Etihad Atheeb Telecommunications Co. (), trading as GO (), is the second fixed-line operator to acquire a license from the
Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) to provide fixed services including voice and
broadband
In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...
services based in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
.
Background
Etihad Atheeb Telecom was established in 2008 as a Saudi joint stock company, the company's major shareholders are Atheeb Trading Company (16.1%),
Batelco
Bahrain Telecommunication Company BSC, trading as Batelco (), is the principal telecommunications company in Bahrain. The company's headquarters are in Bahrain and the company is listed on the Bahrain Bourse. The Chairman of the Board is Abdu ...
(15.0%), Al-Nahla Trading Company (13.7%), and Traco Trading Ltd Co. (5.8%).
Other founding shareholders include Saudi Internet Ltd Co., Atheeb Ltd. Co. for Computer and Communication, and Atheeb Maintenance and Service.
Board of directors
Management team
On June 13, 2010, Etihad Atheeb Telecom board of directors announced the appointment of Raed Kayyal as acting chief executive officer on to replace former chief executive officer Ahmed Abbas Sindi.
Founding and IPO
Etihad Atheeb Telecom was one of ten applicants to bid for a public fixed services license on March 10, 2007, The
Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) approved the list of eligible applicants for fixed services licenses on April 15, 2007, which included Etihad Atheeb Telecom and two other operators. Following the license announcement, Etihad Atheeb Telecom acquired a 3.5 GHz frequency spectrum covering thirteen regional divisions across Saudi Arabia valued at over 500 million
riyals (US$138 million).
On February 25, 2008, the
Council of Ministers
Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...
approved the establishment of Etihad Atheeb Telecom as a Saudi joint stock company with an authorized capital of 1 billion riyals (US$266 million). As a condition of the approval, Etihad Atheeb Telecom would offer at least 25% of its shares in an initial public offering (IPO).
In January 2009, Etihad Atheeb Telecom announced an IPO of 30% of the company's shares with a total value of 300 million riyals, at a price of 10 riyals per share. Etihad Atheeb Telecom IPO marked the first IPO in Saudi Arabia since all new offerings had been halted in August 2008 in the midst of unfavorable market conditions as a result of the global economic crisis.
The announcement was made by Prince
Abdul Aziz bin Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz where he stated:
[Press release on the company's website]
The IPO closed successfully on February 2, 2009, with coverage in excess to (350%), the company's IPO had been significantly oversubscribed, and analysts interpreted the oversubscription as a positive indicator of confidence in the IPO market of Saudi Arabia.
Commercial launch
On March 18, 2008, Etihad Atheeb Telecom announced a $165 million WiMAX 802.16e infrastructure contract with Motorola, The contract included construction of the first phase of infrastructure with a comprehensive service package including end-to-end delivery of network planning, installation, optimization and support services, Etihad Atheeb Telecom also contracted with each of
ZTE
ZTE Corporation is a Chinese partially state-owned technology company that specializes in telecommunication. Founded in 1985, ZTE is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges.
ZTE's core business is wireless, exchange, opti ...
and
Wipro
Wipro Limited () is an Indian multinational technology company based in Bengaluru. It provides information technology, consulting and business process services. It is one of India's Big Six IT services companies. Wipro's services include cloud ...
.
Prince Abdul Aziz bin Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, was elected chairman of the board of directors and the company launched its commercial trademark “GO” () on February 18, 2009, in a large ceremony held in Riyadh.
Later in March 2009, Etihad Atheeb Telecom commenced the trial phase of its
WiMAX
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options.
The WiMA ...
network.
; Early registration campaign
Etihad Atheeb Telecom received the official approval from the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) for its license on April 5, 2009. Following the license, GO announced its “early registration campaign” in Riyadh and Jeddah, the early registration campaign continued for two months prior to the official launch.
; Commercial service launch and expansion
On June 6, 2009, Etihad Atheeb Telecom held a press conference to where the company announced the commercial launch of its WiMAX Broadband internet services, covering Riyadh.
Etihad Atheeb Telecom also announced a US$48 million contract with China
ZTE Corporation. Under the agreement ZTE will help GO construct a high-speed
WiMAX
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options.
The WiMA ...
network covering five major cities in Saudi Arabia, including the
eastern region Eastern Region or East Region may refer to:
* Eastern Region (Abu Dhabi): Al Ain
*Eastern Region, Ghana
*Eastern Region (Iceland)
*Eastern Region, Malta
*Eastern Region, Nepal
*Eastern Region, Nigeria
* Eastern Region, Serbia
*Eastern Region, Ugand ...
.
By August 2009, GO had expanded its WiMAX network coverage to cover fully
Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...
and
Medina
Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
, Followed by
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
in September. By the end of 2009 Etihad Atheeb Telecom had fully covered the
western region of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia with its WiMAX network.
In January 2010, GO announced the official launch of its services in
Dammam
Dammam (Arabic: الدمام ad-Dammām) is a city and governorate, and the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 1,386,166 as of 2022, making it the country's fifth- ...
and
Khobar
Khobar () is a city and List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province of the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, situated on the coast of the Persian Gulf. With a population of 409,549 ...
, followed by an expansion to include
Hofuf
Al-Hofuf ( ', also spelled Hofuf or Hufuf, also known as "Al-Hasa", "Al-Ahsa" or "Al-Hassa") is the major urban city in the Al-Ahsa Governorate in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, with a population of 729,606 (as of 2022). It is known f ...
and
Qatif
Qatif Governorate ( ''Al-Qaṭīf'') is a list of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and urban area located in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. It extends from Ras Tanura and Jubail in the north to Damma ...
, thus fully covering the
eastern region Eastern Region or East Region may refer to:
* Eastern Region (Abu Dhabi): Al Ain
*Eastern Region, Ghana
*Eastern Region (Iceland)
*Eastern Region, Malta
*Eastern Region, Nepal
*Eastern Region, Nigeria
* Eastern Region, Serbia
*Eastern Region, Ugand ...
by the end of January.
In total, GO covers eleven cities with its WiMAX network.
Voice service
On November 15, 2009, the company announced the launch of its nomadic voice services, formally marking the end of
Saudi Telecom's landline monopoly in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
GO is the first operator to offer nomadic voice services over WiMAX in the region.
Products and services
GO provides broadband Internet services over WiMAX, advanced fixed line
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...
services and fax services.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Etihad Atheeb
Internet in Saudi Arabia
Telecommunications companies of Saudi Arabia
Telecommunications companies established in 2006