JEDDAH, 2 January 2005 — Saudi Arabia will punish anyone using third generation (3G) mobile phones for purposes deemed immoral, the state telecommunications regulator said yesterday.
The warning from the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) came as it officially handed over the Kingdom’s first 3G license to mobile phone operator Ettihad Etisalat.
3G mobile phones can access the Internet, which is strictly controlled in Saudi Arabia, and receive high quality video clips from adult sites. “We expect (3G) providers to follow the same rules as Internet providers,” said CITC Information Technology General Manager Ahmed Sindi.
“The challenge is that this technology is commensurate with our moral values. There will be laws and procedures that govern the use of the technology and people will be punished for its misuse.”
A ban was recently overturned on the import and sale of mobile camera phones.
Fights have been triggered at weddings and girls’ schools after camera phones were used to take and distribute pictures of unveiled women, newspapers have reported.
Ettihad Etisalat, Saudi Arabia’s second mobile phone operator, paid around SR750 million ($200 million) for the 3G license.
The firm distanced itself from what material the technology could be used to view.
“We will be the facilitator but never a pipeline,” said Managing Director Khalid Al-Kaf.
Kaf said he expected strong demand for 3G services when they are introduced by 2006.
The Kingdom imports around six million mobile phones a year, with 70 percent of consumers regularly changing their mobiles.
Competition in the mobile phone market is expected to intensify with the coming to the market of a new competitor to the Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) which until now has been dominating both the mobile and land phone markets.
Etisalat said it expects to get up to seven million subscribers in the first five years of its operations in the Kingdom.
Company officials said they expect Etisalat to start its services in the Kingdom from early this year. Etisalat has already selected Alcatel as one of the suppliers for new GSM/EDGE network. The contract reportedly constitutes a major GSM deployment for Alcatel in the Middle East.
Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel will supply its Evolium solution, including Base Stations Sub-systems (BSS) and revenue-generating applications such as next generation Voice Mail System (VMS) and the transmission system based on Microwave PDH, SDH, and Optical device. It is also responsible for installation and commissioning of a significant part of the network.
Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Suwail, CITC’s governor, said recently that “the cooperation between STC and Etisalat represents an ideal business relationship, which will benefit both parties. But, the Saudi telecom regulatory body will be watching that this cooperation will not harm the ultimate users of the services”.
He also reaffirmed that CITC was determined to protect the interests of new local or foreign investments in the telecom sector including STC and Etisalat.
The CITC has also said it would not interfere in charges offered by Etisalat to its clients.
“CITC’s rules and regulations do not allow us to fix, either to reduce or increase, the charges offered by Ettihad Etisalat,” Sami Al-Murshid, director of international and media affairs at the commission, told Al-Eqtisadiah, a sister publication of Arab News recently.
