OSMAN SULTAN

CEO, DU ORIGIN LEBANON RESIDENCE UAE SECTOR TELECOMS

The UAE’s second telecom operator du ended 2016 on a lower note than perhaps anticipated. The company posted a fall in earnings for the eighth successive quarter in November. A government crackdown on unregistered SIMs also added to CEO Osman Sultan’s woes as the number of pre-paid SIM users – often low-income workers – declined over last year. However, Sultan’s eyes have remained ahead, as he hopes to generate as much as Dhs1bn ($272m) from smart cities and data security. In an interview with The National last year, Sultan said “beyond telco" services would amount to 10 per cent of the company’s total revenue by 2020.