Etisalat goes to India

As Etisalat Nigeria website continues to attract a beehive of activities with the surge to acquire 0809uchoose, Etisalat Group has announced its entrance into the Indian market.

The inroad was made possible with Etisalat’s acquisition of 45 per cent stake in the Swan Telecom Private Limited, a recently licensed mobile operator in India.

Head, Communications at Etisalat Nigeria, Mrs. Nwugo Nwoke, said in a press statement that the Group committed $900m (about N105.3 billion) to further extend its presence in Asia in addition to its present operations in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Indonesia.

She quoted the Chairman of Etisalat Group, Mr. Mohammad Hassan Omran as saying that the entry into India, one of the largest and fastest growing mobile markets in the world today, marks an acceleration of its expansion strategy.

This, he said, brings an opportunity which matches the scale of the telco’s ambitions.

“We are truly excited by the partnership with the DB Group and the prospect of building Swan Telecom into a leading telecom operator, emulating the successes we have achieved in similar situations elsewhere” he said.

ITRealms Online recalls that India has nearly 300m mobile phone users currently, and is expected to double in the next three to four years.

On the other hand, Swan Telecom holds Universal Access Service Licenses (‘UASL Licenses’) in 13 telecom service areas in India and is in the process of acquiring UASL Licenses in an additional two telecom service areas.

Commenting on the development, Chairman, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Hakeem Bello Osagie, said that he is proud of the giant strides Etisalat is making globally.

“As Etisalat is just about set to launch commercial services in Nigeria, we are in a stronger position than ever before to leverage the synergy of Etisalat’s international operations to offer Nigerians high quality telecommunications services,” he said.

Over the years, Etisalat has continued to build its reputation of high growth and innovative technology offerings across the world, and now serves an aggregate of 64 million subscribers world-wide, rated the fastest growing telco worldwide.


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