RIYADH, 12 August — The Kingdom has become a net exporter of fiber optic cables, thanks to the quality of its products and a shortage in the global market.
“We are planning to increase our output capacity by 100 percent,” said Hashem S. Al-Huneidi, general manager of the Riyadh-based Middle East Fiber Cable Manufacturing Co. (MEFC), the first cable company in the Kingdom to receive ISO 9001-2000 certification.
Located in the third industrial township off Al-Kharj Road, MEFC uses pre-formed rods as raw material for its products.
The MEFC executive also disclosed that the Kingdom’s telecommunications market is set for a major boost as the Saudi Telecom Company will need around 4,000 km of fiber optic cables annually for its long-haul network and metropolitan area network (MAN). The growth of Internet traffic and the need for speedy communication have contributed to the surge.
With the long-haul fiber optic cable network between various Saudi cities nearing completion, the focus has now shifted to MAN.
Under the scheme, the cable network within the metropolitan cities will be expanded as part of STC’s plan to beef up the telecommunications system.
Following the infrastructure development, Al-Huneidi said, the market will grow exponentially as STC plans to invest heavily in new expansion projects. “MEFC is ready to meet STC’s needs both for long-haul and metropolitan networks,” he said.
Affirming his company’s commitment to maintain quality of their product, Al-Huneidi said: “With a 60-70 percent share of the Saudi market, we have already become a market leader.”
He said there was an acute shortage of fiber optic cables in the global market last year and early this year and “when our competitors could not supply the STC requirements, we came forward to meet the emergency.”
He said MEFC exports of fiber optic cables zoomed from SR1 million in 1998 to SR8 million last year. The products are exported to the US, European Union and other countries.
“By the middle of next year our production capacity both for optical fiber and fiber optic cables will be doubled,” Al-Huneidi said, adding that this was in line with their marketing strategy to enhance MEFC’s share in the EU market.
