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Etisalat aiming to buy Wataniya Mobile
Operator...
(Gulf
Monitoring Desk) 25,December:
Telecom giant Etisalat, which is on
target to enhance its global investment
to 27.2 billion dollars in the next five
years, may seek to buy a stake in
Wataniya Telecom, the second largest
mobile operator in Kuwait.
Wataniya is a potential target for big
regional operators like Etisalat in the
gulf region.
Wataniya Telecom is already operating in
the overseas region including Iraq,
Algeria Tunisia, the Maldives and Saudi
Arabia. It also acquired the mobile
license in Palestine in September 2006.
Analysis:
By. Muhammad Imran Ali.
Eyeing to be in the top 10 telecom
companies.
Etisalat the telecom giant which has
already entered the Pakistani telecom
market is doing well after taking its
management control of PTCL with an
investment of 2.6 billion dollars. How
ever they moved more swiftly and
positively by giving more tough time to
their new born competitor in UAE
telecom, DU.
How ever
if Etisalat acquires Wataniya telecom in
Kuwait then it I’ll put the telecom
giant again in a more stable position
against its new competitor DU. Etisalat
business strategy of expanding into
regional and international markets is
all going well and good because of good
decisions at the top management level.
According to sources, following the $2.6
billion third mobile license deal in
Egypt, the company’s total foreign
investments had risen to Dh40 billion.
Etisalat currently manages and operates
telecom companies in Afghanistan, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, Tanzania,
Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African
Republic, Gabon, Niger, Togo and Ivory
Coast. The company also owns stakes in
Qatar Telecom and Sudatel.
The writer is an IT and Telecom
Industry analyst. He can be reached at
imran@itinsight.info
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