Reuters AMMAN: Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) sees stepped up acquisitions in the Middle East and Africa in the next three years as it transforms into a major global telecoms operator, its chairman said on Monday. In this phase our focus is on the Middle East and Africa, it s a priority area, Mohamed Hassan Omran told Reuters on the sidelines of a telecommunications conference. Etisalat, the third largest Arab telecom firm by market share, has already spent $6.5 billion during the last three years to expand outside the UAE, mainly in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, Omran said. Despite the acquisition spree which the firm was still absorbing, Etisalat was still set on growth by expanding existing licenses or entering new markets this year, Omran said. We are studying several opportunities and we hope to be able to announce something when it s ready ... maybe within this year there will be several, he added. Omran said the firm, which hopes to have 100 million customers by 2010, up from 30 million now, had a strategy to become one of the top ten to 15 operators in the world by market capitalization in the next three years. In Africa, where the firm was rapidly expanding since a token presence 10 years ago in Tanzania, eyed a potentially untapped market in countries ignored by western telecoms giants. There is a huge market and more scope for expansion in Africa. Maybe some of the global giants did not have such an interest and so we found our chance, he said. Omran also raised its equity to 70 percent from 50 percent in Atlantique Telecom, an affiliate that operates in seven African countries and has 1 million subscribers. In Sudan, talks were underway with the government to get a mobile license beyond a fixed line and wireless operation. We have begun discussions with the government to expand into mobile, he said. Etisalat was also ironing out an agreement to secure a 51 percent majority stake in state-owned Pakistan Telecommunications Co Ltd., from the 26 percent it acquired for $2.6 billion which is being paid by installments. Etisalat, which won with other shareholders a third mobile license in Egypt last year for $2.9 billion, saw the country s penetration rate rising above 50 percent by 2010 from a current 25 percent. In Egypt the firm hoped to gain 25 percent to 30 percent market share in the next three years with at least 10 million subscribers, investing over $2 billion in infrastructure.
