Saudi telco regulator to re-tender piggyback mobile licence

Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s telecom regulator will re-tender a licence for piggyback services on mobile operator Zain Saudi’s network, nearly a year after naming Dubai-based retailer Axiom Telecom as the provisional winner.

The Communications and Information Technology Commission’s (CITC) decision, is a setback for Zain Saudi, which is facing competition from other mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) that will launch soon on rivals’ platforms but will not be in a position to collect revenue from its own. MVNOs lease capacity from their host operator, usually paying them a percentage of revenues as well as fees. The regulator announced the new tender on its website on Tuesday.