UAE telecoms group e& is to return to its original brand identity of Etisalat, four years after it changed the company's name, as it looks to boost growth in the artificial intelligence era.
“Etisalat is the name we are taking forward – a name that reflects our heritage, our strategy and our ambition for the AI era,” the company said on Tuesday in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares trade.
The move was announced in the presence of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court. It was revealed as the Abu Dhabi-based company marks 50 years since its formation.
Etisalat was rebranded as e& in 2022 amid plans for the company to transform into a global technology investment conglomerate.
“Etisalat means connection. For 50 years, that purpose has guided what we build and the role we play,” the company said. “Today, it carries even greater significance as we bring connectivity, digital capabilities and infrastructure together to enable new opportunities.”
The telecoms company is pushing for AI-led growth, with the launch of a strategic project to develop and expand digital infrastructure capacity within the UAE and abroad. The project includes plans to expand international connectivity capacity to more than 500 terabits per second by 2030 – more than 25 times the current capacity – in addition to developing diverse routes to enhance connectivity efficiency and reliability, delivering advanced, low-latency performance, it said in a statement.
The move comes after the company reported a 9 per cent increase in its second-quarter revenue, as it expanded its customer base across international markets despite uncertainty caused by the Iran war. Revenue in the quarter rose to Dh19.2 billion ($5.2 billion) year-on-year, with its overall customer base increasing by nearly a third to hit 251.5 million.
In July, the company also agreed to sell its entire stake in Vodafone Group for $5.95 billion as it refocuses on its core businesses.
