Huawei, the giant Chinese telecommunications company based in Shenzhen, announced that it was selected by Etisalat Misr, one of Egypt's three mobile carriers, to expand and enhance its GSM / 3.75G network. 

Following the new agreement between the two companies, Huawei will deploy an end-to-end network solution that allows Etisalat to improve its coverage quality and offer services to more customers.

Talking about the deal with Huawei, Mr. Saleh Al Abduli, chief executive officer of Etisalat Misr, said, "We chose Huawei as our supplier when we got the 3rd mobile license in 2006. After two years of development, we choose Huawei again for the network expansion. It will enable us to provide the best service quality to our subscribers."

"We are honored to partner with Etisalat Misr again. With our innovative UMTS, HSDPA and GSM solutions, we are dedicated to help Etisalat Misr enhance its competitiveness in Egypt," adds Mr. Peng Zhongyang, president of Huawei North Africa Region.

Being the newest-launched mobile carrier in Egypt, Etisalat Misr, subsidiary of Etisalat UAE, has only about 3.5 million users and it's the third operator when it comes to subscriber number. The first two are Mobinil (joint ventures between Orange and Orascom), with 19 million users, and Vodafone Egypt, with more than 14 million users.

However, Etisalat is the first Egyptian carrier to offer 3.75G services, this enabling its mobile users to benefit from data transfer speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. Among the features that Etisalat offers via its 3.75G network, we must mention video calling, mobile TV and a mobile portal, especially built by the operator so that its customers can have access to a wide range of content made for their handsets.

With a population of almost 88 million, Egypt has less than 30 million mobile subscribers, hence the above mentioned operators are all trying to further attract as many new users as possible – this being the reason why Etisalat is expanding its network.