Saudi Arabia has granted Mobile Telecommunication, a unit of Kuwait’s Zain, the first unified telecommunications licence to operate in the kingdom. The deal means that Saudi Arabia will take 5% of the annual net income of Mobile Telecommunication.
The country’s telecommunication regulator issued a 15-year unified licence to the company, known as Zain Saudi, the Capital Market Authority said in a statement on the Saudi stock exchange on Sunday.
The government will be entitled to a percentage of the company’s annual profit for the duration of the license, the regulatory said.
Saudi Telecom is the only carrier with a unified license, which allows the company to provide mobile phone, landline, and internet services. The shares of the four companies were suspended on the Saudi stock exchange until they issue statements on how this will affect their operations.
The regulator has made the same offer to Saudi Telecom., Etihad Etisalat., and Etihad Atheeb Telecommunications.
