Mobily
 | |
| Public | |
| Traded as | Tadawul: 7020 |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Saudi Arabia |
| Products | Telephony, Data, Fixed, and Mobile Telecom Services |
| Revenue |
 $5.35 billion (2011)[1] |
|
$1.41 billion (2011)[1] | |
|
$1.36 billion (2011)[1] | |
| Slogan | Innovate Your World |
| Website | http://www.mobily.com.sa/ |
Mobily (Arabic: موبايلي) is the trade name launched in May 2005[2] by Saudi Arabia's second Telecommunications company, Etihad-Etisalat consortium (Arabic: اتحاد اتصالات). The company, as the winning bidder for Saudi Arabia's second GSM licence in 2004, provides mobile telecom services nationwide, breaking Saudi Telecom's monopoly in the wireless business. The company launched 3.5G services on 27 June 2006 and 4G services on 13 September 2011.
Ownership
The consortium is led by United Arab Emirates firm Etisalat who owns 27%, with 45% held by 6 strategic local partners. The remaining 20% was put up in 2004 in an Initial public offering that was massively oversubscribed (51 [3] or 30 times[4]).
Growth
The GSM Associations "GSM Association Newsletter" Dec. 2004 edition described Mobily as the fastest growing mobile operator in the Middle East & North Africa. In 2006, Mobily reached more than 4,800,000 subscribers. As of 20 January 2007, mobily had 6 million subscribers and 0.5 million 3G users.
Mobily introduced in 2004 the first telecommunication franchise business model in the Gulf Region, the Fully Branded outlet-(FBO), assuring rapid and cost effective expansion of its network of outlets.
Since entering the Saudi market in 2004 Mobily adopted a solid expansion strategy, based on a direct and indirect sales channels. This strategy allowed Mobily to quickly expand and establish the Mobily Brand throughout Saudi Arabia, and as a result achieve its set target for 2006, both in terms of sales and revenue targets, unfortunately this has been achieved with other services and coverages being compromised as a result.
Mobily’s employees include a sales team via its own flagship branches, Fully Branded Outlets, Co-Branded outlets, Kiosks and thousands of dealers scattered throughout the country, covering the majority of the population.
This network of outlets and dealers was a major factor in mobilys' rapid growth and customer acquisition. As a result, Mobily has earned a significant market share since launching operations on May 25, 2005. W has launched a mobile push-to-talk service (PTT) under the brand name 'Mobily Hawwel' in Saudi Arabia. The PTT service provides users with a different user experience to the traditional voice service, delivering a 'walkie-talkie' like experience - only one person can talk at a time. However, it is not limited in distance as with normal walkie-talkies, as the conversation is carried across the mobile GSM network. This service is being offered for the first time in the country.
The service can provide a one to one voice service or up to 10 people at the same time as group calling, allowing a user to know who is online through small icons appearing with certain colours. Mobily said that the service will be available for post-paid and pre-paid subscribers at monthly fees. Mobily Hawwel conversations are encrypted over GPRS data or 3G network to avoid cross-talk or listening-in.
This will be accomplished with the execution of an ambitious expansion plans for its own network of flagships, as well as introducing a new franchise retail concept (Mini-FBO).
The new concept (Mini-FBO) will complement the existing Mobily retail and channel partner outlets, and will cover more than 60 cities and towns, which will help achieve its targets, both in terms of sales and customer experience. Those outlets, as is the case with the Mobily flagships, will provide the full range of products and services to the current and future customers of Mobily.
On September 13, 2011 Mobily launched TD-LTE (4G) services, becoming the first operator in the Middle East and North Africa to do so.[5]
In October 27, 2014 Mobily was suspended from the Saudi Stock Exchange for failing to produce quarterly financial statements. Once they did, the delay was attributed to an accounting coverup of earnings which were false over the course of 18 months, resulting in the company removing over 2 billion from its books. This resulted in its stock to fall 40% over the following week. As of November 18, 2014 no new statement have been submitted to quell allegations of embezzlement and fraud from upper management.
Advanced Exploitation
In May 2013, it was reported that Mobily is working on a way to intercept encrypted data sent over the Internet by Twitter, Viber, WhatsApp, and other mobile apps, and to bypass the protections built into the SSL and Transport Layer Security protocols.[6][7]
Network Technology
| Network | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Live/Active | May, 2005 | |
| | | Summer, 2006 |
| | | November, 2009 |
| | | February, 2010 |
| | | September, 2011 |
The first phase of coverage includes the cities of Najran, Jazan, Al Kharj, Ras tanoura, Algurayat and Aldudamy (which most of these cities are actually villages rather than cites), Second phase will include Hail, Al Baha, Al Mujamaaa, and Wadi Al Dawasir, and the third phase will be in Riyadh, Jeddah and Damamm.
See also
References
- 1 2 3 Mobily Q4 profit rises 16% to SR1.7bn Arab News, Jan 19, 2012
- ↑ Mobily hits one million user mark: announces expansion plan and new offers telegeography.com, 23 Aug 2005
- ↑ mobily annual report 07
- ↑ Ettihad Etisalat IPO descends into chaos telegeography.com, 25 Oct 2004
- ↑ Mobily launches 4G services Arab News, Sep 13, 2011
- ↑ Dan Goodin: Dear hacker: Please help us eavesdrop on our customers, arstechnica, May 13, 2013
- ↑ Moxie Marlinspike: A Saudi Arabia Telecom's Surveillance Pitch, May 13, 2013