The Saudi Telecommunication and Information Technology (IT) are the most competitive sectors in the Kingdom slated for wider achievements in the years to come. This was stated by Abdulaziz Saleh Al-Saghyir, head of the board of directors of Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) since 2004. “The contribution of the telecommunications sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Kingdom places the industry in a leading position,” Al-Saghyir said. “This will spur growth for several years to come.” He said the sector was achieving relatively higher revenues compared to other countries in the region. “Saudi telecom companies posted SR61 billion direct revenues from their operations in the Kingdom with an average growth of almost 31 percent,” Al-Saghir quoted the figures provided by the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC). “Saudi Arabia is the first country to launch TD-LTE technology commercially through “Mobily” in the region.” Al-Saghyir said the average per capita spending on the telecommunication sector in the GDP is SR 998 as compared to Malasia's SR 784 and Turkey's SR 441. Comparing the services provided by counterparts elsewhere Al-Saghyir said the sector has superseded many European nations in terms of internet distribution, value-added services and network qualities. “Middle East and North Africa achieved an 8 percent growth rate in the sector last year,” he said. “It is estimated the growth rate will continue until the 2015 and will reach 6 percent which is considered to be the highest on a world scale level.” He said Mobily took a big leap in 2007 by when it introduced broadband at a time when the response to the internet was lukewarm. We anticipated that broadband could play a major role in the socio-economic life of the citizens. With the entry of scores of global companies in 2009, things took a sharp turn that raised the level of competition too high. “We restructured our strategies and prioritized our initiatives,” he said. “Mobily launched Developer Community Forum which contributed to the enhancement of services to a great deal.” “This was followed by the adoption of GED strategy aimed at expansion of the services, broadband constituting the mainstay,” Al-Saghyir said. He expected that the government would liberalize internet reach. “The government should play a pivotal role in supporting the broadband expansion based on real initiatives and guarantee the availability of Internet through broadband for each citizen,” he said. While giving examples of other countries he said the governments in the countries like Finland, France and Spain have made it mandatory to provide broadband to their people at speeds as high as 100 Mega/sec for each household as a matter of right. He said many countries across Europe and America have taken measures to lay underground Optical Fiber Cables (OFC) wherein the investments have run into billions. Commenting on the role of CITC, he said: “The CITC exerts a lot of efforts by adhering to the basis of transparency while holding on to the principles of justice and equality among all the concerned players — service providers, investors, the government and companies or individual users. It works on carrying out the government's strategies and the sector's policies adopted by the commission. CITC headed by his Excellency, Eng. Abdullah Al Dharrab, are exerting tangible efforts in developing the organizational structures and realizing more achievements that reflect developments that the Telecom and IT sector is witnessing.” He said Mobily has strong alliances at the regional level and leads major initiatives that neighboring countries benefit from. “Mobily works with other regional operators in RCN cable which is 4.000 km long and $500 million venture. RCN connects Asia with Europe via the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey then Europe,” he said. “This cable aims to provide Internet to more than 2 billion people through enhancing the connectivity quality and acting as the backbone for the international network.” Mobily acquired the rights to laying down the largest 17,000 km marine cable owned by “Tata” that connects South Africa to India and Europe through ground points in Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, he said. Al-Saghyir said since it's launch in 2005, the company made great advances in the Kingdom's telecom. “Mobily has won the secure e-government project” Yasser” the second phase of the secure e-government project that includes connecting 43 major governmental bodies to many affiliate sub-divisions,” he said. “Mobily has tie-ups with many governmental and non-governmental sectors in the Kingdom.” He said the crises in the international economic landscape has to be studied carefully in order to devise strategies to protect the Kingdom from the impacts of recession and economic downfall.
