The CEO of the Commercial Sector at Etisalat Misr Ahmed Yahya announced that his company has allocated LE10 billion in investments this year to develop its networks.
During the company’s annual conference, Yahya stated that the brand has changed this year as part of the development it is undergoing from an integrated telecommunications company into a technology group providing a wide range of innovative solutions and services to its customers in Egypt – including digital and integrated solutions for companies and individuals.
He referred to an increase in revenue growth during the first half of 2024 by nearly 36 percent and a slight increase in profits, with the company’s customer base reaching approximately 36 million customers.
He added that Etisalat Cash achieved a nearly 100 percent year-on-year increase in the number of individual financial wallets – reaching seven million wallets – including 2.5 million monthly active customers, noting that the number of transactions witnessed growth of up to nearly 100 percent on an annual basis.
Yahya said that there is a significant gap between the company’s revenues and operating expenses due to the continuous increases in operating costs, such as the rise in the foreign exchange rate and electricity prices.
This puts great pressure on telecommunications companies, especially since the average increase in mobile services at the beginning of this year reached 15 percent, the first adjustment to service prices since 2017.
He referred to the cooperation of companies with the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority to discuss increasing service prices and working to rationalize expenses on the part of the company and relying more on providing all operating requirements from the local market – as had happened with the company’s announcement to start manufacturing the first 4.5G technology router locally in order to be provided before the end of the year.
Regarding the company’s expansion plans, Yahya said that it is focusing heavily on expanding financial inclusion services, as it has launched Super Pay to provide digital payment services and Erada to provide microfinance solutions, in addition to Etisalat Business which specializes in the corporate and institutional sector.
It is also seeking to provide entertainment content through the TWIST platform.
Yahya added that the company is working to export technical expertise through its Etisalat International Services arm to implement projects belonging to the parent group in several markets such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
He revealed that the company has worked during the past period to develop batteries for operating base stations, which number 10,000 stations, to ensure the continuity of service in the event of a power outage.
As for the new technologies and services that the company intends to provide for the Egyptian market, Yahya revealed that the company is in talks with the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority regarding a license to provide 5G services, especially since the group provides the fastest 5G services in the world.
The next steps will be determined once these talks are concluded, he confirmed.
Yahya added that Etisalat Misr is about to launch the eSIM virtual SIM card service in the coming days after completing all technical preparations and tests.
He also confirmed that the company has recently submitted a request to the regulatory authority to explore the best technical solutions for operating Wi-Fi calling service, and that the company currently has more than 10 million customers using the Voice over LTE (VoLTE) service on fourth-generation networks.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
