Mohammad Omran Al Shamsi () is an Emirati businessperson and former CEO and chairman of

Etisalat e&, formerly branded as Etisalat, is an Emirati state-owned telecommunications company. It is the 16th largest in the world by subscribers. On 31 December 2021, Etisalat reported consolidated revenue of AED 53.3 billion and net profits of AED ...

. He also served as chairman of the UAE's satellite telephony provider,

Thuraya Thuraya (, Gulf Arabic pron.: ; from the Arabic name for the Pleiades, ''Thurayya'') is a United Arab Emirates-based regional mobile-satellite service (MSS) provider. The company operates two geosynchronous satellites and provides telecommunic ...

. He was also the previous chancellor and chairman of the

Higher Colleges of Technology The Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) () is a public institute of technology with 16 campuses and facilities throughout the United Arab Emirates. Founded in 1988 by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al-Nahyan, it is the largest applied higher educa ...

as well as a member of the board of directors of the

Arab Satellite Communications Organization The Arab Satellite Communications Organization (often abbreviated as Arabsat) is a communications satellite operator in the Arab World, headquartered in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Arabsat was created to deliver satellite-based, public ...

(Arabsat).

Career

Al Shamsi joined the UAE's national telecommunications provider Etisalat in 1977, a year after its formation when it was still named Emirtel, having acquired a degree in Electronics and Communications that year from

Cairo University Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...

. In his biography, ''Stations, The Journey of Career and Life'', he recounts his progress from trainee engineer to become chairman and CEO of the company, which today provides services to 154 million subscribers in 16 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Three of the group’s brands, Etisalat, Maroc Telecom and Mobily, are among the top 150 most valuable telecom brands in the world. Appointed as chairman in 2005, Al Shamsi retired from Etisalat in 2012. Etisalat was named the most powerful company in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

Middle East at the time. In 1997 he was appointed as chairman of Thuraya, the UAE-based satellite telephony and data provider, which provides telecommunications coverage in more than 161 countries in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

, Central and

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The company launched its first Boeing-built satellite in 2000. Named as a member of the board of trustees of the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in the UAE in 2005, Al Shamsi was made President of the Higher Colleges in 2013, an appointment that carried Ministerial rank. With 22,000 students and 17 campuses nationwide, HCT is the largest educational institution in the UAE. At the same time, Al Shamsi was also appointed as a member of the board of directors of Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research, named by the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings as the top university in the UAE. Al Shamsi's first act in office at HCT was to reshuffle the management of the organisation, placing Emirati nationals in key management posts. In 2017, Al Shamsi opened HCT to students of all nationalities residing in the UAE, citing education for all as a core principle. He also serves on the boards of the Ras Al Khaimah University for Medical and Health Sciences, the American University of Ras Al Khaimah and RAK Bank - the national bank of

Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (; ), often referred to its initials RAK, is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. The city had a population of 191,753 in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu ...

, the philanthropic organisation,

Emirates Foundation Emirates Foundation is a philanthropic foundation, charity set up by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Emirates Foundation (EF) was launched in April 2005 as an initiative from General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown prince, ...

, and the Ras Al Khaimah Properties Company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shamsi, Mohammad Omran Living people Emirati chief executives Year of birth missing (living people) Cairo University alumni