If you’re a telecommunications user in the UAE — and increasingly across the Gulf — you’re likely to be familiar with Etisalat. A household name in the region, Etisalat is headed by chairman Mohammed Omran who has shot up this year’s list after another stellar 12 months for the telco giant.

Anyone taking calls on their new iPhone, for example, will pay testament to the work carried out by Omran and his team. The company has notched up 500,000 residential broadband subscribers as of March, and has also won a $400m bid to operate a mobile network in Iran for the next 15 years.

From 1976, Etisalat enjoyed a three-decade monopoly in the UAE. But the status quo was challenged when du was awarded the country’s second telecoms license in 2006. Still, Omran managed to maintain the lion’s share of the market while broadening the firm’s footprint in the region. In the same year, the firm won the rights to develop Egypt’s third mobile network in 2006, and has since established a presence across Asia and Africa.

Etisalat is strongly tied to the government, which receives 50% of the firm’s profits through royalty fees. The telecommunications firm is reported to be one of the biggest contributors to federal development programmes, and Omran has played a role in giving Etisalat a socially responsible business perspective.

There are currently more than five million subscribers to the services provided by Etisalat, including mobile, internet and e-vision capabilities.