ETIHAD Etisalat (Mobily) announced that its network in the holy sites has registered a massive growth in data volumes that were transmitted during 2012 Haj season. According to the statistics released by the company, Mobily's network succeeded to record 502 percent and 101 percent growth in data volumes in the Holy Sites and the Central Area of the Grand Mosque respectively compared with the same period of last year's Haj season. Mobily attributed this massive growth to its steady infrastructure and to the recent network upgrades that were conducted in Makkah region ahead of Haj season as the company announced that it has added another 150 fixed and mobile towers in different sites in Makkah and “Masha'er". All new towers have been connected to Mobily's own fiber optic network that covers the Kingdom. As part of its social responsibility, Mobily enabled free Internet access for all pilgrims through its WiFi network in Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat. Mobily said that tens of thousands of pilgrims, organizations staff, workers have used the free WiFi during Hajj season this year. It was the sixth time in a row that Mobily offers such free service. Mobily also announced that an increase was registered in the volume of the international minutes in Makkah and Madinah. Makkah recorded 68 percent growth while Madinah saw 82 percent compared to the same period of last year. — SG
