ISLAMABAD: Etisalat has been ranked as the world’s strongest telecom brand and is the first in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region to achieve this milestone recognition by Brand Finance, the world’s leading brand valuation authority, said a press release.
With a telecom portfolio of well over US$12.5 billion, Etisalat not only retained its AAA brand rating but also its position in MEA as the strongest brand across all categories and the most valuable brand portfolio.
Commenting on the achievement, Eng Hatem Dowidar, CEO, Etisalat Group, said: “To be recognised as the world’s strongest telecom brand and as the most valuable telecom brand portfolio in MEA underline the success of our strategic initiatives to build a robust telecom infrastructure that creates added value for our customers wherever we serve. With our relentless focus on being customer-centric, we continue to push our horizons by investing in next generation technology that enhance our service offering and help shape the digital future.”
He added: “In this digital-first era, our focus is to be agile to meet the evolving requirements of our customers and deliver relevant and flexible services. Since our inception in 1976, we have been led by a vision to create a world-class telecom infrastructure that is central to economic progress.”
Brand Finance also named Eng Hatem Dowidar to the Elite List of Brand Guardians globally, jumping 4 places compared to last year’s ranking. This recognises the ground-breaking initiatives that he launched since he joined Etisalat in September 2015, which played a key role in propelling Etisalat’s business growth. Assuming the role of Group CEO in 2020, he stewarded the company’s growth through the fast-changing telecom and technology landscape following the Covid-19 pandemic. His astute brand stewardship served as the foundation for enhancing Etisalat’s brand reputation as well as employee engagement.
David Haigh, Chairman and CEO, Brand Finance, said: “Guided by the vision to ‘drive the digital future to empower societies’, Etisalat is the world’s strongest telecoms brand of 2022, as well as retaining its status as the strongest brand in the Middle East and Africa for the second consecutive year. Etisalat’s brand focuses on togetherness and plays its part by providing a first-class telecoms infrastructure across its footprint. Exceptional rollout of 5G technology has also meant that the Etisalat Group’s portfolio of brands is the most valuable amongst telecoms organisations in the Middle East.”
Etisalat’s robust fibre-optic infrastructure enhances the customer experiences across all business operations. The Group leveraged its 46 years of telecoms experience and its investment in telecom infrastructure to enable the progress of the people and business alike, in addition to supporting vital sectors such as healthcare and education, especially following the pandemic.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading independent branded business valuation and strategy authority. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in the City of London, it aims to ‘bridge the gap between marketing and finance’. Brand Finance evaluates over 5,000 brands across all sectors and geographies every year. The 500 most valuable brands are included in the Brand Finance Global 500 report.
Earlier, Brand Finance also declared PTCL, an Etisalat subsidiary and the leading telecom operator in Pakistan as the fastest growing brand in Pakistan at a special ceremony held in Barcelona during the Mobile World Congress 2018.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed.