Talks ongoing between STC, Mobily on towers sale

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is still in talks with Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) to explore options on their telecom towers in the kingdom, Amjad Shacker, the company’s GM of corporate communication, told Argaam.

STC, the kingdom’s largest mobile operator, inked a memorandum of understanding earlier this year with rival Mobily to explore joint options to “extract value” from the towers and reduce capital and operating expenses.

The country’s telecom sector has seen several new regulations this year, such as the introduction of a unified license system to boost competition, and a fingerprinting system as a security measure.

The new licensing system will allow increased competition and subscriber options through enhancing network efficiency and cutting costs, according to the kingdom’s telecom regulator, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC).

When asked if the move could impact Saudi Telecom’s market share, Shacker said the telecom giant has no such concerns.

 “We welcome competition. In general, we are confident that CITC will help the telecommunication sector and protect fair competition,” he said.

The telecom regulator’s recent decision to halt unlimited internet bundles is also seen as a positive move because it will ease network congestion, he added.

“Saudi Arabia has the highest mobile broadband consumption worldwide, while in the Saudi market, the price per megabyte (MB) is one of the lowest in the world. At the same time, telecoms operators have been continuously investing billions in network infrastructure,” Shacker said.  

“Until recently, a small number of customers across all networks were abusing the bandwidth provided by the unlimited packages. As a result, this behavior created congestion for all networks, which negatively impacted all customers.”

Removing such packages has tackled the issue, which will benefit consumers, he added.

Looking ahead to 2017, Shacker said Saudi Telecom sees opportunities related to cloud computing and managed services in the Saudi market, as the kingdom pursues its Vision 2030 and National Transformation Program 2020 strategies.

“There are also investments in the digital economy and the development and strengthening of the role of e-government,” he added.

Write to Jerusha Sequeira at jerusha.s@argaamnews.com