RIYADH, 17 December 2005 — Mobily, the second mobile operator in the Kingdom, initiated a network-expansion project on the highways in the Eastern Province Thursday.
Under the program, highways from Riyadh to Dammam, from Dammam to Hofuf, and from Hofuf to Salwa and Khurais, will be covered by Mobily’s own independent network.
Mobily customers were previously using the STC network when they were driving on these highways as part of the agreement between Mobily and the Saudi Telecom Co. “The new network covers 800 kilometers of highways,” Mobily’s Communications Director Hamoud Al-Ghobaini told Arab News.
Ghobaini noted that the Mobily network has developed rapidly in the last few months, covering 34 cities in the Kingdom. He said Mobily is the fastest growing mobile operator in the Middle East and North Africa.
Ghobaini said the new network has been able to create more than 1,500 base stations and towers throughout the Kingdom.
“Usually this number of sites take years of hard work, but with signing four major contracts with Alcatel, Huauwai, Motorola and Ericsson, Mobily has achieved a record in terms of infrastructure,” said Ghobaini.
He said Mobily was completing a project to cover the holy sites during the Haj when more than two million pilgrims are expected to gather in Makkah and Madinah.
“We have made sure that the Mobily network will serve hundreds of thousands of calls, using local and international routes,” said Ghobaini. “We have also offered a special package for visitors and pilgrims with a cost of SR50 and a charge of 50 halala per minute.”
Mobily SIM is available now at all airports and seaports and all of its sales outlets, added Ghobaini.
