More recently, Etisalat was tipped as a possible buyer of a minority stake in Reliance Communications.

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The company, commonly known as Etisalat, in September began 4G services in the United Arab Emirates' major cities.

WSJ: Apple's New iPad Faces 4G Snags Outside U.S.

Roshan's success in Afghanistan attracted MTN and Etisalat, two big foreign operators, who provided further investment and created more jobs.

ECONOMIST: How a luxury item became a tool of global development

Lack of job opportunities in Saudi Arabia may be one reason for the frenzied reception given to Ettihad Etisalat's shares, in the view of some commentators.

BBC: Mobile phones are popular in Saudi Arabia

"We are looking at seven million customers in the first five years and this is a very conservative figure, " said Etisalat senior vice-president Obaid Saeed Bin Mes'har.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Saudi phone sector gets $1bn lift

"This constitutes a leap forward in Etisalat's strategy to expand and become a major mover for telecommunications in the region, " said Mohammad Omran, the company's acting president and chief executive.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Saudi phone sector gets $1bn lift

Mapping to key Firefox footprints around the globe, leading operators Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Telenor are backing the open Firefox OS as an exciting new entrant to the smartphone marketplace.

ENGADGET: Mozilla says a slew of carriers and handset makers set to support Firefox OS

Another great example of the opportunities found in the region is the January announcement from Virtustream that it has partnered with Etihad Etisalat ( Mobily), the largest telecom operator in the Middle East and Africa to provide cloud services.

FORBES: Is the Middle East The Next Big Market For Cloud Computing?