TAWAL, the leading Saudi ICT infrastructure company and one of stc Group subsidiaries, its full acquisition of Awal Telecom in Pakistan.
The move, which is TAWAL’s first of its kind, is an initial step in the company’s international expansion outside Saudi Arabia.
The deal is to see AWAL rebranded as TAWAL Pakistan and form the launchpad of TAWAL’s operations in the country following the regulatory approval from the Pakistani authorities.
AWAL, a fully licensed operation by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, currently builds and operates in the country’s northwest region primarily.
Chief Executive officer of stc Group Olayan Alwetaid said: “We are very pleased of TAWAL’s entry into Pakistan market as one of stc Group subsidiaries. TAWAL is looking forward to fruitful partnerships with the country’s mobile network operators and meeting the demand for robust telecommunications infrastructure there."
“We believe that TAWAL is in a strong position to extend its footprint outside Saudi Arabia and are exploring opportunities in key markets regionally and globally.”
For his part, Cchief executive officer of TAWAL Mohammed Alhakbani said: “Pakistan is an exciting market with high growth potential, and TAWAL is looking forward to extending our digital transformation and ICT infrastructure development capabilities to the country."
With four major mobile network operators servicing 238 million people, Pakistan is the 5th most populous country after China, India, the United States and Indonesia (excluding the European Union).
The country currently has over 189 million cellular subscribers and 108 million-plus 3G/4G subscribers, with mobile voice and mobile broadband subscriptions having seen double-digit growth in recent years.
TAWAL owns over 15,500 telecom towers in Saudi Arabia. It operates in the Kingdom under a license to provide wholesale services for infrastructure that was issued by the Communications and Information Technology Commission in 2019.
