Etihad Etisalat Company, which means “Communication Consortium,” is the firm that has been awarded the second mobile GSM license and the first 3G license in Saudi Arabia. The Etihad Etisalat consortium of founding shareholders comprises Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat), Saudi Arabian General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI), Abdul Aziz Al-Saghyir Commercial Investments Company, Abdullah & Said M.O. Binzagr Company, Al-Jomaih Holding Company, Rana Investment Company and the Riyadh Cable Group of Companies. Etisalat holds a 35 percent stake in Etihad Etisalat.
The establishment of Etihad Etisalat Company, a Saudi stock company with a capital of SR5 billion, has been approved by Commerce Minister Dr. Hashim Yamani. The company comprises 100 million shares, each valued at SR50. The company will be managed by a 10-member board of directors who are to be appointed by the company’s general assembly for three years. The period of the first board of directors will be five years. Significant officers of Etihad Etisalat include Abdul Aziz Al-Saghyir, the chairman-designate and Khaled Al-Kaf, the managing director.
Etihad’s listing on the Tadawul, Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange, was 50 times oversubscribed. This initial public offering (IPO) had the highest participation per capita of any IPO in history with 4,276,827 subscribers applying for 20 million shares offered for a nominal value of SR1 billion.
Etihad Etisalat’s new national network is scheduled to be operational by the first quarter of 2005. Initially, GSM services are to be rolled out in 14 cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah, Dammam, Alkhobar, Dhahran, Thaqba, Mubarraz, Hofuf, Buraidah, Khamees Mushayt, Abha and Taif. The investment required to fund this rollout and subsequent expansion across the Kingdom is budgeted at around $1 billion during the first year. The new website for the company, www.etihadetisalat.com.sa, already provides essential information on the company’s formation and activities with more features sure to come in the future.
