(2 June 2010 4:20 pm)

MUMBAI: India is one of the markets Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat)’s cable television unit E-Vision is likely to expand into from next year. This was revealed by its CEO Humaid Rashid Sahoo al Suwaidi, following his highlighting the point that United Arab Emirates as a market could get saturated by that time.

Currently, E-Vision has 500,000 homes in the UAE wired up to its OFC cable network which will in all probability increase to a million by 2011. This will cover all the homes in the Gulf state. The OFC project cost in excess of a billion dollars. Additionally, it is present in 18 markets abroad - in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The other markets Etisalat is eyeing include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Pakistan.

Speaking to Reuters, he said that talks are on with local companies in these nations.