Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain) announces the acquisition of additional spectrum

Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain) announces that on 07/06/2017 it secured 10MHz of 1800MHz spectrum at a total cost of SAR 844 million.

This amount will be paid in annual payments. The first payment of 30% amounting to SAR 253 million will be paid in 2017, and the remaining as annual payments of 7% over a 10 year period.

This spectrum acquisition followed the conclusion of a spectrum auction conducted by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) announced on 06/06/2017. Following this acquisition, Zain total 1800MHz spectrum now comprises 20MHz. Zain also holds spectrum at additional frequencies including 900MHz and 2100MHz.

Spectrum is a very valuable asset for mobile network operators as customers demand high speed data services in the Kingdom, additional spectrum enables telecom operators to improve network capacity and deliver faster and more reliably throughput, thus enriching the customer experience.

It is anticipated that the acquired new spectrum will increase Zain LTE network capacity by 50% allowing Zain customers to experience an average increase of 80% in downloading and improving network congestion, without the need for major changes in existing infrastructure. Quality of service and experience of customers will improve without the need to change any settings on their wireless phones, tablets and routers.

The Company expects that this will have a positive impact on the Companys overall performance.