MINA/ARAFAT, 10 January 2006 — Performing Haj is a good way for Muslims to feel spiritual disconnection from their material life. However, in this Haj season, pilgrims’ disconnection went beyond the spiritual level as they were disconnected as well from the Saudi Telecom Company’s (STC) wireless network on the first day of Haj.
The network went down during the peak of the pilgrims’ arrival in Mina and the failure continued for more than half of the day. Mobily, the second mobile communications operator in the Kingdom, was able to sustain the confidence of its subscribers in its operations because of the successful coverage of its network over Mina. Obtaining a Mobily SIM card was the only way for angry and disappointed pilgrims in Mina to connect with the Kingdom’s mobile phone network on the first day.
STC’s network failure occurred despite its recent 17 percent network expansion in Mina. In preparation for 2005 Haj season, the mobile phone network capacity was increased to serve 1.045 million mobile phone users. The expansion in Mina was part of an entire network expansion for all Haj holy sites, which include Makkah, Arafat, Muzdalifa and Mina. However, the Mina expansion is the largest in the holy sites since Mina is where two million pilgrims spend most of their time during their Haj stay.
The immense pressure on the mobile phone network was the main reason behind the lack of reception in cell phones on Yom Al-Tarwia in Mina, according to Abdul Munim Al-Rayes, STC’s Western Region manager. He asserted that it is natural to experience congestions during the peak time no matter how big the network is. STC has a very large client base in the Kingdom and the base increased further during the Haj, he said.
Al-Rayes said that there are over three million cell phone subscriptions operating in Makkah and the holy sites during this Haj season. The company has witnessed a 20 percent increase in SIM cards sales during this season compared to last year. This year, STC supported its network in the holy sites with 38 mobile GSM units. They have 2,000 technicians on duty around the holy sites for maintenance and operation. STC signed roaming agreement with 340 international operators compared to 205 agreements from Mobily. This year, 370,000 pilgrims came to Saudi Arabia with roaming facilities that allow them to use their own numbers in their countries of origin.
Mobily, which is entering the Haj market for the very first time, has also prepared for this Haj season by expanding its Haj network capacity from 800,000 to 1.4 million users. This difference means that Mobily can serve 355,000 more mobile phone users than STC. Mobily started its Haj network with 100 GSM towers established in the holy sites, and in a short period it increased the number of its towers to 120 with 100 towers in the Muzdalifa area alone. The company decided to establish fixed GSM towers instead of relying on mobile GSM towers units.
Mobily has been working since July to install technology purchased from Swedish telecom company Ericsson for its mobile phone networks in Makkah and Madinah.
Acting Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Khaled Al-Gosaibi, visited Mobily’s main station base in Muzdalifa and said he was satisfied with the company’s preparations for the Haj season and with the speed of establishing its network.
Mobily is approaching the pilgrims with its promotional campaigns and innovative marketing strategies. It is allowing pilgrims from outside the Kingdom who are roaming with its network or are using its local service to send five free international SMS text messages to any destination.
Mobily targeted pilgrims outside the Kingdom by selling its “Rahal” SIM cards in sales stands at foreign airports. “Rahal” is a prepaid service that Mobily is providing exclusively for pilgrims with discounted rates and international calling feature.
