RIYADH, 15 August 2005 — Mobily has emerged as the leader in delivering advanced telecommunications services in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia. It is currently offering an extensive variety of services at affordable prices to its customers across the Kingdom, which is the largest telecommunications market in the Arabian Gulf and one of the fastest growing in the Middle East, said Khalid Al-Kaf, chief executive officer of Mobily (Etihad Etisalat) here.
Al-Kaf, while congratulating more than 1.6 million Indians working in Saudi Arabia on the occasion of their Independence Day celebrations, told Arab News that Mobily wants to serve Saudis and foreigners alike, while sharing their concerns and satsifying their needs. M. Rashid Ali Khan, executive manager for marketing, and Humoud Al-Ghobaini, chief of corporate communications, were also present.
Referring to the popularity of Mobily’s services, he said that there was a great potential in the Saudi market, where acceleration in services has been boosted by deregulation, increasing privatization and growing strength of economy. “All positive economic indicators are contributing to our unexpected growth and we are now planning to sustain such growth,” said Al-Kaf.
“Our focus now is on quality of service, customer care, network expansion and improved performance of our services,” he added.
“We (the network) are already covering the whole Kingdom with our own base stations in 32 cities of Saudi Arabia,” said Al-Kaf. “We do have a national roaming agreement, which enables us to cover the whole Kingdom,” said the Mobily CEO adding that the company has planned to cover most of the highways within next few months. Mobily, he said, will also double the size of the network to cover more villages and cities within a short time.
“Today, we have more than 1,200 base stations and by the end of this year the number will exceed 2,400,” said Al-Kaf. He said that the company has planned to add 1000 base stations to its existing network every six months. He said that capital base of the company will also be increased from SR5 billion to SR7 billion shortly. “In this regard, we have already submitted our papers and we are awaiting the approval of the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Capital Market Authority (CMA),” he said.
Referring to the incentives and prizes given to the subscribers, Mobily’s Marketing Manager Rashid Ali Khan said that Mobily was encouraging customers, both Saudis and expatriates, to subscribe and win attractive prizes. “There is an opportunity to win SR30,000 every day under a ‘Your Dream Vacation’ scheme,” said Khan adding that, “Mobily is running this campaign under which a draw to pick 30 lucky entrants and disburse SR1 million among them is organized on a daily basis.”
“The draw will continue until Aug. 17 and each winner, whose name is automatically registered after subscribing to Mobily’s prepaid (Mobily Anees and Mobily Wafeer) or postpaid services, will have a chance to win,” said Khan. Al-Kaf and Khan also gave an overview of Mobily’s operation in Saudi Arabia, it’s efforts to provide affordable services, its network expansion plan and strategy to provide many ‘firsts’ for its subscribers, such as prepaid roaming (facility to make and receive calls and SMS’s while abroad).
“Your Dream Vacation” is one of many such programs to reward the customers’ loyalty, said the Mobily marketing chief. The company offers five postpaid and two prepaid packages for its customers. Thousands of new subscribers are being registered daily at the various Mobily outlets in the Kingdom. “We hope to attract more customers with this campaign on the strength of our competitive offers and services,” said Mobily executive manager Khan. He said that the lucky winners could arrange his or her travel plans with Zahid Travel Agency which has been assigned for this purpose.
Referring to the future plans of the Mobily, Khan said that the focus of attention is the quality of service to be delivered to the customers on reasonable prices. Mobily recently announced substantial reductions in international call tariffs. The new rates have already been made applicable for those customers, who register for their favorite international number by calling 1499 from their mobily line. “This new package of reduced rates has also completely eliminated peak and off peak rates system,” said Khan.
He added that this new rate concept had been introduced for the first time in the region. It is also applicable for all packages both postpaid and prepaid. The new rates are lower than the existing international call charges in the region. Mobily is the official brand name of Etihad Etisalat, the new mobile service provider in Saudi Arabia. Established in accordance with a 2004 royal decree, the ownership of the company is two-fold: A Saudi ownership comprising public investors holding 20 percent of the company’s shareholding, while private investors owns a 45 percent stake. The balance 35 percent is owned by the Etisalat of UAE.