RIYADH, 23 December 2006 — Saudi Arabia’s telecom regulator said yesterday that the deadline for submitting applications for the new mobile license has been extended to Feb. 24 and for the fixed-line license to March 10.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said the deadlines were extended in response to requests from several interested parties in order to give them more time to prepare their offers.
According to the previous announcement, the last date was Jan. 20 for mobile and Jan. 27 for fixed phone. Copies of the applications for both licenses can be downloaded from the CITC website or can be collected from its office in Riyadh.
Sultan Al-Malik, a spokesman of the commission, said interested parties can surf its website (www.citc.gov.sa) to get more information and answers to their questions. “We have published answers of questions on the new mobile and fixed phone licenses,” he said.
The planned licensing is a major milestone in the liberalization of the Kingdom’s telecom sector, the CITC said, adding that the organization was committed to issuing the licenses at the earliest.
The new licenses will break the monopoly of Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) on landline phone services and add at least a third mobile phone operator after STC and Mobily. Analysts had anticipated that a second fixed-line license in Saudi Arabia would be fiercely fought over.
While it has the largest telecommunications market in the Gulf region, Saudi Arabia’s four million existing fixed lines offer scope for growth for a country of 24 million people. With some 15 million mobile lines, the wireless segment is also set for growth.
Last year, Saudi Arabia opened up its mobile phone market to competition for the first time, granting a mobile license to a consortium led by UAE telecom giant Etisalat. But the majority state-owned Saudi Telecom maintained its monopoly on landlines.
The presence of a second mobile phone operator has resulted in strong competition between STC and Mobily.
To attract more and more subscribers, they have offered very competitive rates, both for national and international calls. The two operators have also improved the quality of their services.
