Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (etisalat) and Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du) both claim to be the first to launch 4G services in the UAE.

According to a report in 'Emarat Al Youm', the dispute followed after du allegedly issued an official statement and advertisement in local newspapers on Saturday claiming it was the first body in the UAE to offer the 4G phone network.

Etisalat filed a complaint with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) and urged it to take action against du as the telecom operator claims to be the sole operator in the UAE that is licenced to offer 4G services.

Meanwhile, du in a statement sent to 'Emarat Al Youm' said it had launched in March this year a commercial service called (HSPA+) - which falls under the fourth generation services.

Fraid Faraidooni, Chief Executive of Commercial Affairs, du, said: "du launched in March a commercial service (HSPA+), which provides speeds of up to 42MB/sec, and is considered by the International Telecommunication Union a fourth- generation service."

Ali Al Ahmad, Chief Executive, etisalat, said: "The HSPA+ service which was launched by du in March, is not fourth-generation service rather 3.75G, according to standards set by TRA in the UAE."

The TRA, meanwhile, has confirmed "it did not give du the approval to launch the fourth generation services in the UAE, and that du had not yet applied for the licence to provide such services in the UAE".

Majid Al Masmar, Deputy Director-General, TRA, said the authority has not give du approval until now to launch (LTI) network, and that the company has not applied for a license to provide fourth generation services.

“TRA will discuss with du regaridng the operator's claims," Masmar added.

Du allegedly issued a press statement on Saturday on sidelines of Gitex claiming it was first body in the UAE to launch 4G service, when it upgraded  the network to (HSPA+) in March this year.

It also claimed to be the first operator in the region to to launch LTI technology.