Cairo: Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) is leading a "big revolution in Egypt s telecom market, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) quoted the UAE Minister of Government Sector Development Sultan Bin Saeed Al-Mansouri as saying. In June 2006, Etisalat won the bid for the third Egyptian mobile network license, with a bid of LE16.7 billion. The new license to operate Egypt s third mobile network will include both 2G and 3G services. This achievement is the UAE s third biggest investment in Egypt, and the biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Egypt during 2006. It is poised to boost UAE-Egyptian economic relations, explained Al-Mansouri. Al-Mansouri met with Egypt s Telecommunications Minister, Tareq Kamel, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Pan Arab Council of Ministers of Telecommunications. The two ministers discussed IT and telecom cooperation between the two countries, as well as the process of the joint development of Arabic language telecom operation programs. Etisalat s recent breakthrough in the Egyptian telecom market further drives its rapid expansion in the region, and boosts its commitment to providing enhanced customer services and enabling technologies to the largest markets in the region. Last week, Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes revisited its forecasts for Etisalat Group as a result of the impressive performance over the first nine months of 2006, and the competition in the UAE market expected to begin in the first quarter of 2007. We estimate Etisalat closed 2006 with 5.5 million mobile subscribers and to have achieved a strong set of results for the full year 2006, EFG-Hermes said. As for Etisalat s position in the Egyptian telecom market, EFG-Hermes added: Given the intensifying level of competition in the Egyptian market and the high price paid for the license, we believe it will be a challenge for Etisalat to create value from this acquisition, at least in the short-medium term. -Noozz
