Saudi Zain to start operations in second half

Riyadh: The Saudi affiliate of Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain) will begin operations in the Kingdom during the second half of this year.

The company is expected to start generating profits by the end of the second year and the start of the third year of operation.

Kuwait-based Zain, the third largest Arab telecom operator by market value, owns 25 per cent of the new company that agreed to pay $6.11 billion last year for Saudi Arabia's third mobile phone licence.

Saudi Zain will compete with state-controlled Saudi Telecom Company and Mobily, an affiliate of the UAE's etisalat.

The company's chief executive Marwan Al Ahmad said the Saudi telecom market is expected to grow 140 per cent in the next five years.

Speaking in Riyadh on Tuesday following the signing of financial consultation and IPO management contracts with Al Bank Al Saudi Al Fransi (Banque Saudi Fransi), the Zain official noted that he considered Saudi Arabia as an important country for the realisation of his company's strategies.

Earlier, the company said that it had awarded Nokia Siemens Networks an $935 million order to build second-and third-generation mobile networks which it said could serve eight million users.

Al Ahmad pointed out that Zain international Group owns 25 per cent of the company's 14 billion Saudi riyals capital. He ruled out any plan to increase the company's capital in the near future, adding that the company has a liquidity of 2.5 billion Saudi riyals while its assets amounted to 28.6 billion Saudi riyals.