du

Overview

Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (شركة الإمارات للاتصالات المتكاملة), trading as du, is one of two mobile networks operating in United Arab Emirates. The publicly traded telecommunications company was founded in 2005, branding itself as "du" in 2007 when it launched its first mobile services.

The company provides 2G GSM services over 900 and 1800 MHz, and 3G UMTS (DC-HSPA+) over B1 (2100 MHz). du activated its 4G LTE service in June 2012 over a 20 MHz carrier of B3 (1800 MHz). LTE-A was commercially launched in March 2015, providing up to 225 Mbps through aggregation of 20 MHz B3 (1800 MHz) with 15 MHz B20 (800 MHz).

In June 2017 du demonstrated Massive MIMO tests, achieving over 700 Mbps using a single 20 MHz carrier.

du IoT

In February 2019 du announced the commercial launch of its NB-IoT network in partnership with Nokia and MediaTek. The network reportedly operates over the company's existing B20 (800 MHz) LTE carrier.

du 5G

Through its strategic partnership with Nokia, du tested 5G in October 2015, boasting data rates in excess of 10 Gbps. Real-world testing conducted in May 2018 at Dubai Academic City showcased 1.4 Gbps using 400 MHz of 28 GHz spectrum. The company announced plans to deploy its first 5G NR base stations late 2018, for a 2019 activation. In November 2018 UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority confirmed that it had allocated du 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3.3 to 3.8 GHz range for the purposes of providing 5G services.

The company announced the launch of its 5G network early June 2019, with data rates up to 1.26 Gbps being recorded.