Zain Saudi marks 2nd anniversary
Published: Aug 28, 2010 23:58 Updated: Aug 28, 2010 23:58
RIYADH: Zain, a new player in the Saudi telecommunication market, celebrated its second anniversary Saturday with great fanfare and a three-day free service reward for its customers.
“The plan is to compensate the loyalty of our customers, who have supported Zain to make a new success story in the telecommunication field of the Kingdom,” said Saad Al-Barrak, Zain’s CEO, here Saturday.
Al-Barrak, while speaking on the occasion, said the company’s free package to customers would include 200 call minutes, 200 SMS, 200 MMS and 200 MB of Internet during the celebration period from Aug. 28 to Aug 30. He also renewed his pledge “to deliver exciting world-class products, attract more customers and boost Zain’s presence in Saudi society, fulfilling the brand promise of creating “a wonderful world.”
Al-Barrak said Zain family was happy to celebrate the success of the eventful years, which is evident from the results and figures that have been achieved so far. “The total number of Zain’s customers exceeded seven million in just 700 days,” said the Zain chief.
He said the coverage area of Zain today exceeds 93 percent of the total populated areas of the Kingdom. “Our services include the whole range of telecommunication services including calls, international roaming, voicemail, conference call, SMS and MMS, SIM applications, 3G, 3.5 G and video calls,” said Al-Barrak, adding that the company has committed to invest $1.3 billion to build its network.
On the financial strength of the company, Al-Barrak said Zain reported a significant increase in its revenues during the second quarter of this year, ending June 30, 2010. The company has now reached a remarkable break-even point for profit before interest on its Murabaha loan, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) for the second quarter of 2010, within a period of only 22 months since commencing operations in August 2008, he explained.
He said the results exceeded expectations, with revenue up by 107 to more than SR1,450 million, compared to SR702 million during the second quarter of 2009.
Zain, as part of its celebrations, also hosted the winners of the Kooora.com sports website contest held during the recent 2010 Soccer World Cup finals, said a press statement released on this occasion.
Zain presented a BlackBerry smart phone to each of the 40 lucky winners out of more than 20,000 people, who competed during the one-month football tournament.
Zain, which expanded its operation to become an international player from a Kuwaiti national telecommunication provider, has now substantial presence in Saudi Arabia.
Zain Saudi Arabia is going ahead with plans despite the fact that it has offered shareholders to cut its capital by almost half to cover accumulated losses, and later launch a rights issue to raise it by nearly 60 percent. Kuwait-based Zain holds a 25 percent stake in Zain Saudi Arabia.
