Etisalat

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Emirates Telecommunication Establishment Etisalat
Type Public
Founded United Arab Emirates Government
Headquarters Abu Dhabi,
Flag of the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates
Key people Mohammed Hassan Omran Chairman,

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, also known as Etisalat (former Emirtel), is the incumbent telecommunications carrier and Internet service provider (ISP) in the United Arab Emirates. Founded in 1976, it was the sole telecommunications services provider in the UAE until the arrival of Du in February 2007.

Etisalat provides a wide range of fixed and wireless telecommunications services, as well as cable television services. As of January 2008, Etisalat is thought to operate over 33 million subscribers in 15 countries, following a spending spree of 30 billion United Arab Emirates dirham in international acquisitions and investments, largely due to the loss of its virtual monopoly in the United Arab Emirates.

The telecom claims its wireless services coverage reaches 97% of UAE. According to the official news agency of the United Arab Emirates (WAM),

"At the end of September 2005, the number of lines in service are: 1,222,905 fixed telephone lines, 4,305,821 mobile telephone lines and 469,817 Internet subscriber lines. Mobile telephony penetration exceeds 95%.[citation needed]"

The company has been ranked by the Financial Times Global 500 among the world's largest corporations, currently taking the 444th spot (as of 2007)[1]. In September 2006 Forbes Arabia ranked it as the 6th largest company in the region in terms of market capitalization and revenues. The corporation is also a major contributor to the UAE's federal budget and is among the largest contributors (apart from the oil and gas sector) to development programs of the UAE federal government. Currently the operator pays 50% of its operational profits to the federal government as a royalty fee, although there are speculations that in future this figure could be reduced to 40% [2].

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[edit] International Expansion

Etisalat International is the business unit of Etisalat that operates outside the UAE and manages the corporation's stakes in telecommunications carriers in Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, the Ivory Coast, Egypt, Gabon, Niger, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Pakistan.

One of Etisalat's first international investments was the bid to become the second mobile services operator in Saudi Arabia. Etihad Etisalat, a consortium led by Etisalat, has won the 2G GSM license by offering USD 3.25 billion. Currently operating under the brand name Mobily, Etihad Etisalat offers Saudi Arabia subscribers conventional and 3G mobile telephony services, and has floated shares on the Saudi stock market.

Among the acquisitions of Etisalat in 2005 was a 26% management stake in Pakistan Telecommunications (PCTL) that was put on sale by the government of Pakistan as part of a large privatization initiative. In order to outbid competitors (which included Singapore Telecom and China Mobile), Etisalat offered USD 2.56 billion for the stake. According to some analysts, Etisalat has overpaid, as the bid went far beyond the estimated USD 2 billion value of the package[3].

In July 2006, a consortium led by Etisalat has been granted the rights to develop Egypt's third mobile network, with a winning bid of 16.7 billion Egyptian pounds (2.29 billion euro)[4]. The new venture, Etisalat Egypt, will compete with existing service providers Vodafone and Mobinil. On September 12, 2006, it was announced that the network will be built by Ericsson of Sweden, and Huawei of China, at a cost of approximately USD $1.2 billion[5].

Other telecommunications services providers that Etisalat has acquired stakes in include CanarTel in Sudan, Atlantique Telecom (offering services in Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Gabon and Central African Republic), Zantel (Tanzania), Etisalat Afghanistan, Thuraya.

[edit] Internet Services

3G network services have been unrolled in 2004. In that year Etisalat has initiated the upgrade of its partially aging infrastructure to an IP-based NGN core.

To home users Etisalat currently offers dial-up, ISDN, cable and DSL Internet connectivity services. Etisalat's [ADSL] broadband service is known as "Al Shamil" and offers speeds between 256kbit/s and 4Mbit/s.

Etisalat also operates iZone, a system of Wi-Fi hotspots in central locations, such as shopping malls, restaurants, and sheesha cafes. iZone can be utilized by either purchasing prepaid cards, which offers access rates of AED 15/hour (about USD 4.5/hour), or if one holds an existing account with the operator, paying AED 3/hour (dial-up account holders), or AED 6/hour (broadband account holders).

Dial-up and ISDN Internet access services are billed by the hour, whereas the Domestic/Residential Cable and DSL connections have a fixed monthly rate depending on speed. Other Internet links, aimed at business users, have traffic utilization plans and relatively high rates when exceeding the allocated bandwidth quota. This has caused bad publicity for Etisalat and is a major source of criticism.

[edit] Business Units

The Emirates Telecomminications Corporation incorporated several semi-independent business units, each focused on the provisioning of a different type of service.

For example, eCompany (also previously known as "Emirates Internet & Multimedia"), was the UAE's ISP; e-Marine is the name of the unit, operating Etisalat's submarine communications cable laying ships; e-Vision is the UAE's only terrestrial cable television services provider; Ebtikar is the manufacturer of various smart card products; Etisalat Academy is a unit providing training and consultancy services.

As of 2008, Etisalat is undergoing restructuring that will see only three main business units operating - Etisalat, Etisalat Services and Etisalat International. As part of the program, the telecom has launched a re-branding campaign, releasing a new corporate logo and identity in May 2006.

[edit] Internet Censorship

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Etisalat implements Internet content filtering, denying user access to websites containing controversial materials. Instead of the sought website users receive a page stating that access to the content is denied due to its nature contravening "the religious, cultural, political, and moral values of the United Arab Emirates."

The type of content that is restricted by Etisalat includes:

The use of content filtering has been mandated by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the United Arab Emirates, which is the telecoms regulatory body in the country. Under TRA orders etisalat also blocks Voice over IP service providers, such as VoIP. Skype is one such service blocked by Etisalat. Many see this action as a move to protect the revenue streams of the telecommunications industry, as it is a main contributor to the UAE's Federal budget.

There are claims that Etisalat breaks the rules of net neutrality by throttling peer-to-peer, gaming and other types of network traffic in order to reduce the load on its oversubscribed international links. The effect of this interference is most noticeable during weekends or periods of high network use.

The overall efficiency of the country-wide content filtering is unclear, as many of the technologically savvy users have discovered tools and methods to bypass the content filter.

[edit] Criticism

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Etisalat has been criticized for many reason over the past years. Some of the issues include:

  • Above average telephone charges, especially in the case of international calls (although this, as of recently, can be attributed to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority which prohibits price-wars between the UAE's telephone companies) although they have special offers that compensate for the not so high-price calls.
  • Excessive delay in paying for PTCL, Pakistan Telecommunication Company which it bought. It got its contract renegotiated after the sale took place, which has been heavily criticized within the country.
  • Proxy blocks websites usually through an automated system which is prone to mistakes; though, the company doesn't take long time to respond to questions and inquiries about the blocked websites. They also block some YouTube videos and user pages.
  • The nature of the routing Etisalat uses means many users go through a single IP address when accessing the internet, in cases of vandalism, this means many users can be banned due to a single user's activities
  • Blocking all Voice Over IP (VoIP) communication which allows users cheaper international calls, such as Skype and Yahoo! Phone Out
  • Very poor customer service and the absence of any customer care ethics.
  • End users affected by their monopoly.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links