Emirates Telecommunications Corporation: Global Telecom Company from UAE

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, more commonly known as Etisalat, is a telecommunications provider based in United Arab Emirates. It has operations in 18 countries across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. As of the year 2012, it is known as the 15th largest mobile network operator in the world. It was also named by Forbes Middles East as the most powerful company in UAE that same year. It has a total customer base of over 135 million.

Etisalat was established in 1976 as a joint-stock company between the British company Aeradio Limited and its local partners. The ownership structure changed in 1983 as the UAE government began to hold a 60% share in the company while the remaining 40% were traded publicly.

In 1991, the corporation was able to secure the right to offer telecommunications and wireless services in the country, as well as with other countries, through the issuance of UAE central government’s Federal Law No.1. it also gave Etisalat the right to issue licenses for importing, owning, manufacturing, operating, and/or using telecom equipment. Practically, this gave the firm both control and regulatory abilities, completing the monopoly of UAE’s telecom giant. Furthermore, to safeguard the nation’s economic development, the federal law made provisions to give way to the development of the telecommunication sector.

Etisalat’s growth and development was also marked by the increase of its exchange lines from 36,000 in 1976 to over 737,000 in 1998. Another significant milestone for the corporation was PTCL’s commencement of cellular operations in January 2001. It began operating out of Islamabad under the brand name Ufone. PTCL became part of Etisalat after its privatization in 2005.

Today, Etisalat takes the 140th spot in the Financial Times Top 500 Corporations in the world when it comes to market capitalization. It is also ranked as the 6th largest company by The Middle East magazine.