TAWAL owns over 15,000 telecom towers, or 45% of total towers in Saudi Arabia: CEO

TAWAL CEO Mohammed Alhakbani  

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TAWAL, Saudi Arabia’s first telecommunications towers company, owns a portfolio of over 15,000 towers across the Kingdom, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mohammed Alhakbani, told Argaam in an exclusive interview.

 

Saudi Arabia has more than 35,000 telecom towers, of which TAWAL’s towers represent almost 45%.

 

The company aims to build 200 new towers to fulfill the sector’s increasing needs, Alhakbani said, adding that TAWAL is a partner in the Kingdom’s giga projects, such as NEOM, Qiddiya, Red Sea Project, Amaala, AlUla, etc.

 

TAWAL’s net income margin ranges between 15% and 20%, which reflects its solid performance when compared to more efficient global peers.

 

Here’s the full interview with Alhakbani:

 

Q: Why was TAWAL establishment? What services does it provide?

 

A: TAWAL is a leading provider of integrated information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. TAWAL is the first telecommunications tower company in the Kingdom and the largest in the region. It aims to fulfill customer demand for reliable and cost-efficient ICT infrastructure.

 

TAWAL was launched in April 2019 as a 100%-owned subsidiary of stc to become the first national entity that aims to enhance infrastructure and enable telecom service providers with telecom towers. It also seeks to

support the digital transformation ambitions in line with Vision 2030. The company is based on three strategic pillars as follows:

 

First: Provide telecom operators with appropriate solutions through enhancing infrastructure by accelerating the roll-out of future technologies, such as 5G and Internet of Things (IoT).

 

Second: Enable mobile network operators (MNOs), the government and businesses to operate more effectively and cost efficiently by enhancing colocation and realizing operational efficiencies.

 

Third: Make a positive impact on the local community and ensure environmental sustainability by contributing to community development and promoting renewable energies.

 

TAWAL’s core activities include building and managing towers on-demand on behalf of network operators, providing in-building-solution (IBS) to boost superior internal coverage with cutting-edge technologies, offering operations and maintenance services. Through sharing telecom towers and its related passive infrastructure, TAWAL helps its customers achieve operational excellence and generate higher profit by reducing investment in capital expenditure to obtain network infrastructure services at various sites.

 

TAWAL also offers sharing telecom infrastructure, reducing visual pollution that usually results from dense equipment installations.

 

Q: Can you give us details about the financial performance of TAWAL and its core segments?

 

A: TAWAL has shown solid financial position, as net profit margins ranged between 15% and 20%, which reflects its solid performance when compared to more efficient global peers.

 

Telecom towers have been costly for telecommunication operators. However, the emergence of telecom towers allowed those operators to access this infrastructure at a lower cost through tower sharing.

 

Therefore, TAWAL aims to enable its customers capitalize on the infrastructure solutions to improve the scope and quality of network coverage and rapidly roll out future technologies through infrastructure sharing. It aims to allow those customers to benefit from over 15,000 telecom towers across the Kingdom to enhance operating efficiency and reduce their capital expenses to boost profitability.

 

The company continues to launch new innovative products, such as IBS in line with the best global practices.

 

Q: How many towers are owned by TAWAL? What about their locations across the Kingdom?

 

A: TAWAL owns a portfolio of over 15,000 towers spread across the Kingdom.

 

Q: What about TAWAL’s market share of the total tower network in the Kingdom?

 

A: The Kingdom has more than 35,000 telecom towers, of which TAWAL accounts for 45%.

 

TAWAL deploys its potentials to allow MNOs, the government and businesses to operate more effectively and cost efficiently by enhancing colocation and realizing operational efficiencies. It aims to be a key player in the Kingdom’s ICT infrastructure.

 

Q: Does TAWAL have plans to expand and build new towers this year? If so, how many towers will be built and the target sites?

 

A: TAWAL always seeks to fully expand the scope of its services. It aims to add 200 new towers annually in the Kingdom to meet the sector’s needs. The target sites include the urban and semi-urban provinces, remote regions, the new regions under development and the Kingdom’s giga projects.

 

Q: What are TAWAL’s potential fields of expansion?

 

A: As TAWAL aims to expand its geographical reach to all provinces of the Kingdom, the company is keen to participate in the Kingdom’s giga projects, such as NEOM, Qiddiya, Red Sea Project, Amaala, AlUla, etc.

 

For its future plans, TAWAL is well-placed to enable the future technological transformation in the ICT infrastructure sector, adopt a new age of technologies and develop value-added services, such as small cells, fiber to the tower (FTTT) and smart city infrastructure.

 

Moreover, the emergence of 5G networks contributed to the development of many services and sectors, such as the public transport, healthcare, industrialization, and retail selling. Accordingly, TAWAL expects a pick-up in demand for high-speed data and data transmission.

 

TAWAL, as a leading ICT infrastructure services provider, plays a pivotal role in this sector to enable MNOs, the government and businesses.

 

Q: TAWAL has recently adopted its sustainability strategy. What about the strategy pillars and initiatives?

 

A: Sustainability has a prominent position in TAWAL’s strategy. The company eyes a positive impact on the community and environment. Therefore, it developed a sustainability strategy, based on a solid framework in line with the local and national priorities. In addition to the fields to which TAWAL can largely contribute, the strategy focuses on four key pillars, as follows:

 

First: Improve access to high-speed digital services for the entire community to make them more comprehensive and narrow the digital gaps through expanding infrastructure services in the regions that are most in need.

 

Second: Enable the local community through launching social responsibility initiatives to support social activities across the Kingdom.

 

Third: TAWAL believes in environmental standards and in reducing negative environmental impacts by adopting the best practices and trimming CO2 emissions. The company uses hybrid energy solutions at 850 sites currently and aims to exceed 1,000 sites by the end of the year.

 

Additionally, more than 300 sites were connected to the power grid, instead of using diesel-based generators. TAWAL targets 400 sites by the year-end. It also aims to enhance the use of renewable energy and is building 60 new sites that operate using solar energy in NEOM.

 

TAWAL seeks to reduce waste, enhance recycling and increase tower sharing to reduce the existence of two towers at the same location.  

 

Fourth: Contribute to the Kingdom’s economic development by boosting local content. TAWAL’s local procurements fulfill 77% of its total needs. Moreover, it contracted 150 local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in various fields.  

 

Q: As the Hajj 2021 season closed, how can you evaluate the quality and performance of TAWAL during the season? 

 

A: TAWAL braced to serve all sites during the Hajj season. It established 24 new sites with special designs. TAWAL also developed more than 900 sites to enable the operators to install new telecommunications systems. 

 

The company provided comprehensive preventive maintenance services for more than 1,000 sites and conducted the necessary tests to ensure their operational readiness. 

 

TAWAL also provided over 400 sites with generators and batteries to ensure no power outage. 

 

Meanwhile, the company had 120 engineers and technicians around-the-clock, who were 100% vaccinated. It also provided a 99.996% infrastructure network during the season to serve power operators and pilgrims.