The Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, better known as Du, opened in 2006 to rival regional powerhouse Etisalat and it’s fair to say it has successfully created a significant following. With a 50 percent market share and over 6.5 million customers, the company boasts a whopping AED10bn ($2.72bn) in annual revenue thanks to 555,000 fixed line subscribers, 180,000 home services subscribers and more than 70,000 businesses using its services; those range from mobile and fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV services to carrier services, a data hub, internet exchange facilities and satellite services for broadcasters.

The company which employs over 2,000 people from more than 60 countries is also committed to Emiratisation whereby 50 percent of their senior management team and customer-facing staff are UAE nationals.

With Shiner as its head of innovation, we doubt that has changed. With over 25 years in the industry, he looks after business intelligence, analytics, robotics, process engineering, AI, customer experience, complaint management, digital online sales and services as well as new products and innovations. What is the end goal for the Chief Digital Lifestyle and Innovation Officer? “Removing the complexity from the customer,” he told Telecom Review. “We want to make it easy and effortless for them.”

He added, “These business units all contribute to understand, design, build and implement solutions for customers. When people think of Du, we want them to think that doing business with us is effortless. Are we on the journey? Yes, we are. Is it perfected yet? No, it is not. If they think that this is a one-off project that’s the biggest mistake companies are making. This is not a project to us, it’s a way of working and continuously moving forward.”

Du currently has over 100,000 interactions through its WhatsApp customer service which Shiner expects will continue to grow. Shiner, who holds a Master of Science in Management, Business Administration and Management from Stanford University in the US, claims to often personally handle customer complaints on WhatsApp or LinkedIn to help find a solution.

The WhatsApp initiative is just one of many which have helped Du gain significant market share over its older rival Etisalat, having been the first of the telecommunication companies to launch an e-shop whereby customers can purchase a phone on Du’s website and have it delivered in 24 hours.

“As an ICT service provider, we are at the forefront of the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence. We recognise the importance of messaging for our customers. Making our virtual assistant available on WhatsApp makes it easy for our customers to connect with us,” he told ITP Media Group title CommsMEA.

Last year, the company also re-launched its app and added features including the biometric payment of bills, the ability to check balances as well as renew IDs and recharge accounts.

Du was the first carrier in the Middle East to partner with Netflix and Amazon on streaming services, with customers paying for the service through their mobile bills. In 2018, the company equipped around 10,000 taxis in Dubai with free Wi-Fi as part of an agreement with the city’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA). This built on the foundations of an earlier deal in 2016 in which Du fitted 500 taxis at the Dubai International Airport with free internet for passengers.

Shiner told Telecom Review that the UAE has continuously transformed itself at such a rapid rate that it “has almost needed to take a breath” but that the world “doesn’t let you take a breath, you have to constantly evolve”.

And evolve is what Shiner has been doing in his professional life, having previously worked as chief revenue officer at Singapore-based telco Singtel where he optimised different digital businesses across the Asia-Pacific region before joining Australian telco Telstra as executive director of digital at Telstra where he handled all digital assets across its businesses in the country.

Moreover, Shiner expects telecommunications companies will play a more vital role in smart societies as individuals and companies become more heavily reliant on their services. Du is also contributing to Dubai’s goal of becoming one of the world’s smartest cities and is the host of the smart city platform Dubai Pulse. Owned by the Smart Dubai Office and developed in 2017, it facilitates the exchange and delivery of city data and services.

In 2018, the company won the Smart Cities Award at the Telecoms World Middle East 2018 for its role in developing the platform.

And with Shiner leading the charge of the telco’s foray into innovative ideas of the future, Du’s ambition to deliver world-class customer care seems to be in safe hands.