 million export credit facility du received to fund its expansion, most of this amount will go to investments in its mobile network, especially in 3G.
On the fixed-line segment, Du currently offers the latest and most advanced IPTV set up, which includes a very interactive online TV guide, and the ability to pause and rewind live TV programmes.
GITEX also provided the opportunity for du to launch its new Anayou Website, which is a portal for the social community to interact just like other popular social networks. It also allows users to send SMS, play games, store content and much more.
