RIYADH: Saudi telecommunications firm Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) on Sunday announced that plans for a joint venture with Mobile Telecommunication Co. Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) to merge the telecom towers of both companies under a single entity was no longer part of its strategy going forward.
In a Tadawul statement on Sunday, Mobily said: “Mobily announces that the direction to form a consortium with Zain KSA, Raidah Investment Co. (Al-Raidah) and IHS KSA Ltd. (IHS) to acquire the telecom towers owned by Mobily and Zain KSA, and to merge and unify towers under a commercial entity registered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ‘Towers Company,’ does not align with Mobily’s strategy and objectives of achieving financial and operational efficiency.”
The “Towers Company” joint venture was first proposed in July last year and was given the green light by the Communications and Information Technology Commission in March this year, the Argaam website reported.Mobily reported a net profit after zakat and tax of SR226 million ($60.27 million) for the first quarter of 2021, a year-on-year rise of 74 percent.
This was on the back of revenue rising 0.08 % year on year to SR3.6 billion.
