JEDDAH, 15 October 2004 — Saudi Telecom Company yesterday said it posted a net income of SR7.67 billion for the nine months ending Sept. 30 of this year compared to SR6.54 billion during the same period last year.
A company statement said the income from operational activities was SR7.84 billion during the same period up by 20 percent of that of the same period last year.
STC Chairman Khaled Al-Melhem was upbeat announcing the figures . He described the results as outstanding and said the figures confirm the company’s solid financial position.
He said these good results were achieved despite the substantial discounts offered by the company in telephone and Internet charges.
Al-Melhem said the arrival of new mobile service providers in the market would not affect the market since the mobile market in the Kingdom is fast growing and can accommodate future competitors. He was referring to Ettihad Etisalat, the UAE entity that won the second GSM license in Saudi Arabia, whose public offering of 20 million shares valued at SR50 each, will open tomorrow. The offer is available only to Saudis.
Addressing a press conference in Riyadh, Al-Melhem said the mobile market is witnessing rapid growth in future since with a large segment of the population under 14 years and these constitute potential customers.
Asked about reports that some of STC employees may move over to work with Etisalat if the new company offered them attractive incentives, Al-Melhem said STC employees are committed to serve their company and that he does not believe they would leave the company.
The STC chairman announced plans to introduce new discounts on its mobile, land phone, SAWA, SMS and Internet services. The new rates will be effective from Oct. 26.
Two types of discounts will be provided for the Internet service. The first makes the service free as clients can have access to the network without subscribing to any particular Internet Service Provider, he said.
Under this service, clients surfing the Internet will pay only the local telephone charge and the STC will pay part of this amount to the ISPs.
Mobile phone users will pay either SR35 as monthly fees with one-minute call costing 45 halalas or SR45 as fees with one minute call costing between 35 halalas and 50 halalas. SAWA users will be given 235 extra minutes for domestic calls instead of the current 166 minutes. Starting from Dec. 13, the company will introduce a 15 percent cut in international calls.
Meanwhile, STC has rejected any links with conmen who trick people into investing in SAWA pre-paid mobile cards by promising them huge profits.
The company has meanwhile warned people against falling victim to these swindlers who have deceived a large number into believing in the profitability of investing in pre-paid cards. Many have fallen victim to these get-rich-quick schemes.
