Etisalat Egypt

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Etisalat Egypt
24.jpg
Type	Private
Founded	2006
Headquarters	Cairo, Egypt
Industry	Telecommunications
Products	Mobile phone services
Parent	Etisalat U.A.E.
Website	www.etisalat.com.eg

1 General
2 License
3 Launch
4 Services
5 Market share
6 Sponsorship
7 Top executives
8 Dial reservation
9 External links

[edit] General

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 Misr is one of 14 service providers managed by Etisalat in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Etisalat currently has access to a potential market of over 400 million subscribers and today Etisalat services over 32 million subscribers including the total number of fixed-line, Internet, mobile and television from each of its subsidiaries. In November 2007, Etisalat 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. Current handsets support up to 1.4 Mbit/s. 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 is 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. It is currently available in specific locations in Cairo and outside Cairo and expected to be available where there is 3G network by the end of November 2007.

The incumbent was bought based on a consortium lead by Etisalat U.A.E. in July 2006. Joining the consortium were

The Egyptian National Post Authority with a 20 % share,
National Bank of Egypt with a 10% share,
Al Nabodah Investment Company with a 1.5% share,
Technical Investment Company with a 1.5% share
and Commercial International Bank with a 1% share.

[edit] License

The bidding went up to an all-time high reaching finally LE 16.7 billion (3.1 billion US $) and acquiring the 3.5G license as well [1]

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 1.2 billion US dollars[2].

Etisalat is one of three mobile operators in Egypt and since it was acquired, it provided more than 1,700 job opportunities with hopes to reach over 3,000 employees within the next two years.

Despite entering the market late into the game, Etisalat was able to hit the 1 million subscribers mark only 50 days after launching on April 30, 2007.

[edit] Launch

The official announcement of the launch was on 30th April, 2007. A long with announcing the 3G services launch in Egypt.

[edit] Services

Network and coverage:

Being the sole 3.75G network in Egypt has given Etisalat its edge in the market providing faster connection utilizing a destinguished infrastructure notably a NGN over the first IPbackbone solution in the country. Although the incumbent is still new in the market, network coverage has extended to make sure there is coverage in all major cities including Cairo, Alexandria, Zagazig, Tanta, Sharm el Sheikh, Luxor and many more. Etisalat has set a goal to reach full network coverage in all of Egypt, whether there are inhabitants in that area or not, by the end of 2008.

With 3.75G technology, subscribers can:

video-call;
watch live TV;
have access to high-speed internet connection and download;
have access to a mobile portal built exclusively for Etisalat subscribers.

3.75G is the latest technology that encapsulates some protocols like UMTS, HSDPA and HSUPA.

[edit] Market share

Currently Etisalat has more than 3.5 million subscribers from the 27 million mobile subscribers in Egypt. This number was achieved in around 6 months since the launch.

[edit] Sponsorship

To reach a wider audience further demonstrate to the Egyptian population Etisalat’s capability, Etisalat has become the sole sponsor of many things since its launch.

Beach sponsorship:

Etisalat sponsored most of the beaches in Alexandria and along the Northern Coast during the 2007 summer season as these areas are the major hotspots and summer vacation resorts.

Sports sponsorships:

Etisalat signed a contract with the Egyptian national football team to fully sponsor them and as a result, the local football championship was called the Etisalat Dawry.

[edit] Top executives

Chairman: Mr. Gamal El Sadat
Chief Executive Officer: Mr. Saleh El Abdooli
Chief Information Technology Officer: Mr. Sabri Yahya
Chief Commercial Officer: Mr. Hazem Metwally
Chief Technical Officer: Mr. Haitham AbdulRazzak
Chief Human Resources and Administration Officer: Mr. Yousef Al Zaabi
Chief Financial Officer: Mr. Ali Abu Hijleh
Program Management Officer (Technical): Mr. Hisham FagElNour
Program Management Officer (Commercial): Mr. Tamer Zanaty
Director of Carrier Relations: Mr. Ali Al Bustani
Director of Legal Affairs: Mr. Maki Badawi
Head of Government Relations: Mr. Mohamed Walaa Nagui

[edit] Dial reservation

For the first time in Egypt, Etisalat offered the ability to book your own favorite dial number. Even before the launch, its website presented a link to reserve any number you like in the range of 4XXXXXX. This gave Etisalat a kick off in the market with nearly 400,000 customer.

People were able to reserve numbers that represent a special meaning to them like their marriage date, birthday, etc.

Unfortunately not everyone were able to buy the numbers they reserved, due to the corrupt nature of the employees and by opting to reserve them for friends and family.