The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has said Etisalat and du need to do more to assist customers to re-register their SIM cards. Philip Cheung / The National
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has said Etisalat and du need to do more to assist customers to re-register their SIM cards. Philip Cheung / The National
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has said Etisalat and du need to do more to assist customers to re-register their SIM cards. Philip Cheung / The National
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has said Etisalat and du need to do more to assist customers to re-register their SIM cards. Philip Cheung / The National

UAE

UAE telecoms watchdog and du at odds over Sim card re-registration

Confusion over re-registration of Sim cards in the UAE continues as the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) and du differ over the deadline.

The National staff

October 16, 2012

  • English
  • Arabic

There was confusion last night over the re-registering of mobile Sim cards as the telecoms watchdog, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), announced the deadline would be extended.

But du said it would suspend the lines of customers who had failed to respond to an SMS telling them to re-register.

The TRA said it would extend the deadline as its licencees - du and Etisalat - had not provided "smooth mechanisms to facilitate, accelerate and stimulate subscribers to update their data".

On state news agency WAM, the TRA said: "Licensees will extend the timeframe for the first category and include it in the second category due date since the licensees were unable to provide smooth mechanisms to facilitate, accelerate and stimulate subscribers to update their data.

"Furthermore, the TRA instructed the licensees to improve their mechanisms and increase the capabilities of all their commercial outlets where subscribers can easily access those locations to update their information.

"The TRA also instructed the operators to speed up the launch of the online registration services to accelerate the process and ease the load on the commercial outlets."

Earlier this week Etisalat told customers who fail to re-register their sim cards in time they would not have their handsets blocked after the telecom company extended its deadline.

Users originally had until yesterday to update their details or face having their service disrupted.

The company has been contacting customers in batches via SMS alerts, advising them to register their sim cards in line with the TRA's “My Number, My Identity” campaign.

“We will extend the period for registration for those who have not yet registered,” said an Etisalat official. “They will not have their service blocked after the October 16 deadline.”

He did not say how long the deadline had been extended.

The TRA launched its campaign on July 17, requiring all mobile phones with sim cards from du or Etisalat to be re-registered.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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