RIYADH/JEDDAH, 29 April — Citizens and expatriates thronged authorized agents of Saudi Telecom Company’s prepaid SIM chip card, Sawa, Kingdomwide yesterday. After the distribution of chip cards ran into trouble on the day of the launch on Saturday due to technical difficulties, they sold like hot cakes yesterday at STC branches and the designated agencies.
Saleh Al-Jasser, general manager of STC’s Mobile Business Unit, said some 4,500 chip cards were sold yesterday in Riyadh alone.
Al-Jasser denied that there was any technical problem with the cards. Stores throughout the Kingdom, which had initially had to fight off customers because of huge demand, suddenly reported a problem with the SR200 denomination cards, and thereafter refused to issue any more.
The prepaid chip is being sold by 10 distributors, which have 70 outlets throughout the Kingdom.
Customers not covered by these distributors can contact three designated banks: the Arab National Bank, Riyadh Bank and the Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation.
“A large number of people crowded my shop as we opened for business in the morning. By evening I sold around 200 cards each priced SR200,” said Abdullah Sabaihi, manager at Haddad, an outlet at Palestine Street in Jeddah.
“The procedure is simple,” Shadi Rauwas of the same outlet said: “Prepaid chip card buyers have to fill in an application form and furnish a copy of their ID like passport or iqama. Once an application is received, we usually take a couple of hours or so to activate the chip card before handing it over to the applicant.”
Reports from many other outlets including those in downtown Balad said that there was a heavy rush for obtaining the cards.
Meanwhile, the Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation (ARABIC) started accepting application forms for subscription to Sawa cards.
The validity period of the Sawa card starts once it is activated. Each SR200 card can be used for a renewable period of 60 days. If the card is not operated during the specified period, it will automatically run out and no refund will be made, according to STC.
“The service remains valid as long as you use it and recharge the card before the end of the specified period. If you use all your account before the end of the specified period, you will not be able to make any phone calls. However you can still receive calls until the end of that period. You may also extend the period by using recharge vouchers. If the period specified for using the card expires without you re-charging the card, you have 15 days to recharge and keep your number as well as the balance from the previous period, if any,” STC stated.
Under the scheme, two categories for recharge cards are offered — a recharge card for SR100 with a usage period of 30 days and a recharge card for SR200 with a usage period of 60 days. “When recharging the card the usage period increases according to the recharge category you choose. Your new account will be added to the remaining balance in the card. You can recharge the card and extend the usage period for a maximum of 12 months by paying SR1,200,” STC said in a statement.
“With Sawa, meaning we welcome one another, you can control your phone calls budget in advance without having to worry about monthly expenses and phone bills,” it added.
For calls within the Kingdom, the tariff is fixed at SR1.2 per minute, and for international calls, Al-Jawal rates will apply. Tariff for on-net (Al-Jawal to Al-Jawal) SMS is half a riyal; and tariff for off-net (non Al-Jawal) and international SMS is 70 halalas.
The services available to Sawa users include making and receiving local and international phone calls, sending and receiving national and international SMS, using voice mail displaying caller’s number, call hold and call waiting features.
The launch of Sawa cards is expected to give a further boost to the mobile phones market. The number of mobile phone subscribers in the Kingdom stood at around 500,000 this year against a network capacity of 5.5 million lines.
The number of prepaid cards, according to Saud ibn Majed Al-Dwaish, vice president and chief of Mobile Services Unit, was expected to reach one million this year. He said that as a result of this facility allowed to mobile phone subscribers, 250,000 subscribers had switched over from family mobile to regular mobile phone service.
Last week STC declared 2000 net profit of $1.054 billion. Operating earnings reached $4.5 billion and total assets were $9.4 billion, up 13 percent on 1999. STC also announced profit of $1.099 billion for the period from May 1998 to December 1999.
STC began operating on a commercial basis in May 1998, when it was turned from a government department into a company as a first step toward privatization. The financial results announced last week were the first to be released since then.
