Abu Dhabi-UAE: 2 March, 2014 -Etisalat, one of the leading telecom operators in the Middle East & Africa and Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, today announced that they have entered into a partnership to set up a multi-service regional network infrastructure node in Etisalat's SmartHub facility in the region.

The all new multi-service regional network infrastructure node includes Airtel's MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) services supported by its world class global network. This will allow Airtel to provide advanced data and wholesale services to its customers in Middle East and Africa and enhance in region connectivity through Etisalat's extensive regional network. It will also provide a platform to Etisalat to reach out to key global business hubs such as Africa and India.

Ali Amiri, Executive Vice President, Carrier & Wholesale, Etisalat said: "We are proud that Bharti Airtel, a longtime Etisalat partner has chosen SmartHub. The facility will offer Airtel array of regional connectivity options both in and out of the region. This partnership will also enable direct routing of traffic between the Middle East and Africa, Asia and Europe. We look forward to many more years of cooperation with Bharti Airtel and are delighted to be working closely with them to enhance the customer experience."

Etisalat's Smarthub is the region's largest capacity, content, internet and data hub in the Middle East. Smarthub provides regional access for global service providers and global access to the region.

Ajay Chitkara, CEO, Global Business, Bharti Airtel said, "With a commitment to provide best in class services to all its customers and strong focus on emerging markets, Bharti Airtel has made significant investments in creating a globe spanning network infrastructure. The collaboration with Etisalat will further help us to cater to the growing bandwidth demands of our enterprise and carrier customers in the region."

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About Smarthub
Etisalat's Smarthub is the region's largest capacity, content, internet and data hub in the Middle East. Smarthub includes the Middle East's first IPX for mobile operators and includes the region's largest portfolio of internet content. Smarthub has made significant strategic partners this year such as AMSix, Epsilon, Equinix, PCCW Global, SAP, China Telecom and Tata Communications among others. Smarthub also became the region's largest hosted content delivery network (CDN) due to new partnerships with Limelight, Level3, and CDN networks. This is in addition to our already robust content portfolio (Akamai, Microsoft, Yahoo! and the world's largest search and video provider). Connectivity to Smarthub is provided through a robust and diverse infrastructure of both regional and intercontinental cable systems managed by Etisalat's Carrier& Wholesale Services www.etisalat.ae/smarthub

About Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 4 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 289 million customers across its operations at the end of January 2014. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com

Press release issued by Corporate Communication Department - Etisalat

For further media information:
Iyad Al Zou'bi,
Corporate Communications - Etisalat 
Tel +971 2 6182622,
Mobile +971 50 6123568
Email:ialzoubi@etisalat.ae

© Press Release 2014