At the beginning of the year,
du signed a "Partner Market Agreement" with Vodafone. At the time, they said the agreement would let du access some of Vodafone's goodies - custom devices, special network services, technology etc. There was also the obligatory roaming deal.
This was back when neither du or Etisalat was offering the iPhone in the UAE, and Vodafone was rolling out the iPhone across its global network, including Egypt and Qatar. So I
wrote a story heavy with iPhone innuendo, suggesting without actually saying that Vodafone would help du land the iPhone.
I was probably wrong (although rumours have suggested that du is getting its iPhones through Vodafone), but whatever happened, it seems like something is going on.
The two companies exhibited side by side at Gitex last week, and
re-announced the partnership. And now they've sent out an invite to a
press conference this Wednesday to "talk about the partnership."
Coincedence that the press conference comes the
day after du's iPhone launch?
I speculate, you decide. There's every chance that this is just a
routine sort of dog-and-pony show, but I wouldn't rule out something
more interesting. The guest of honour at the event will be F1 driver
Lewis Hamilton, whose McLaren Mercedes team is sponsored by Vodafone
(he'll be racing down the road at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this
weekend, which could also partially explain the timing...)
Something super awesome, which will not happen at this press
conference, would be for du to take the Vodafone route in
opening its
network to outside applications. Vodafone's network API will be a
game-changer for a whole bunch of industries, so here's hoping that's
one side of the company that rubs off on its new partner.
Oh, and a side point - Vodafone's partner markets team, which manages
these kind of deals, seems the be very Egypt-friendly. Their previous
CEO was Hatem Dowidar, an Egyptian who rose fast through the ranks of
Vodafone Egypt, became chief of Vodafone Malta, and who is now running
Vodafone Egypt. And the new chief of the partner markets unit is
Richard Daly, the former head of Vodafone Egypt.
It has the potential to be a really big deal for du but the kind of integration they'd have to do between systems, procedures, etc. probably takes time. I'm guessing that's one reason why we've not seen anything from them until now. Perhaps in some ways this allows du to leapfrog the much bigger and more established Etisalat.
It appears the Vodafone deal will allow preferential roaming access and data services to du in countries with Vodafone networks, including high potential countries like India. Your speculation about the Egypt angle seems plausible if we consider that there are more than a few in high du places, who have the same background.. Du has done a great job of marketing and branding, so has Vodafone - the coming together can only be good for du and a shot across the bows for complacent Etisalat.