JEDDAH, 11 July 2005 — Saudi Telecom announced this week the introduction of roaming services in over 100 countries for prepaid (Sawa) customers. Effective immediately, Sawa subscribers can receive calls and send SMS messages while outside the Kingdom. “The service is already up and running. Sawa customers traveling to over 100 countries can receive calls and send SMS messages, but they cannot make voice calls like billing customers can,” an STC customer service representative said.
According to Saudi Telecom, the Sawa account must have sufficient credit on it to receive calls, prior to leaving Saudi Arabia, as, “Sawa customers cannot call 1500 to recharge their accounts from outside the Saudi network.”
Saudi Telecom said that incoming calls are charged at standard international billing rates plus 30 percent.
For billing customers, it has been possible for quite some time to make and receive calls. When activating roaming services for billing accounts, non-Saudi customers are required to pay a deposit of at least SR1500.
One Sawa user in Jeddah told Arab News: “If you can only receive calls, then it’s pointless. It would be better and cheaper for me to buy a local SIM when I arrive at my destination. The way it is now set up, travelers will need two phones — one to receive calls and another to place them.”
Although this service is new to Al-Jawwal, a similar service has been working for Mobily’s prepaid customers since they launched two months ago. Their customers have been able to receive and place calls while abroad.
