Etisalat Dubai UAE

A major player in this public-private enterprise is Etisalat, the telecommunications giant of the UAE. The company has been providing the latest telecommunications services including fixed and mobile telephony, TV and internet to UAE since 1976. It has built up a modern telecom infrastructure and established itself as an innovative and reliable operator in the region. Ranked among the Financial Times Top 500 Corporations in the world in terms of market capitalisation, and the 6th largest company in the Middle East in terms of capitalisation and revenues, Etisalat stands tall, a compelling factor in UAE's advancement and modernization, and at the root of the nation's vision for globalisation. To this end, Etisalat is the largest contributor outside the oil sector to the UAE Federal Government's development programmes worldwide.

Vision

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," said Arthur C. Clarke in his book Profiles of the Future, and with its vision of a connected world, Etisalat wants to create nothing short of magic. As a telecommunications company, Etisalat has the power to keep people connected at all times, anywhere in the world. And that's exactly the vision of the company - to enable its customers to be unfettered by matters of distance. Etisalat envisages a world where its people will effortlessly move around the world, staying in touch with family, making new friends as they go, and developing new interests on the way.  Businesses big and small, empowered by Etisalat, no longer limited by distance, are able to reach new markets. With innovative technologies, UAE is open to fresh opportunities across the globe, allowing the supply of new goods and services to everyone who wants them, further strengthening its position as a nascent strategic power worldwide.

Mission

Etisalat's mission is to extend people's reach. Thus Etisalat is actively developing advanced networks that will enable people to connect, to learn and to grow; to enable them to reach each other, businesses to find new markets and everyone to fulfill their potential. Across the UAE, and increasingly in international markets, Etisalat's mission of enabling its customers to enjoy the latest services and technologies in telephone, TV and Internet services has largely succeeded.

Values

The company has three central values that are at the core of their philosophy and consequent success; energy, openness and enablement. Etisalat esteems and nurtures the energy and dynamism required to achieve the very best in business, leading to capability of addressing future challenges and opportunities with ease. Their policy of being open, honest and fair extends to their customers, suppliers and employees, which creates a sociable and friendly atmosphere to work within. The company wishes to provide opportunities and to actively help people reach their goals, always delivering what they say they will.

Advantage

Apart from enabling the nation with basic telecommunication services, Etisalat also offers a range of innovative and modern services that have served to position UAE as one of the most advanced nations in terms of telecom services. With Etisalat, mobile users enjoy the benefits of superior voice and data applications like WAP, GPRS, 3.5G, MMS, Push-To-Talk, Black Berry services and others. Enterprise and individual customers on the fixed-line network have the benefit of services such as ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), Frame Relay, VSAT and ISDN. The corporate offers fixed-line services over a Next Generation Network and has been migrating sections of its users onto the advanced network. By establishing NGN, Etisalat will be able to offer voice, video and data over one single source, enabling true Triple-Play functionality.

Etisalat Entities

Realizing that true empowerment can happen only with education, Etisalat is engaged in providing quality education to UAE with its Etisalat Academy and the Etisalat University College. These two initiatives are designed to turn the UAE into a centre of professional training excellence. Courses held here include subjects such as IT, Business Administration, Information Security, Basic Sciences, Communication Engineering, Electronic Engineering and Computer Engineering. EMIX (Emirates Internet Exchange) is the first Network Access Point (NAP) in the Middle East. Built on multiple STM-1 circuits landing on the East and West coasts of the UAE, EMIX's state-of-the-art platforms are designed for the transport of high-quality and high-speed Internet service. Emirates Data Clearing House (EDCH) was established in 1994 to provide a single point of contact for the roaming facility offered by GSM operators. It is one of only five companies worldwide that offers electronic data transfer and financial services. Ebtikar's product range includes chipbased smart cards with memory or microprocessor chips, as well as non-chipbased cards for multimedia applications. Ebtikar services the industries of telecommunications (Pay phones, GSM, Internet), health, parking and others. The Customer Care Centre from Etisalat was established in 2000 to handle all the Corporation's non face-to-face customer interactions, both in UAE and outside. Having over 500 seats, it is the largest operation of its kind in the Middle East, and is ISO-9001 certified. Apart from Etisalat including all its divisions and subsidiaries, the Customer Care Centre also handles inbound and outbound services for companies in the private and Government sectors, both domestic and international. Services provided by the Customer Care Centre to its clients include contact handling, telesales and market research, and call centre consulting services.

Figures

The year 2007 was dynamic for Etisalat with success at multiple levels, especially through its international expansion which saw acquisitions of licenses and assets in Indonesia and Nigeria. By the end of 2007, Etisalat reported annual Net Revenues of US $5,815million and Net Profits of US$1,831million, showing strong growth versus 2006. This trend is continuing in 2008 and as of July 14 Etisalat was reporting Net Revenues of US$ 3,390m and Net Profits of US$ 1,394m. Etisalat has received its inaugural international corporate credit ratings in 2008. Moodys has awarded an Aa2 rating, Standard & Poors A + and Fitch Ratings an AA-. Etisalat was also named as a Diamond company in terms of financial transparency by the SCA (Securities & Commodities Authority).

Contribution to the Community

Even though the main objective of Etisalat is to provide telecommunication services to the nation, it has always adhered to the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility. The corporation strengthens the society it serves by supporting social, economic, sports and cultural activities. It also participates in economic related conferences and exhibitions which are organised throughout the Emirates and the region and is an award-winning socially responsible corporation. Etisalat has also won accolades from across the region for its Emiratisation programmes that have secured jobs for young national professionals for over 40 per cent of its workforce.

Future

In 1982, Etisalat was the first telecom operator in the region to introduce a mobile phone service in UAE, and was one of the early adopters of GSM technology, introducing it to customers in 1994. Since then it has established itself as a regional pioneer by introducing both 3G and MMS in 2003, and most recently, the BlackBerry service in 2006. Etisalat looks at a future in which technology extends its reach. Already, music, books and services no longer have to have a physical format to be sold online. Advanced networks will increasingly provide education, healthcare and other services and goods. For instance, telemedicine already allows patients to seek the best advice from doctors around the world; now robotic aids are beginning to make remote surgery possible. As the pace of technological change increases, Etisalat intends to extend its reach into new technologies, services and markets and, in the process, raise the benchmark in customer services, acquisition and retention, thus enhancing shareholder value. These advances and intentions to excel, at the end of the day, show what a successful corporation is all about.