RIYADH: The Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has expressed disappointment at the communications watchdog’s decision to ban them from offering a month’s worth of free calls as a thank-you to its customers. Yet STC confirmed on Monday that it would honor its promise, despite the Communications and Information Technology Commission’s (CITC) statement on Sunday that said the promotion would damage competition.

General Manager for STC’s Corporate Communications Mohammed Al-Faraj said the offer, which would benefit two million customers, would continue as it adhered to all CITC regulations.

Al-Faraj claimed the commission’s statement indicated a misunderstanding of STC’s offer, which officially started on Saturday, as there was no promotional campaign involved. It was just an appreciation program to mark a milestone in the company’s achievements, he said.

Al-Faraj confirmed that STC had advertised many programs and offers in the past that always abided by CITC regulations. He added in the case of the so-called “thank-you” offer the company had presented all the required documents and details according to the required standards. The general manager said CITC’s ban was a first in the telecommunications industry.

“In 2006 STC had presented an offer of free minutes in accordance with the number of the years the customers had been with us, and the CITC did not complain,” Al-Faraj said, adding other operators had also advertised similar promotional offers for the benefit of their customers.

Meanwhile, STC customers are facing confusion due to the conflicting messages from both organizations. Although many were suspicious about the validity of the offer, others claim it is simply a cynical compensation measure after a new customer management system caused various issues with billing, such as statements to be sent late.

Al-Faraj claimed there were no mistakes with bills, but a change in the system had caused some minor confusion.

“STC is the oldest communication company in the Kingdom and during its 10 years life span many changes had been made, with many services added and others expected to be added. Therefore we installed a new Customer Relation Management service to allow bundling of these services”. Implementing the new system, which is aimed at better serving their customers’ needs, caused the rescheduling of the bills to take a longer time than expected, according to Al-Faraj.

“Yet whether it is thought that the program is a way to compensate the customers or not, our customers come first and so do their benefits”.

STC confirmed it remained committed to its offer, with consideration to all CITC regulations and laws and would work hand in hand with the commission to achieve fair competition between all operators whilst maintaining the best interests of its customers.