DAMMAM, 30 September 2003 — The Saudi Telephone Company’s decision to add a further one million mobile lines to the existing network was generally welcomed by citizens here, who said that it will put an end to the black market. The additional one million lines will ease pressure on the system and make it easier for people to get a connection.
But residents in the Eastern Province strongly believed that the SAWA (prepaid cards) rates are exorbitant and need drastic reduction.
“It is really funny that people using the Jawal system have to pay less than the people using a SAWA connection. It is after all the same country and same STC that manages telecommunications,” said Fahd Al-Dossary, a sales executive who extensively uses cellular phones. “In a month I spend approximately SR1,000 on SAWA cards, and that’s although most of the calls are local,” he said.
Some prepaid card phone users ask why, when there is no difference in the international call rates between land lines, SAWA or Jawal, there is such a big difference in local and domestic rates.
People say a marginal difference between SAWA and Jawal charges is understandable, but that nearly 100 percent extra charges on SAWA are beyond comprehension.
“STC should charge less on SAWA cards than on Jawal since it gets the revenue in advance, saves a lot of money on billing and there is no scope for defaulters,” said Abdullah Al-Gashri, a Saudi journalist.
According to STC reports, the company suffers losses worth millions of riyals due to non-payment of bills. The problem reached such proportions that the company is now hiring the services of debt collection companies.
Prepaid card retailers say that they have been witnessing a decline in the sale of recharge cards. “Certainly there is a constant increase in the sale of new connections, but sales of rechargeable cards are down,” said the owner of Telelink, a SAWA retailer in Alkhobar.
People are also urging STC to extend the validity of the cards. “We have given cellular phones to our drivers. Normally they do not call anyone and it is us who call them, but still their connection expires within the period,” said the manager of a transport company in Dammam.
