Mobily’s Q3 lifted by mobile data, corporate segment, says CEO

Etihad Etisalat Co.’s (Mobily) Q3 results saw improvement in the mobile data segment, a bigger client base, and growth in the corporate segment, chief executive Ahmed Abdelsalam Abou Doma told CNBC Arabia.

The improvement in results is also due to a very successful Hajj season, he said.

When asked about the telecom operator’s strategy to offset the impact of mobile applications offering free international calls, he said that Mobily plans to increase mobile data sales.

Elsewhere, the telco’s Saudization rate stands at 80 percent, and it is increasing.

Mobily’s client base grew in Q3 and is expected to report further growth in Q4, after struggling in late 2016 and early 2017 due to the imposition of fingerprint regulations, he said.

Commenting on the company’s investment in technology, Abou Doma said Mobily is a big investor in cloud computing and has 11 data centers across the Kingdom, as well as the region’s first Tier 4 data center.

Meanwhile, the telecom operator is currently studying the deployment of 5G technology, as its readiness and profitability is not yet clear world-wide.

Mobily is also adopting digital transformation, as clients want all processes through digital platforms.

Financial services technology, or fintech, is another field the company is interested in.

Mobily trimmed Q3 net losses by 82.3 percent year-on-year (YoY) to SAR 30.9 million, Argaam reported today.