Getting iPhones in the UAE

Another interesting piece of news I read today: Etisalat, the big telecoms company here in Dubai, lets new customers or customers switching from competing provider 'du' to Etisalat pay more for the iPhone than existing Etisalat customers. Which kind of surprised me. My first thought was: why not try to use this attractive device to snatch away customers from competitors and increase market share by making the iPhone as readily available as possible for anyone willing to sign up?

The story behind this business-section-front-page piece of news: Etisalat has been a monopolist for years. The market is being deregulated, even though I don't think there's more competition than from the company du at present, which is by some seen as having the less well developed network coverage (but don't hold me accountable on that one).

So it seems Etisalat's marketing focus is to KEEP long-time customers. They have their customer base and seek ways to keep it that way. Maybe I should ask a colleague what he thinks of this in terms of PR. Etisalat is a client here.