RIYADH, 7 November 2007 — Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) began the first phase of the second expansion of its 3.5G network across Saudi Arabia in order to keep pace with the latest 3.5G technologies and expand its network to reach new cities and provinces.
According to the GSM Association, Mobily is the leading operator for 3G and 3.5G service in the Middle East and North Africa region, and through this expansion it seeks to strengthen its position in providing 3G services.
Mobily has already allocated nearly SR1 billion for the second expansion plan that started recently in collaboration with three international companies — Ericson from Sweden, Nokia from Finland and Huawei from China.
Mobily was the first operator to get a 3G license and launch the technology in the Kingdom. Since mid 2006, the company has built the largest 3G network in the region, attracting more than two million subscribers in different 3G services.
Also, six months ago, it launched a new mobile Internet facility through HSDPA for the first time in the Kingdom, with different virtual speeds, to the Kingdom.
Mobily previously launched two Internet access facilities. First came the contact card modem followed by USB modem. These services faced an unexpected demand and therefore Mobily’s network was constantly busy even though it is considered as the largest in the region. In order to solve the problem, Mobily started an immediate expansion of its network.
Next month, the company plans to make a huge expansion which will lead to an ultimate solution concerning the mass demand on Mobily’s services. In this context, Mobily assured that it is completely normal to have some problems and some gaps in full coverage of these services since they are newly introduced to the Saudi market.
The company also assured that it refuses any questioning about its credibility in dealing with its subscribers, and promises to always present them with the latest technologies and best coverage qualities, and emphasizing that other companies followed in Mobily’s steps although they questioned the service quality at first.
On the other hand, Mobily and American company (T-Mobile) recently signed an agreement in order to activate MMS messages from Saudi Arabia to the United states and vice versa. This convention will allow subscribers to send pictures, videos and audio files up to 400Kbps.
This agreement comes as an extension of Mobily’s previous agreement with the French company (Orange) and Austrian company (One Gmbh). It also brings the number of operators with which Mobily has signed MMS agreements to 62 operators in 39 countries.
The Mobily MMS service is available to both prepaid and postpaid subscribers. Mobily MMS agreement is considered the largest in the Kingdom between operator companies.