Etisalat to e& and Back Again: What the Name U-Turn Teaches Brands

In 2022 the UAE's oldest telecom brand renamed its group e&, to say it was more than a phone company. Four years later, on its 50th anniversary, it went back to Etisalat. Both moves were deliberate, and together they are one of the clearest lessons in brand architecture the region has seen.

The situation

Etisalat launched in 1976 and became one of the strongest brands in the Middle East. By the early 2020s the group wanted to be seen as a technology and investment company, not only a telecom operator. In 2022 it rebranded the group as e&. The "e" stood for connectivity and the "&" for everything beyond it: digital services, fintech, cloud, the internet of things and AI. The UAE consumer business became "etisalat by e&" in June 2022, which Khaleej Times reported was meant to keep the homegrown roots while aligning with the group's new role.

The idea

The 2022 move was a classic branded house built for expansion. One short master brand, e&, could sit across many businesses: the telecom unit, e& international, e& life, e& enterprise and e& capital. Brand Finance listed these five pillars in 2023 and gave etisalat by e& a Brand Strength Index score of 89.1 out of 100, calling it the strongest brand in the region. Keeping "etisalat" inside the consumer name was the safety net: customers kept the name they trusted.

The execution

On 6 October 2026, in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the group announced it was returning to the Etisalat name at group level, marking its 50th anniversary. The company said Etisalat is "a name that reflects our heritage, our strategy and our ambition for the AI era" and that "Etisalat means connection". Its post on X read: "We are etisalat. We always have been. We always will be." The change came with a new strategy built on four engines (telco, AI and business solutions, infrastructure and fintech) and a target of more than 500 Tbps of international connectivity capacity by 2030. Telecoms.com noted that some subsidiaries still carried the e& name on the group website.

The results

It is too early to measure the 2026 change, and the company had not announced a timeline for renaming apps, domains or shop signs when it was reported. What is clear is the context: the group had been reviewing parts of its expansion, sold its Vodafone stake in July 2026, and refocused on connectivity and infrastructure. Tbreak reported second-quarter revenue up 9% to AED 19.2 billion and a customer base of 251.5 million. The name followed the strategy.

Lessons for brands in Dubai and the GCC

1. Change the strategy first, then the name. A new name cannot carry a strategy that is not real yet
2. Keep a bridge to existing equity. "etisalat by e&" protected trust while the group name changed
3. Use a natural moment. An anniversary turned a reversal into a celebration instead of an admission
4. Brand architecture is a business decision: a branded house suits expansion, a heritage master brand suits focus
5. For UAE brands, homegrown roots are a real asset. Don't trade them away for a trend

Sources

• Khaleej Times: Etisalat UAE unveils new brand identity as etisalat by e& (June 2022)
• Brand Finance: e& strongest brand in the Middle East region (January 2023)
• Telecoms.com: e& changes its name back to Etisalat (October 2026)
• Tbreak: e& changes name back to Etisalat (October 2026)

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