Five consortia submit applications for Saudi MVNO licences

Five consortia have submitted applications to be awarded three mobile virtual network (MVNO) licences in Saudi Arabia. The deadline for the submission of applications closed on May 11 with Axiom Mobile, Virgin Mobile Saudi Consortium, Jawraa Consortium, FirstNet Consortium, and Safari Consortium all having submitted applications within the required time.

Comm. has learnt that Axiom Mobile has applied to be hosted by Zain Saudi Arabia, while Virgin Mobile Saudi Consortium has applied to be hosted by Saudi Telecom (STC), and the remaining three consortia have applied to be hosted by Mobily. Each network operator is permitted to host a single MVNO, so in the case of Mobily two of the three bidding consortia will definitely be unsuccessful.

The Saudi Telecom regulator, CITC, has said it will take up to 12 weeks to deliberate on the applications, with notice of the winners possible ahead of that time.

It is understood that the FirstNet Consortium is backed by the Atheeb Group, while the Safari Consortium is backed by Kingdom Holding.