Five companies seek Saudi virtual telecom licences

Dubai: Five companies have submitted applications for virtual telecom licences in Saudi Arabia including Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa (VMMEA).

VMMEA - part-owned by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group - is up against Dubai-based Axiom, plus consortiums headed by local companies FastNet and Safari and another that includes London-based Lebara, the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said on its website.

CITC will sell three mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) licences as part of a plan to liberalise the kingdom’s telecom market, with Saudi poised to become only the second of the six Gulf Cooperation Council members after Oman to allow MVNOs.

The kingdom has three mobile operators - Saudi Telecom Co (STC), Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Zain Saudi - and each are expected to host an MVNO. MVNOs do not own the networks they use to provide communications services, but instead lease capacity from conventional operators.