RIYADH: Mobily’s Chief Executive Officer Khalid Al-Kaf hopes to propel his company to new heights with a quantitative shift in telecommunications field by offering qualitative broadband services.
The change, from being a mobile operator to a telecom operator, would enable Mobily to offer wider services and in the process reach a larger customer base while staying in step with the technological developments in the sector.
“We have the capacity and confidence to develop our facilities for the greater good of the nation,” Al-Kaf told Arab News in an exclusive interview, while emphasizing Mobily’s big leap through its broadband services — first through connect card and then through WiMAX.
WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology that provides for the wireless transmission of data in a variety of ways, ranging from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular-type access. The technology provides broadband speed without the requirement of cables.
“We have made a deeper penetration into the Kingdom’s broadband services. Within a short period, Mobily has reached 11 million subscribers and it is hopeful that it could be enhanced to a sizable number by way of its efficient and quality services,” he said.
Mobily offers free WiMAX for domestic subscribers with speeds of up to two megabits per second. “This is Mobily’s first such product after the company took over Bayanat, a data communications operator. The company is set to offer a broader portfolio of similar and related products and services soon,” he said, adding, “We have a metropolitan fiber network which provides coverage in major cities — Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Dammam and Alkhobar. WiMAX coverage will eventually cover the entire Kingdom.”
“Mobily’s broadband @ home is the Kingdom’s first and only prepaid WiMAX service for domestic subscribers. By using WiMAX technology, broadband @ home eliminates the need for problematic and annoying underground wiring, which caters for only limited numbers of users to begin with. Its subscribers can now stay connected to the Internet with over 188 operators covering 74 countries when roaming abroad,” Al-Kaf said.
The company has added more mobile Internet and MMS multimedia messaging roaming destinations recently. They are Ecuador, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Palestine, Bosnia and Iceland. Mobily roaming subscribers in these countries can stay connected to their e-mail using a laptop, a BlackBerry device or a BlackBerry Connect-enabled handset, and even using ActiveSync — a Microsoft push mail technology.
Recently Mobily launched the “Mobile Roaming Alliance” (MRA) in conjunction with its mother company, Etisalat in the UAE, and its sister company Etisalat Misr in Egypt. The MRA provides Mobily customers, both prepaid and postpaid, with high value roaming rates that offer savings of up to 53 percent, as well as a simple, affordable and transparent rate whenever they roam in the UAE and Egypt, taking away the complexity of calculating complex roaming charges. Likewise, Etisalat and Etisalat Misr customers traveling to the Kingdom will enjoy the same privileges and affordable flat rate.
“The MRA itself is part of a strategic attempt by Mobily to leverage synergies across its group in order to deliver a unique value proposition to its extended customer base and enhance the appeal of mobile services to roaming customers,” Al-Kaf said. “This is part of our commitment to our customers to deliver outstanding customer value from our perspective as a truly global brand considering our growing reach and expansion across international markets,” he added.
The MRA comes in line with its commitment made at the May 2007 Arab Regulators Network (AREGNET) meeting, aimed at reducing international roaming charges in Arab countries, and also comes as part of Mobily’s commitment to supporting the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) by providing services priced at fair and affordable rates.
Al-Kaf said similar cooperation opportunities between the mother and sister companies were in the works. Highlighting the importance of the MRA, Al-Kaf said the agreement covered almost 100 million people in the three countries and a large volume of tourist traffic. Mobily has roaming agreements in 186 countries through 400 GSM operators worldwide.
Regarding Zain, the third mobile operator’s entry into the Kingdom, Al-Kaf said: “The Kingdom’s economy could easily accommodate three mobile operators and there is room for a fourth one too. It’s a huge market.”
To compete with the one network system introduced by Zain, he added that Mobily is also considering a similar package to its customers. “Currently we have preferential rates to United Arab and Egypt and our customers could expect new packages in the coming months.”
“Zain has signed an agreement with us (Mobily) for national roaming in areas not covered by its network. In addition, we have other areas of cooperation in the sphere of transmission links, international links and site sharing,” he said, pointing out such cooperation is normal for any new operators and this will benefit the sector itself. “We extend a wholehearted welcome to Zain and we wish them well in their new venture,” he said.
On mobile subscribers who shift from one operator to another following default in payments, Al-Kaf said that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) has a common black list of persons who have defaulted the banks and telecom companies and it is made available to these institutions. “It is up to the companies to deal with such subscribers.”
Mobily received two prestigious awards from Islamic Finance news magazine. The awards were given for the best Saudi Islamic finance deal of the year, and for the most innovative Islamic financing method.
Al-Kaf said, “There is growing convergence in telecom services, and a customer expects multifarious services to move from one terminal to another without any problems. After 10 years, people as they move, would want their services to move with them with the help of a single machine. Mobily, with the help of broadband services, is focusing on that.”