UAE regulator the TDRA has renewed the licences of both of the country’s telecom operators – e& and du – for another 20 years.
The renewed licenses will be effective from 9 August 2026 until 8 August 2046, replacing the licences issued in 2006. The two licences include an enhanced set of obligations, most notably a comprehensive framework covering network resilience, backup capacity and international connectivity, in addition to quality of service, interconnection and access, national roaming, universal service, subscriber protection and the prevention of anti-competitive practices.
TDRA says the renewal provides the sector with a long-term regulatory framework that offers the stability required to sustain investment in digital infrastructure and future technologies, providing the sector with a long-term framework that lays the foundation for a new phase in which connectivity evolves into intelligence, and digital infrastructure becomes a national platform for innovation and sustainable growth.
Expanding on this point, HE Talal Belhoul, Chairman of TDRA, explains: “The infrastructure of the national economy relies on telecommunications networks across all vital sectors, including government services, financial services, healthcare, education, energy, transport, industry and digital commerce. The next phase takes on added importance in light of the Digital Economy Strategy, which aims to double the digital economy’s contribution to GDP from 9.7% in 2022 to 19.4% over the next ten years. The sector is also expected to gradually transition from connected networks to intelligent, autonomous networks, where artificial intelligence becomes an integral part of the intelligence of the network itself.”
Continuing the critical national infrastructure theme, HE Eng Mohammed Al Ramsi, Deputy Director General of the Telecommunications Sector at TDRA, says the new licences require licensees to « geographically diversify international connectivity through multiple terrestrial systems and submarine cables, eliminate single points of failure, implement disaster recovery mechanisms and test them regularly, and develop qualified national talent capable of operating and restoring networks under exceptional circumstances ».