At the beginning of the year, . At the time, they said the agreement would let du access some of Vodafone's goodies - custom devices, special network services, technology etc. There was also the obligatory roaming deal. This was back when neither du or Etisalat was offering the iPhone in the UAE, and Vodafone was rolling out the iPhone across its global network, including Egypt and Qatar. So I , suggesting without actually saying that Vodafone would help du land the iPhone. I was probably wrong (although rumours have suggested that du is getting its iPhones through Vodafone), but whatever happened, it seems like something is going on. The two companies exhibited side by side at Gitex last week, and re-announced the partnership. And now they've sent out an invite to a press conference this Wednesday to "talk about the partnership." Coincedence that the press conference comes the ? I speculate, you decide. There's every chance that this is just a routine sort of dog-and-pony show, but I wouldn't rule out something more interesting. The guest of honour at the event will be F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, whose McLaren Mercedes team is sponsored by Vodafone (he'll be racing down the road at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend, which could also partially explain the timing...) Something super awesome, which will not happen at this press conference, would be for du to take the Vodafone route in . Vodafone's network API will be a , so here's hoping that's one side of the company that rubs off on its new partner. Oh, and a side point - Vodafone's partner markets team, which manages these kind of deals, seems the be very Egypt-friendly. Their previous CEO was Hatem Dowidar, an Egyptian who rose fast through the ranks of Vodafone Egypt, became chief of Vodafone Malta, and who is now running Vodafone Egypt. And the new chief of the partner markets unit is Richard Daly, the former head of Vodafone Egypt.