Etihad Etisalat  (Mobily), a leading Saudi telecom company, will get faster and targeted access to new technologies and expertise following its recent $280 million strategic agreement with IBM.

The agreement will allow Mobily to build a strong infrastructure to keep pace with the company's business growth, a statement issued at a media briefing today said.

The broad portfolio of modern IT solutions will allow Mobily to provide innovative services to its business sector clients and help deliver enhanced services to Mobily subscribers, the statement said.

The briefing was hosted by Mobily’s managing director and CEO Khalid Bin Omar Al Kaf, IBM senior vice president of sales and distribution Bruno di Leo and IBM general manager Middle East and Africa Takreem el Tohamy.

Mobily and IBM earlier announced a 5-year agreement worth approximately $280 million to provide comprehensive IT solutions for the Saudi Arabian company.

Khalid Al Kaf said that the strategic agreement with IBM will provide Mobily new innovative services to all business segments, offering solutions to all data services and information technology in a more efficient and effective innovative way.

He also added that Mobily and IBM will work together to invest in building a first of a kind data centre offering a range of services including information security, business continuity and cloud computing.

“As part of the overall relationship, Mobily and IBM will collaborate on future innovation with the help of IBM research to develop solutions for the Saudi market,” added Al Kaf.

Mobile computing is driving increasing demand for IT services in the telecommunications industry, said Bruno di Leo. "With this relationship, IBM provides Mobily with the robust IT infrastructure and near term innovation to provide their customers with the best technology has to offer."  - TradeArabia News Service