Etisalat

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, branded trade name Etisalat (Arabic: اتصالات‎ ittiṣālāt, literally "communications"), is a multinational UAE based telecommunications services provider, currently operating in 15 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. As of February 2014, Etisalat is the 17th largest mobile network operator in the world, with a total customer base of more than 150 million. Etisalat was named the most powerful company in the UAE by Forbes Middle East in 2012.

On 4 March 2014, Etisalat reported net revenue of US$10.6 billion (AED 38.85 billion) and net profits of USD US$1.93bn (AED 7.08 billion). The total market capitalization of the company in 2012 was $22 billion (AED 81 billion). It is one of the only two telecommunications service provider companies in the country, the other one being Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du).

Etisalat is one of the Internet hubs in the Middle East (AS8966), providing connectivity to other telecommunications operators in the region. It is also the largest carrier of international voice traffic in the Middle East and Africa and the 12th largest voice carrier in the world. As of October 2008, Etisalat has 510 roaming agreements covering 186 countries and enabling BlackBerry, 3G, GPRS and voice roaming. Etisalat operates Points of Presence (PoP) in New York, London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris and Singapore. In December 2011 Etisalat announced the commercial launch of Etisalat 4G "Long Term Evolution" (LTE) Network.

Etisalat Egypt

Etisalat Egypt is a subsidiary of Etisalat U.A.E., the sole telecommunications services provider in the United Arab Emirates from 1976 until the arrival of Du (telco) in February 2007, and the first 3.5G network operator in Egypt. Etisalat Egypt is one of 15 service providers managed by Etisalat in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Etisalat group currently has access to a potential market of just below 1 billion subscribers and today Etisalat services over 130 million subscribers including the total number of fixed-line, Internet, mobile and television from each of its subsidiaries. In November 2007, Etisalat Egypt upgraded to 3.75G which is the marketing term for HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet access). The Uplink channel carries information from the mobile terminal to the network such as file uploading, e-mail attachments and user response in interactive games. HSUPA is an enhancement of 3.5G networks that increases upload speeds. HSDPA stands for High Speed Downlink Packet access. A Downlink channel carries information from the network to the mobile terminal such as video and music downloads. Etisalat Egypt was the first mobile operator in Egypt to offer Downlink speeds up to 7.2 Mbit/s which is two times faster than 3.5G downlink speeds. Today, Etisalat Egypt’s 2G and 3G robust and high quality network covers and serves 99% of the population in Egypt, with download speed reaching up to 84Mbit/s. Moreover, Etisalat Egypt is the first and the only operator in Egypt that has an exclusive international gateway. In order to complete Etisalat Egypt’s product portfolio, two well-established ISPs (Internet Service Providers) were acquired and provide broadband services.

Etisalat (Sri Lanka)

Etisalat Lanka (English: Communication), known as Celltel until 2007, and Tigo between 2007 and 2010, is a mobile telecommunications network in Sri Lanka. It is currently owned by the UAE based telecommunications operator Etisalat. Etisalat Sri Lanka had over 4.2 million customers at the end of February 2012. The company announced the commercial launch of Dual Carrier HSPA+ services on 15 August 2012, becoming the first operator in South Asia to do so.

Celltel and Tigo

Etisalat was founded as Celltel on 18 June 1989 on a Motorola TACS system, becoming the first cellular network in Sri Lanka. It was then rebranded by Millicom International in January 2007, as Tigo (Sri Lanka).

Acquisition by Etisalat

Etisalat acquired Sri Lankan operations of Millicom International, Tigo (Sri Lanka) on 16 October 2009. The acquisition was completed with a total enterprise value of 207 Million US$, out of which 155 Million US$ was in cash. Etisalat changed the Operator/Brand Name Tigo to Etisalat On 25 February 2010.