ABU DHABI, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Du, the second telecom operator in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said that it has become profitable in the third quarter of 2008, with a profit of 31 million dir (8.45 million U.S. dollars), since it launched services last year, local newspaper Gulf News reported on Monday.

    This makes Du a year ahead of its financial plans to reach profitability. Established in December 2004 with a capitalization of four billion dir, the company launched services in February 2007 and thus broke the monopoly of Etisalat, the only telecom operator in the UAE since 1976.

    The total revenue of Du for the third quarter of 2008 surpassed one billion dir for the first time, representing an increase of 157 percent over the same period of last year.

    In the same quarter, the company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) reached 101 million dir, while it reported a net loss of 242 million dir in the third quarter of 2007.

    "Having a positive EBITDA within a year is unprecedented, specifically in such a highly penetrated telecommunications market," the company's CEO Osman Sultan was quoted as saying.

    Du also recorded a growth in its subscribers in the third quarter this year, about 453,000 new subscribers, which increased the company's number of subscribers to 2.6 million.

    "Our market share is estimated to be close to 30 percent, based on the numbers of active subscribers. We are now in this ballpark, while originally our intention was to reach here by the end of this year," Sultan added.

    Du is owned 40 percent by the UAE government, while the Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Company and the Dubai-based Emirates Communications and Technology Company owned 20 percent of the company's stake each. The rest 20 percent is held by public shareholders.