UAE’s Etisalat wins 'Deal of the Year' award at TMT Finance Awards

Dubai (WAM): UAE's leading telecoms operator Etisalat Group has scooped two awards at the prestigious TMT Finance MENA Awards 2014 in Dubai. Etisalat's recent acquisition of Maroc Telecom won 'Deal of the Year', while its GPON technology rollout partnership with Huawei and its Fibre to the Home (FTTH) initiatives were singled out in the 'Innovation' category. Etisalat, one of the world's fastest-growing telecom groups, announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Vivendi's 53-percent shareholding in Itissalat Al Maghrib (Maroc Telecom) earlier in the month. The deal saw Etisalat expand its services to nearly 800 million people across 19 countries throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia. "Etisalat's deal with Maroc Telecom, which marked the largest and most complex deal this year by far, will completely change the telecoms landscape in the markets in which Maroc Telecom currently operates. It is the largest cross-border M'&'A transaction in the MENA region and the third largest telecom transaction in the MEA region of all time," said Dominic Lowndes, Managing Director TMT Finance. In March, Etisalat and Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology solutions provider, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct the first ever trials of 5G services in the region. The partnership also includes coordinating the development, design and deployment of future ICT platforms for fifth generation mobile broadband as well as fibre-powered GPON networks. – Emirates News Agency, WAM