By Amr Adel
Dubai – Mubasher: Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du) has not been notified of any amendment to franchise fees after 2016 or 2017, CEO Osman Sultan told Mubasher in a teleconference.
"du has received no updates from the Ministry of Finance over franchise fees", Sultan added.
In December 2011, the federal government adopted a new mechanism for imposing royalty rates or taxes on telcos to guarantee equality between operators.
The UAE’s finance ministry previously set out a five-year timetable for du's royalty rates for the period from 2012 to 2016, which requires taxes of 15% on revenues and 30% on profits.
The mobile subscribers increased 5.2% to reach 7.7 million by the end of 2015, compared to 7.3 million subscribers a year earlier, although the “My Number, My Identity” campaign suspended the service for almost 1.1 million subscribers, Sultan said.
Commenting on the second phase of ground TV services, he said it is likely to be launched in the third quarter of 2016, pointing out that du is making steady progress concerning G4 network coverage, while its G3 network covers 98% of populated areas.
