Etisalat Misr

Etisalat Misr S.A.E.

Type	Société Anonyme Égyptienne
Industry	Telecommunications
Founded	30 April 2007
Headquarters	Cairo, Egypt
Key people	Hazem Metwally CEO
Products	Mobile phone services
Owner	Emirates Telecommunications Corporation
Parent	Emirates Telecommunications Corporation
Website	www.etisalat.eg

Etisalat Misr (Arabic: اتصالات مصر‎; Egyptian Arabic: Etiṣalat Maṣr‎^[1]) 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 in February 2007, and the first 3.5G network operator in Egypt. Etisalat Misr 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 Misr 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 Misr 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 Misr is the first and the only operator in Egypt that has an exclusive international gateway. In order to complete Etisalat Misr's product portfolio, two well-established ISPs (Internet Service Providers) were acquired and provide broadband services.

License

The bidding went up to an all-time high reaching finally E£16.7 billion (US$3.1 billion) and acquiring the 3.5G license as well.

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 .

Etisalat is one of three mobile operators in Egypt and since it was acquired, it provided more than 3,000 job opportunities and is still increasing in size.

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.

On October 16, 2016, Etisalat Misr acquired the fourth-generation (4G) internet services licence after signing a $535.5 million agreement with the national telecom regulator. Hammam Investment funded 22.5% of the internet service licensing. ^[2]

Launch

The launch of Etisalat Misr took place on May 1, 2007. Soon after, Etisalat announced the 3G services launch in Cairo.^[3]

United Arab Emirates telcom Etisalat has soft launched Egypt’s third wireless network, making it the first to launch 3G services in the North African country. Etisalat, which paid USD2.94 billion for the licence in 2006, postponed its initial launch date of February after it encountered problems in deploying the network in certain areas, as well as in agreeing terms and conditions with incumbent operators Vodafone and Mobinil.

Over 400,000 people pre-registered with the operator, and at the time of launch Etisalat had installed 760 base stations, many of them 3G-capable. By the end of the year the operator expects the number of base stations to have risen to 2,500. Etisalat owns 66% of the cellco, with the Egyptian Post Office, National Bank of Egypt and Commercial International Bank holding the remainder.

Services

Market share

As of December 3, 2017, Etisalat has about 33 million active subscribers from almost 110 million mobile subscribers in Egypt.^[4]

Internet Service

In early 2009 Etisalat has acquired two working ISP Nile On Line and EgyNet. In sequence two subsidiaries were acquired also. Now Etisalat is offering ADSL service along with the usual Mobile Services.

Sponsorship

Etisalat has become the sole sponsor of many events and activities since its launch.

CSR “Origin” initiative

The company launched its renowned initiative “Origin” to tackle and contribute in solving the water problem on 4 frontiers. The first frontier is installing water connections for underprivileged families. The second frontier is building water purification stations in areas where people drink contaminated well or underground water. The third frontier is funding irrigation solutions that help preserve water and solve disputes amongst farmers in the countryside. The fourth frontier is helping patients of kidney failure (which is mainly a result of consuming contaminated water) get better treatment through supplying public hospitals with kidney dialysis machines and kidney dialysis stations that increase the efficiency of machines.

Since the launch in 2009, around 517,500 unfortunate citizens have benefitted from this initiative, as well as around 7,500kidney failure patients are treated on monthly basis.

Moreover, Etisalat Misr is currently undertaking a new “green” concept in its cell sites, where the company is installing cell sites that work using solar and/or wind energy. Etisalat Misr’s plan is to expand extensively in this new, state-of-the-art technology over the coming period.

See also

• Telecom Egypt
• Vodafone Egypt
• Orange Egypt

References

External links

• Official website
• Etisalat U.A.E.
• Etisalat Group