RIYADH, 16 January 2007 — Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), Integrated Telecom Company and Bayanat Al-Oula for Network Services have announced the completion of the first phase of their fiber optic network project, which they started to build early 2006.
The first phase covers the major three rings of central, western and eastern regions. Three companies entered into a strategic partnership to build, deploy, and operate the latest fiber optic network, which will cover all the regions of the Kingdom.
This highly sophisticated telecom network will enable the companies to enhance and support their advanced services. The implementation of this network will signify the introduction of a new landmark in the telecom industry, as it leads to expand the telecom infrastructure and its capability of providing its wide spectrum of services, and meet the growing demands for services in the short and long run.
The fiber optic network will cover 12,000 kilometers of highways as well as cities Kingdomwide. The network will represent a strategic option for Mobily, as it will be supporting and complementing its mobile network services by enabling it to provide other services of highly sophisticated technologies. Through this network, Bayanat Al-Oula for Network services and the Integrated Telecom Co. will be able to provide high speed and cost effective data services to all sectors in KSA including institutions, companies, enterprises and individuals.
The network will be constructed and deployed in phases within the forthcoming two years with a total cost of SR1 billion. To ensure high unprecedented performance, a major international specialized company has been selected and will sign the contract for the implementation of the said project within the forthcoming weeks.
Taking into consideration the sizable unprecedented expansion in the telecom sector and IT, the project was designed in a unique scalable way that enables capacity expansions to reach ten folds in the future if and when needed. The fiber optic cables, a replacement for the old copper cables, are made of bundles of a thin and pairs of pure fibers, capable of transmitting data, and phone services for both landline and mobile at a very high speed. With recent advances in the fiber optic industry, manufacturers were able to double the speed of data transmission through pairs of fibers.
Mobily (Etihad Etisalat) has been established as a Saudi company as per the royal decree issued in late 2004, following the award of the second mobile license in the Kingdom. Thirty-five percent of Mobily shares are owned by Etihad Etisalat, while 65 percent are owned by Saudis, inclusive of 45 percent of private ownership and 20 percent as public offering to Saudi nationals.
Within less than a year, Mobily services covered all cities in the Kingdom through the establishment of a modern network, gained 2.5 million subscribers in a relatively short period of time and was able to offer highly competitive services. The company aims to establish a modern telecom infrastructure in the Kingdom that meets the increasing demand for mobile services.
The Integrated Telecom Co. was established in 2005 with a registered capital of SR300 million. The company is owned by a group of active businessmen involved in the IT and telecom industry headed by Al-Mawarid Investment Group, as it owns the largest stake of shares. Recently the Integrated Telecom Co. was able to won the second license for Internet and data services in the Kingdom. The company aims to offer at very high speed and quality data services, implementing highly sophisticated techniques, through international Gateways in both Riyadh and Jeddah. Additionally Y-MAX services will be offered shortly.
Bayanat Al-Oula for Network Services, which won the first license to provide Internet and data services for duration of 25 years, has opened the way to a wide competition in this domain. The company intends as its major priority to offer at high speed and quality data services for a wide spectrum of customers.
