Etisalat poised to launch VoD

UAE telecoms operator Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) plans to launch a video-on-demand (VoD) service next month, local newspaper The National reports. According to Humaid al Suwaidi, the chief executive of Etisalat’s cable division E-Vision, an announcement on the launch of the service will be made ‘in the next two weeks.’ Al Suwaidi added: ‘VoD and subscription-VoD is the way we believe people will be watching TV in the future. We have realised its importance, and we have been working on it.’ According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Du – Etisalat’s sole rival in the UAE market – already offers a VoD service, which was launched in December 2009 in the ‘New Dubai’ areas where the company operates. The VoD service is available to users of the operator’s ‘du TV’ and ‘du TV+’ offerings and is priced at AED75 (USD20.42) per month. It gives viewers access to an unlimited number of movies, TV series, music and children’s programmes.