CHIEF EXECUTIVEQ WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST

Shifting gears, it turns out, means developing new sources of revenue, including a new web platform and boosting operational efficiency.

The revenue it makes from each of its existing clients

Instead du hopes to boost the revenue it makes from each of its existing clients by offering them more services - everything from broadband internet to pay TV.

"We undoubtedly will see the stage where every person, every consumer, and every business, will be able to choose any service from any of the two licensed operators," says Sultan.

The more vocal critics of the UAE telecoms sector

Yet the more vocal critics of the UAE telecoms sector would say that nevertheless doesn't provide the competition they are looking for. Independent surveys have found that the UAE has some of the most expensive telecoms in the world, especially in international calls - even if prices are falling.

UAE operators have as well been criticised for not facilitating access to Voice over Internet Protocol services - the likes of internet calling service Skype.

"If people are expecting to make indefinite international calls with friends and family for free… not in any place has this happened overnight."

The in the meantime

In the in the meantime, half a decade afterwards its launch, du’s chief executive for all that has his eyes on the prize of being the country’s biggest mobile operator. He communicates his own message loud and clear: "I said recently that I don’t see why I cannot be at parity with the other player. Give me a reason why I should be shy?"SEARCHING FOR AN ONLINE HOMEAfter a career in telecoms which has spanned several decades and countries, du chief executive Osman Sultan is at work on his "last baby". He is talking about anayou.com, an online portal which which takes its name from the Arabic for ‘I’ and the English word ‘you’. Sultan describes it as the digital equivalent of a shopping mall, where users can do many different things, in such a case anything from social networking to watching movies. The site was developed in response to what Sultan describes as the "absence" of the Arab world online. "Today if you take every single country in the Arab world of the most used ten or 15 [online] destinations you will not find any coming from the Arab world," he says. "I want a place in the digital universe where the Arab world can stand and say ‘I exist’."LIVE AND LEARNName: OSMAN SULTANFirm: DUPosition: CHIEF EXECUTIVEQ WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?A My first job was to work in a subsidiary related to online information, long earlier the internet. It was dedicated to traditional online information and professional online information. This is where I got the sensitivity to the content and not only the pipeline. Because the business of telecoms was only about the pipeline back at the time - what goes in the pipeline was not the business. Q WHO HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR CAREER?A I wouldn’t be paying him justice if I didn’t say the person I learned the most from - in terms of the way of being - is truly my father. I’ve had some great people around me. I learned from some people what to do and I learned from some what not to do. Q YOUR BEST DAY AT WORK?A A couple of times, people that I have seen now I have interacted with very little just came and said ‘you transformed my life’ - and these are days when you actually feel a sense of achievement.Q LOOKING BACK ON YOUR CAREER, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?A You know, as a person, probably every time you have been harsh or not paying enough attention to a person, you would wish you could do it differently because there is always a way to pay more attention to a person and be more considerate to a person, and to be more humble. Q HOW DO YOU RELAX? A I think some people will be disappointed because they would imagine that I would go golfing, yet I just like to relax. I like to read books about philosophy. And I learn a lot from my five children. Q WHAT ARE the REMAINING GOALS in your career?A I am not a person who thinks about retirement, I cannot. So I think I will always like to contribute. du is a great baby and I have a lot of passion.