Ahead of its third anniversary celebration on Sunday (today), the UAE-based Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) said on Saturday that its three years of commercial operations in Saudi Arabia has achieved two big milestones - a network coverage area of around 97 percent and a subscriber base of 11.1 million mark as of May 25, 2008. In a press conference here, Khalid Omar Al-Kaf, Mobily CEO, also announced that Mobily will launch Wave 2 WiMax in Saudi Arabia by the end of this year. The Wave 2 WiMax will be the first by any mobile phone operator in the Middle East, he said. Mobily has a total investment of SR9 billion to date in Saudi Arabia. “Mobily will be the first operator in the Middle East to introduce Wave 2 WiMax for Saudi customers by end of this year,” he said. Mobily's SR9 billion investments included SR7 billion expansion of network and other ongoing projects such as Mobily's share of SR400 million in laying of SR1 billion cable network linking the Kingdom with Asia and Europe, acquisition of Bayanat Al-Oula at a cost of SR1.5 billion and SR1 billion being invested for the expansion of 3G mobile services across the Kingdom. He said Mobily is no more a mobile phone operator in Saudi Arabia, rather it has achieved a status of a telecommunication company, which is offering a whole range of services including High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), a variety of broadband Internet technologies to include WiMax, 2.5G and 3G mobile coverage. Besides, Mobily maintained its lead by offering around 267 value added services including its firsts in the Kingdom such as multimedia messaging (MMS), international roaming for prepaid subscribers and ring back tone (RBT) among many others, he said. The company's emphasis is now on achieving the broadband network, where the penetration rate in Saudi Arabia accounts merely 2.5 percent, he said, which is very low as compared with the potential in the country, he added. He said after Mobily has purchased Bayanat Al-Oula, a leading data service provider in Saudi Arabia offering data and online services, it would proceed with the expansion of its HSPA. The fiber optic network being laid linking the Mobily in the Kingdom to Asia and Europe will be completed by end of 2009, he further said, noting that Mobily investments of SR400 million represents two-thirds of the SR1 billion cable project. Mobily's investments of SR9 billion in Saudi Arabia included networking, broadband Internet technologies and laying of cable network, he said. To avoid any disruptions in the traffic the cable network is taking a totally different terrestrial route via Egypt in Alexandria to either Marshe or Italy, but not through the Suez Canal, he said. Detailing the recently launched campaign called Ghataynaha (We covered it), Al-Kaf moreover said the other milestones that Mobily has achieved in a short period included reaching to 115 cities, governorates and establishment of around 5,400 point of sales across the Kingdom. He said Mobily has a market share of around 40 percent and targeting to achieve at least 100,000 more subscribers during 2008. Though the competition among the mobile phone operators is “fierce,” he said the entry of the third mobile phone operator Zain is welcomed. __
