UAE telecoms group e& announced on Tuesday it is reverting to its original brand name, Etisalat, after four years operating under the e& identity. The Abu Dhabi-based company said the name "reflects our heritage, our strategy and our ambition for the AI era."
The rebrand coincides with the firm's 50th anniversary and was announced in the presence of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed. In its latest financial results, the company reported second-quarter revenue rose 9 per cent year-on-year to $5.2 billion (Dh19.2 billion), while its customer base expanded by roughly a third to 251.5 million.
In a significant strategic move, Etisalat sold its entire stake in Vodafone Group for $5.95 billion in July. The company also outlined plans to expand its international connectivity capacity to more than 500 terabits per second by 2030, a 25-fold increase from current levels.
Executives said the return to the Etisalat name signals a renewed focus on the group's core telecoms business, positioning it to capitalise on artificial intelligence-driven growth opportunities going forward. As one of the region's largest telecom operators, the rebrand marks a step in redefining the company's identity for the decades ahead, even as it continues to expand into AI infrastructure and digital services across its markets.