Etisalat intends to raise stake in India subsidiary

Etisalat intends to raise its 44.73 per cent stake in its Indian subsidiary Etisalat DB to 50 per cent plus one share and for this purpose had filed an application in December with the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board for approval.

Etisalat DB Telecom has a unified services access licence in 15 circles including Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. These licences enable the company to provide a full spectrum of telecommunications services covering a population of more than 900 million across these circles.

Under the licence the company can also provide internet telephony, internet services and broadband services. The company is headquartered in Mumbai.

Etisalat DB's services will include national and international long distance telephony solutions, full range of prepaid and postpaid products, national and international roaming and value added services.


Etisalat buys Atlantique

Etisalat said yesterday it had bought the rest of Africa-focused company Atlantique Telecom for $75 million (Dh275m).

Etisalat operates Atlantique Telecom as part of a 10-year management contract ending in 2015, it said.

Atlantique holds majority stakes in seven telecom organisations in Africa, including in Niger, Togo and Gabon, etisalat said in a statement on the bourse website.

"Telecom operators [like etisalat] would like to have a controlling interest rather than a 30-40 per cent interest for their overseas expansion plans," Khaled Akl, head of research at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank said. "Minority interests would not work if companies are trying to expand internationally." (Reuters)

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