Etisalat UAE's net profit for 2017 (after federal royalty) stands at AED 8.2 billion ($2.2 billion) marking a 5% increase YoY. Etisalat Group has reported consolidated net profit (before federal royalty) of AED 17.45 billion ($4.75 billion) with a 3% increase YoY.

Etisalat UAE's subscriber base grew 3% for the year 2017. The operator's revenues for the year amounted to AED 31.2 billion($8.49 billion) and increased YoY by 3%. Its full year EBITDA increased by 2% to AED 16.7 billion($4.55 billion) resulting in EBITDA margin of 53%.

The year saw Etisalat announcing the successful deployment of pre-commercial 5G network in certain locations in UAE and successfully completing the fastest 5G live trial reaching 71Gbps speeds.

2017 was also the year when Etisalat launched a new digital brand called “swyp” targeting the youth and digital millennials in the UAE. Among other interesting highlights of the year were launch of the first IPX Exchange platform in MEA, 4G launch in Egypt, and the introduction of M2M in-vehicle WiFi as part of its next generation IoT solutions.

In the content space, E-Vision partnered with MBC GROUP in exclusive IPTV/OTT channel distribution rights deal in the UAE.

Etisalat chairman, Eissa Mohamed Al-Suwaidi, said: “With the unwavering support of the UAE leadership and our shareholders, along with the commitment of our world-class management team and the loyalty of our millions of customers across our footprint, I am confident that 2018 will continue the pattern of long-term, sustainable success that is the hallmark of Etisalat Group.”

Eng. Saleh Abdullah Al Abdooli, group CEO, Etisalat, said: “Last year Etisalat Group launched a new corporate strategy focusing on ‘Driving the Digital Future to Empower Societies’ enabling us to consistently push our boundaries, by responding swiftly to the global digital advancements and proactively delivering cutting-edge services and solutions to our customers. The establishment of the Open Innovation Centre was a strategic step in this direction allowing us to highlight digital innovation, its capabilities and how digitalization can come to life for Etisalat customers, businesses and governments.

“We will continue to focus on creating the world’s best and leading networks across our markets to deliver long-term value to all our stakeholders. The successful launch of the first pre-commercial 5G in UAE will enable our nation and businesses to achieve transformational growth by leveraging on new-age technologies like IoT, AI, robotics, cloud and future technologies that will reshape our society and industry on a large scale.