Mobily to focus on boosting revenue from data: CEO

Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) plans to focus on increasing revenues from the data segment, which is growing rapidly, the chief executive Ahmed Abou Doma told Argaam on Wednesday.

The telecom operator has been working on boosting sales of pre-paid bundles, improving customer service, and introducing more attractive data packages to offset the negative impact of lower revenue from international calls, tough competition, and a wider economic slowdown, the CEO said.

Tadawul-listed Mobily reported revenue growth on a quarter-on-quarter basis in Q4 for the first time since 2015, boosted by improved client base and strong network performance.

Revenue came in at SAR 2.83 billion in Q4 2017, compared to SAR 2.8 billion the previous quarter.

Mobily is seeing significant growth in the business sector, in terms of small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs), Abou Doma  said.

However, the telco is yet to offset losses incurred due to Saudi Arabia’s move to lift a ban on voice and video calling applications.

Mobily widened net losses in Q4 to SAR 181.7 million, from SAR 70 million in Q4 2016, on lower revenue mainly due to economic and regulatory changes in the sector. For fiscal year 2017, the telco reported a net loss of SAR 709 million, widening losses from SAR 213.6 million a year earlier.

“Higher expenses in Q4 were driven by the network upgrade, in line with the telco’s new strategy, aimed at raising network performance”, Abou Doma said.