Motorola wins $335m Zain deal

Riyadh: Motorola said yesterday it won a $335 million contract with Zain Saudi Arabia to deploy and manage a mobile phone network.

Zain plans to start operations this year after it paid $6.1 billion for Saudi Arabia's third mobile licence. The contract with Motorola is for second- and third-generation networks, the two companies said at a press conference. "Motorola is a partner of Zain in many countries, not just in Saudi Arabia," said Marwan Al Ahmadi, chief executive of Zain Saudi Arabia.

Operations

Also known as Mobile Telecommunications Co., Kuwait's Zain is leading the Zain Saudi Arabia consortium, which plans to begin operations this year. Zain operates in over 20 nations in Africa and the Middle East.

Zain Saudi Arabia gave Nokia Siemens Networks a $935 million order in January for a mobile network.