RIYADH: Saudi Telecom Company (STC) signed an agreement yesterday with Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG) and a Malaysian company ASTRO for setting up a new company for content to be based in Dubai Media City in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The agreement was signed by SRMG Chairman Prince Faisal bin Salman, STC Chairman Muhammad Al-Jasser and ASTRO Director Dato Khadar Merican at STC headquarters in the capital. According to the agreement, STC will invest 51 percent of the SR280 million capital, while SRMG will contribute 20 percent and ASTRO will add 29 percent to form the new company’s capital.
Speaking on the occasion, Al-Jasser said that this agreement represented a quality leap for STC as it continues to provide 3G services in the Kingdom. “The new agreement is an expression of the company’s commitment to the local market by providing world-class innovative services to all beneficiaries of telecom-media-convergence representing value added services to customers,” he added. He noted that STC’s common vision was to revolutionize the provision of multimedia services at home and during mobility through the provision of a package of distinctive content-related products according to Islamic teaching and values.
“After decades of continuous success as a pioneer in printing and publishing in the region, the signing of the new agreement is a historic moment since it will open new horizons for SRMG and enhance its ability to provide high-quality content to more than 70 million customers worldwide,” Prince Faisal said, pointing out that it would confirm the company’s growth both in terms of quality and strategy reinforcing its leadership in content provision.
Highlighting the value of the partnership, STC President Saud Al-Daweesh said: “Establishing a company for content reflects STC’s quest to launch value-added services to its customers and gain a competitive edge to maintain basic revenues and profits in addition to continue implementing the company’s ‘forward’ strategy.” He said that strategy called for maintaining the company’s leadership in the telecommunications market in the Kingdom and providing advanced services in the field of visual and information communications.
Describing it as a unique partnership, Al-Daweesh said it brought together three global companies carrying a common vision of integration between the publishing and communications sectors.
ASTRO is the largest multimedia provider in Southeast Asia with a vast experience in aggregation, management, production and post-production of TV content, he said, while SRMG is the leading media publishing house in the Middle East and North Africa with extensive experience in the local market in addition to its vast media network in the Kingdom.
In terms of services, he said the new company would provide religious, entertainment and educational content using various methods via text or audio. “The content will provide using a diverse set of media including broadcast, television text messages and Web browsing,” he said, adding that the new company would cover all related services with powerful content beginning from compilation, production, and presentation to service seekers and beneficiaries including Hatif (landline), Jawal (mobile phone) and Internet.
“We deem it a great opportunity for ASTRO to come into the Kingdom’s telecommunications market. We also believe that this partnership will combine our media capabilities and SRMG’s expertise along with STC’s presence to change the face of digital media in the Kingdom,” Merican said.
Merican said his company’s content development unit was the only one in the world that produces and distributes culturally sensitive infotainment programs in seven different languages. “The growing demand for entertainment and information delivered via new media such as broadband, mobile telephone or Internet protocol television (IPTV) also presents opportunities for the content business and we will continue our efforts to customize our offerings for distribution globally, using both traditional and new delivery platforms.”
SRMG CEO Azzam M. Al-Dakhil said that yesterday’s event was a testimony of his group’s role in media, publishing and content management on a local as well as a regional level.
