The chairman of telecommunications firm Etisalat says the Emirati company plans to spend more than US$15 billion over the next five years to upgrade its international network.

Chairman Mohammed Omran laid out the investment plans on Wednesday at a media conference in Abu Dhabi. He says Etisalat will spend as much as 5 billion dirhams ($1.36bn) to further outfit its UAE fiber-optic network alone.

Etisalat has expanded rapidly internationally in recent years after losing its monopoly at home.

It launched a $12bn bid for a 46 per cent stake in Kuwaiti rival Zain last year, but the deal hasn't yet been completed. Omran didn't speak about that deal on Wednesday.