Etisalat Nigeria, which participated at the Gitex Technology Week along side other Etisalat Operations and international telecom players said it began full commercial services in Nigeria from Friday, October 24.

Etisalat's Group chairman, Mohammed Hassan Omran, said: 'Indeed I am pleased to see  Etisalat Nigeria join the fold of Etisalat's international operations to offer Nigerians access to a new 'talk' experience and a totality of Etisalat's world-class products, and telephony services.'

Etisalat began its services in several Nigerian cities spanning all six geo-political zones of the country.

It is offering nearly a million Nigerians who reserved numbers on its 0809uchoose campaign immediate redemption of their sim cards and new subscribers immediate availability of its pre-paid services on its network.

Etisalat Nigeria's acting CEO, Ali Ahmad Yaroof, said: 'Announcing this milestone at Gitex is symbolic for us because we are presently showcasing [both as a Group and an operating unit] what we are known for everywhere we operate: innovation and seamless technology. We are demonstrating the ingenuity behind Etisalat's customer-centric solutions and services, our robust and mutually rewarding partnerships and the holistic power of the Etisalat brand at Gitex.'

Etisalat Nigeria has assured Nigerians of its commitment to the telecommunications industry in the country and to contributing to changing the quality of the subscriber's experience.

Etisalat has been recently ranked as the fastest growing telecommunications company in the world, and the largest operator in Africa and the Middle East, serves an aggregate of 74 million subscribers in 17 countries.

Etisalat announced earlier that it is on course to achieve its vision of becoming one of the top ten service providers and increasing its subscribers base to 100 million subscriber by 2010. - TradeArabia News Service