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doubled its profit after royalties during the fourth quarter to $270m, compared to the same period in 2011, according to the company.

revenues and profit, with du recording a net profit after royalties of $540m, up from $300m in 2011.

UAE telecoms firm Du has said it's dropping plans to expand into Saudi Arabia because it would need to find a partner, Reuters has reported. The Dubai-based firm did not meet the criteria to bid for one of three mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) licences for sale in Saudi Arabia, said Du chief executive, Osman Sultan. "We wouldn't qualify directly [and] going there through some kind of partnership would make the financial equation less interesting," Sultan told reporters. "I don't see us going into regional expansion at least in the coming two years in the traditional way, which is new licences.

Du, formally known as Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, made a net profit of Dh325.5 million in the three months to June 30, up from Dh207.2 million in the same period last year. This is after paying royalty fees of Dhs325.5 million.

du’s share of the UAE mobile subscribers was 46.5 per cen

t did not give du the approval to launch the fourth generation services in the UAE, and that du had not yet applied for the licence to provide such services in the UAE

market segmentation to identify and meet the differing needs of our customers, successfully launching a number of market-leading propositions to address the diverse value and service capability requirements of our prepaid, postpaid and enterprise customers

received US$700m in finance during 2012, allowing it to invest US$468m in the network and IT

The fixed-line market will experience upside pressure from increased competition between Etisalat and du due to the implementation of carrier pre-selection services. However, this will be counterbalanced by increasing fixed to mobile substitution, is expected to intensify with the roll-out of next generation mobile broadband technologies.

A notable new development in the market is the launch of commercial LTE network services by second-ranked du in June 2012. The operator reports the service is capable of speeds of 150Mbps, although existing devices can only support transmission of 100Mbps. The launch follows that of rival Etisalat, which launched LTE services in 2011. du has launched the service using 1,800MHz spectrum, in contrast to the more commonly used 800MHz or 2.6GHz bands.

Q112, TRA reported a sharp fall in the number of dial-up internet subscriptions

The UAE’s second biggest telecom firm said first-quarter revenues surged 20.1 per cent to Dh2.4 billion compared to Dh2 billion in the same quarter last year. In a statement on Thursday, the company said mobile revenue soared 21.8 per cent to Dh1.9 billion while mobile data revenue grew to 15.5 per cent of mobile revenues. Mobile data revenues more than doubled to Dh297 million from Dh141 million in the first quarter of 2011, representing approximately 15.5 per cent of total mobile revenues.

the size of the UAE population. The new figure is 8 million, compared with the 5.5 million people used previously.

Du said in May it is looking at mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, opportunities to expand its footprint for the first time outside its home market. Abu Dhabi-based etisalat meanwhile already operates in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Nigeria amongst other countries.

March amounted to 12.4 million, up from 11 million in the same period a year ago.

Du has selected Cisco's Unified Computing System (UCS) and Nexus Switching Platform, as the foundation for its next generation virtualised infrastructure.

will be used as a platform for cloud-based security services for customers

Making our first step towards virtualisation and consolidation is a part of our vision towards cloud-based security services. We have achieved this with the support of Cisco in deploying virtualisation for one of our core security services

Quarterly staff costs climbed 17.5 per cent to Dh1.25 billion compared with a year ago, etisalat said in a statement

Etisalat, which dropped plans to buy a controlling stake in Kuwait's Zain earlier this year, posted second-quarter revenue of Dh7.93 billion, down from Dh8.05 billion a year earlier

especially in the post-paid segment,

Fixed broadband services are well developed with fibre representing over a third of all fixed broadband subscriptions. Both Etisalat and du have deployed FttX networks to connect almost all households. In coming years subscribers can expect faster speeds as over three quarters of fixed home broadband subscriptions are on 8Mb/s or less.Widely accessible Internet access has fostered development of the digital economy, encompassing e-commerce, e-government, e-health and e-learning. The UAE has also taken the initiative in implementing smart cities infrastructure, deploying smart grid technology and launching an ambitious plan to develop Masdar City, a new zero carbon, zero waste city powered entirely by renewable energy sources.Despite widespread availability of satellite TV both Etisalat and du are using their fibre networks to market broadband TV (IPTV) services, with subscriber numbers steadily increasing from a small base. Faster broadband speeds are also supporting nascent web based Video-on-Demand (VoD) platforms.

machine-to-machine (M2M) trend, which the operator feels will play a major part in what is now being called the "industrial Internet".

After several years of promise, M2M has now become a hot topic for business because of a number of trends in the market

Falling hardware costs, cheap and reliable mobile communications networks, new regulations, innovative applications and solutions, and technological developments are behind the latest uptake of M2M

reached 1.5 million by the end of the first quarter, while pre-paid subscribers hit 10.9 million

Fixed-line telephone subscribers reached 1.9 million by the end of the first quarter of 2012, up from 1.7 million in the same quarter of 2011.

restructuring operations and outsourcing jobs

may see its earnings suffer as a result of the UAE government raising the percentage of royalty fees

percent share of the UAE mobile phone market

With an estimated 12mn mobile subscribers and 1.26mn fixed lines at the end of 2011

However, while there is active competition among the operators in the mobile segment, the fixed-line business is segmented in such a way that Du mainly caters to newer developments in Dubai (e.g. Downtown and JLT), while Etisalat serves the remainder of the country. However, the regulator and both telecom operators are currently in process of implementing network sharing, whereby customers will have open choice between the two operators for fixed-line services as well. Additionally, mobile number portability (MNP) is also currently under review in the UAE, which could further add to competition in the country.

These areas include Dubai Marina, JLT, Downtown, DIFC, Tecom, Dubai Media City, Palm Jumeirah, The Greens, Emirates Hills and Arabian Ranches among others. Consequently, Etisalat and Du have not been competing for fixed telephone and broadband services in the UAE and the landscape remains a non-overlapping duopoly.

4G service fast enough to download a movie in just two and a half minutes,

UAE telecommunications firm plans to charge subscribers Dh555 (US$151) a month for the speedy mobile-data service, which is currently available through a USB modem.

which offers speeds of 100 megabits per second

Fixed telephone customers meanwhile increased 13.3% y/y, from 191,000 to 217,000, whilst fixed broadband customers increased 25.3% y/y from 104,000 to 130,000.

obile data now accounts for 15.5% of the whole of du's mobile revenue, compared to a year ago when it accounted for 9%.

The continuing development of products and services will therefore be crucial in order to maintain its mobile data growth. The operator is aiming to commercially launch LTE services this year, though will enter the market trailing its rival Etisalat, which launched its LTE network in September last year.

is has been deferred for almost two and-a-half years now, just as the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

The Telecoms Regulatory Authority (TRA) in the UAE had said that the network sharing service would be implemented by end of 2011, but both etisalat and du were technically not ready to launch the service.

$6.9 billion in service revenues