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Mariam Al-Yazidi

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PUBLISHED BY ICN PRESS

  • Mada Media signed contracts worth about AED1.5 billion in the first half of 2026, covering 683 advertising assets.
  • Eighty local and regional companies bid in the tenders, which mixed digital and static inventory.
  • A separate round was reserved for 18 emerging national firms registered with Dubai SME.
  • Two Dubai Metro Red Line naming rights deals were signed, one of them with a global brand for the first time.

Mada Media closed the first half of 2026 with AED1.5 billion in Media contracts, covering 683 advertising assets across Dubai. The company organises, develops and manages the emirate’s out-of-home advertising sector. Eighty local and regional advertising companies entered the tenders held during the period. Earlier company figures put first-quarter contract value at AED971.3 million, which places most of the half-year total in the opening three months.

Inside the asset list

Tendered inventory included 27 digital unipoles and 20 bridge banners. Six of those banners are digital, and 14 are static. Four static hoardings went to tender as well, along with displays on lighting poles and flags. Mada Media spread the sites across main districts and high-traffic roads, which widens the range of price points open to bidders. Advertisers pay for reach, and reach in Dubai OOH advertising follows the road network. A bridge banner on a commuter corridor carries a different value to a pole display on a side street, and the tender structure reflects that.

What the AED1.5 billion in Media contracts covers

Beyond site leases, the AED1.5 billion in Media contracts commits operators to converting a large share of static sites into screens. That shift moves the market further towards digital out-of-home advertising, the format now leading growth across the Gulf. Mordor Intelligence values the UAE digital out-of-home market at about 62.6 million dollars for 2026, with annual growth near 13 percent. PwC has estimated Dubai holds 73 percent of the country’s out-of-home market. Screens also change the sales model. Static sites sell time in weeks. Digital sites sell it in seconds, and inventory can be traded programmatically, which brings automated buying into a sector long run on fixed leases.

A tender written for smaller firms

The AED1.5 billion in Media contracts headline sits alongside a quieter piece of the programme. Mada Media ran a separate tender open only to emerging national companies registered with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, known as Dubai SME. Eighteen firms took part in that round, the first of its kind. The design is a governance choice rather than a commercial one. By ring-fencing a slice of inventory, the regulator decides that market share in a licensed sector should not settle only with the largest bidders.

Matar Al Tayer, Chairman of Mada Media, said, “The participation of 80 local and regional advertising companies in the tenders launched by the company is an indication of the expanding investor base and strong demand for the investment opportunities offered by the sector.”

Metro naming rights and the wider plan

Mada Media signed two Dubai Metro naming rights agreements for Red Line stations, one with a local brand and one, for the first time, with a global brand. Names and financial terms have not been released. Mansoor Al Sabahi, CEO of Mada Media, said the company is also extending Dubai Metro naming rights across the Green Line. He added, “Since the company was established, we have focused on building a regulatory and operational ecosystem based on transparency, streamlined procedures, and enhanced efficiency in the management and operation of advertising assets.”

Both the tender programme and the AED1.5 billion in Media contracts feed into the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan. Those plans treat street advertising as public infrastructure, licensed and priced by the state rather than left to open competition for space. Who controls the screens, and on what terms, is a policy question as much as a revenue one.

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Apple's iPhone Duo
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The iPhone Duo is Apple’s first foldable iPhone, and it opens like a small book into a 7.6-inch screen. Closed, you hold a 5.4-inch outer display that fits in a pocket. Both screens share the same aspect ratio, so a video or app scales cleanly as you move between them. Stand it up on a table, and it works hands-free for calls or video. Apple showed the phone on September 9 at its Surprise and Shine event in Cupertino, where new chief executive John Ternus led his first keynote. He said rival foldables often feel like two phones stuck together. The Duo tries to feel like one device that changes size when you need it.

What the screens and camera can do

Open the Duo and the inner display runs 50 percent larger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max. A custom nano-texture finish cuts glare and hides the crease, the seam that has annoyed foldable owners for years. Peak brightness reaches 3000 nits, so the screen stays readable outdoors. Inside, an under-display FaceTime camera keeps the view whole, with no notch breaking the screen. The rear camera leans on a 48MP Dual Fusion system with a main and an ultra-wide lens. There is no telephoto, a trade Apple made to save room in the thin body. Smart Take reads the scene and snaps the photo when everyone poses, so you can stand in the shot instead of behind it. You can also shoot 48MP photos and 4K video at up to 120 frames per second.

iPhone Duo specs that matter for daily use

The iPhone Duo specs point to a phone built for long, heavy days. Inside sits the A20 Pro chip with a vapor chamber that spreads heat during games and video edits. Apple pairs it with a dual-battery design that fits more cells into the frame. You get up to 31 hours of video on the inner screen and up to 44 hours on the outer one. Plug it in, and it reaches 50 percent in about 20 minutes. A Grade 5 titanium frame and a precision hinge give the body its strength, and Touch ID moves to the side button in place of Face ID.

iPhone Duo prices are ridiculously high

Here is the part your wallet cares about. The iPhone Duo price starts at $1,999 for 256GB in the United States, which makes it the most expensive iPhone in the lineup. In the UAE, iPhone Duo starts at AED 8,499 for the 256 GB, AED 9,349 for the 512 GB, AED 11,049 for the 1 TB, and the laptop-price level of AED 13,599 for the 2 TB. Preorders open October 16, and the iPhone Duo release date lands on October 23. Apple plans a first wave across more than 70 countries, then adds 28 more on October 30. For comparison, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 starts near $1,899.

Why the foldable iPhone arrives only now

Apple waited years while Samsung and others sold foldables. Now the foldable iPhone brings iOS 27 features built for two screens, like Split View and apps that respond to how you hold the phone. eSIM handles the connection, since there is no SIM tray anywhere. Apple Pencil support arrives later in 2026. That gap of a few weeks after the iPhone 18 Pro points to a slower, careful rollout for a harder build. If you have wanted a phone that turns into a small tablet without feeling clumsy, this is Apple’s answer, and you can hold one this month.

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Work from Park initiative
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The Work from Park initiative puts bookable workspaces inside Dubai’s public parks, starting with Al Barsha Pond Park. Dubai Municipality announced the programme on 19 April 2026 and said it had signed two memoranda of cooperation to deliver it. One went to Group AMANA, which builds the units, and the other to Letswork LLC, which operates them.

Entrepreneurs, freelancers, small and medium-sized enterprises

The structure is a public-private partnership. Dubai Municipality provides the park and the mandate. Private firms handle design, construction, and daily operation. The municipality said the model gives the private sector a route into public facilities while each site keeps its role as a park.

Target users are entrepreneurs, freelancers, small and medium-sized enterprises, and anyone doing remote work in Dubai. Content creators get dedicated production rooms, which the municipality said are meant to strengthen their place in the emirate’s creative economy.

Letswork runs the booking side. Users reserve space through the Letswork app, check in on arrival and use one membership across the company’s network of venues. The offer covers desks by the hour, event space, podcast recording and production rooms for creators. Letswork will also run training programmes and group sessions for creative talent and new businesses.

How the Work from Park initiative is built

Group AMANA delivers the first site through its DuBox unit. DuBox builds the workspace modules in a factory, then transports them to the park and assembles them on site. The municipality said this shortens the build schedule, reduces waste and lowers the environmental footprint compared with conventional construction. Units can be reconfigured later as demand shifts.

The Al Barsha Pond Park site was scheduled to open in May 2026. Letswork now lists it as a bookable venue on its platform. The listing describes modular pods with high-speed Wi-Fi, power and climate-controlled seating, plus podcast studios and creative production rooms. Members can book day passes, meeting rooms and private offices under one Letswork membership.

Dubai Municipality said the Work from Park initiative would add more sites across the emirate later in 2026. Locations and opening dates for those have yet to be confirmed.

Bader Anwahi, CEO of the Public Facilities Agency at Dubai Municipality, said the partnerships combine advanced construction methods with private sector expertise to produce public infrastructure “that is flexible, sustainable, and aligned with modern lifestyles and work patterns.”

Richard Abboud, CEO of Group AMANA, said modular construction lets the company build efficient, adaptable units at speed.

Why the Work from Park initiative fits Dubai’s planning goals

The programme sits under three policy frameworks. Dubai’s 2040 Parks and Greenery Strategy targets 95 million park visits a year by 2040. Land use falls under the Dubai Urban Plan 2040. Economic targets through 2033 come from the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.

Omar AlMheiri, co-founder of Letswork, said the partnership would add dedicated creative spaces and podcast studios. He described it as a step toward changing where and how people in the UAE do flexible work.

Dubai Municipality describes the Work from Park initiative as the first of its kind. Existing Dubai coworking spaces operate from office towers, hotels and retail sites. This programme moves the format onto municipal parkland, with the municipality as host and a private platform as operator.

Outdoor workspaces in Dubai face one obvious constraint: summer heat. The Letswork listing addresses this with climate-controlled seating inside the pods. Demand across a full year of operation will show whether the format holds. The second site, once announced, will be the next signal of how fast the municipality intends to scale.

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