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Etisalat to invest $1.4b in Egypt

ABU DHABI — Emirates Telecommunication Corporation, also known as Etisalat, will invest $1.41 billion in its Egyptian subsidiary to expand its network during next three years, its chairman said on Saturday.

“Our investment in the network has reached (Egyptian pound) EGP8 billion to date, and we expect that we will invest EGP8 billion more in the coming three years as networks expansion is a ‘priority’ for the company,” Mohammad Hassan Omran said in a statement.

Omran said the customer base for Etisalat Misr reached 14 million within three years of operation that started in May 2007.

“The company’s achievements exceeded all expectations in terms of subscription rates and what was targeted in the bid conditions and feasibility studies in terms of network coverage,” he said.

He said that Etisalat Misr achieved during the first two years what was planned to be achieved in the five years. “We built a state of the art network and started working in a very limited time,” he said.

Omran said Etisalat now operates in 18 markets serving 107 million customers covering around two billion customers.

Satisfying returns

“Etisalat’s strategy is to develop a significant international footprint and to benefit from economies of scale. This will serve for the future and provide satisfying returns for our investors, he said.

However this desired growth cannot be achieved by having a presence in one market only and requires more operations and investments in markets that are open for growth and development.

Commenting on the operational level in a competitive market, Engineer Saleh Al Abdouli, Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Misr, said: “From day one we had to compete strongly and to provide new services and innovative systems.”

The telecommunication firm developed the latest mobile network in Egypt based on the 3.5-G technology that allowed the provision of new unprecedented services including video calls, mobile TV, wireless high speed internet.

The company also provided more capacities after it competed developing its entire network from HSPA to HSPA+ which provides capacity up to 21 Megabits Per Second (Mbps). With its completion Etisalat Misr became the first company in Africa and the second in the Middle East coming after Etisalat UAE to make this offering.

Etisalat Misr has the widest and strongest coverage 3.5-G in more than 80 per cent of the county, in addition to providing HSPA+ applications which offer high internet speeds to download and transfer data.

The company was the only operator in Egypt to be awarded its own international gateway licence, due to which it now provides special services and rates.

Etisalat Misr also acquired EgyNet and Nile Online to provide fixed internet services, this step comes in line with the company’s commitment to provide comprehensive services for its customers, this way Etisalat’s customers will have the opportunity to reach high quality internet services promptly anytime and anywhere, the statement said.

haseeb@khaleejtimes.com