UAE’s Etisalat plans India telecom buy before summer
UAE’s Etisalat plans India telecom buy before summer
Dubai: Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) said it is in talks with several Indian telecoms companies about making an acquisition before the summer to enter the world’s second-largest mobile phone market.
“We are hoping to move to the next stage before the summer," Etisalat chairman Mohammed Omran told Reuters on Wednesday, 9 April. “The next stage would be finalising a deal, making an acquisition." Omran declined to be more specific.
Etisalat, the second-largest Arab telecom company by market value, said last week it had talks with India’s Spice Communications and others about possibly making an investment to enter the Indian telecom market.
Etisalat is also looking at entering Vietnam, Omran said, without being more specific, and plans to expand in Africa.
“We intend to compete for the fixed line licence in Egypt, as this will represent a substantial added value to the company’s portfolio," Omran said, according to Dubai-based Gulf News on Wednesday.
Etisalat already operates in Egypt, the most populous Arab nations, through a minority stake in a mobile phone operator.
“We also have massive plans to expand in Africa, as are extending our operations in Tanzania up to two million subscribers by the end of 2008, compared to the present 800,000 subscribers."
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