Du to launch UAE’s second LTE network by year-end

United Arab Emirates telecoms operator Du plans to launch its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network by the end of the year, bringing advanced high speed mobile broadband services to its wireless subscribers. Reuters quotes the company’s senior vice president for network development, Hatem Bamatraf, as saying that Du expects to introduce the 4G network before the end of the year, probably during December. TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate reported in May 2011 that Du had successfully completed its first pilot trial of LTE, stating that a commercial launch of the 4G technology would follow in the second half of 2011. Last month Du’s sole rival Etisalat announced the commercial launch of its Long Term Evolution-Frequency Division Duplex (LTE-FDD) mobile broadband network, bringing maximum download speeds of up to 100Mbps to the country. The network, which is integrated with the operator’s fibre-optic infrastructure, comprises over 700 base stations and is available in around 70% of the UAE’s urban areas. Etisalat plans to increase the number of active LTE cell sites to around 1,000 by the end of the year.