RIYADH: The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), Saudi Arabia’s telecom authority, yesterday licensed Etihad Atheeb Telecommunications to provide land phone services, after the company completed its initial public offering and establishment procedures.
Prince Abdul Aziz bin Ahmed, chairman of Etihad Atheeb, received the license from Abdul Rahman Al-Jaafari, governor of the commission.
The validity of the license is 25 years and can be renewed, an official statement said. In accordance with the license, the company will establish and operate the Kingdom’s second land phone network and provide its services at local, national and international levels. It will also meet the requirements for providing the service in all parts of the Kingdom, the statement said.
Last year, 10 consortia led by international companies, including India’s MTNL, applied for Saudi Arabia’s second landline phone license. The licensing of Atheeb ends the decades’ old monopoly of Saudi Telecom Company in landline sector.
