Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Company has signed contracts worth $333 million for the first phase of its advanced network infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

Bahrain’s leading telecom operator Batelco is a founding partner of the company. Other partners include Atheeb Group, Al Nahla and Traco.

Batelco chief executive Peter Kaliaropoulos stated that this is just the beginning and that the consortium will make further substantial investments over the next five years in leading edge technology, WiMax 802.16e, that will enable the delivery of wireless broadband, data solutions and voice services nationwide in Saudi Arabia.

“Following the recent announcement by the Saudi cabinet, which has given final approval to the consortium to begin operations, Batelco staff are currently going full steam ahead to ensure the delivery of services by the end of Q4 this year,” he said.
“HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmed bin Adbulaziz al Saud, chairman of the founding committee, signed major contracts on March 18 with industry leading companies - Motorola for WiMax technology, ZTE for Core Network solutions and Wipro for IT services.”

The contract for WiMAX equipment was awarded to Motorola, a leading provider of  WiMax technology. This contract is only the first phase of deployment and part of a larger ambitious plan to deploy networks to deliver advanced Broadband services across the kingdom, the statement said. 

The contract for Core Network Solutions was awarded to ZTE Corporation of China, a leader in infrastructure building and implementation for fixed wire, and wireless services. This will provide the consortium with a high performance, next generation, all IP network that will support voice, internet, creative content and video services for customers.

In order to deliver and implement advanced systems that will enable customers to manage their own accounts, produce bills, change services and resolve issues, Prince Abdulaziz signed a contract with Wipro (represented by its arm Wipro Arabia), it said.

“These three companies are our technology partners and we are proud to be working alongside such world leading companies which will support the consortium in delivering the most advanced voice and data solutions nationwide in Saudi Arabia,” said  Kaliaropoulos.

“We are equally proud that Bahraini engineers are designing the infrastructure which will showcase the capabilities of Batelco staff and further extend Batelco Group’s expertise across the Middle East region,” he added. –TradeArabia News Service