Leading Saudi telecom services operators - Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) and Etihad Etisalat Company (Mobily) - have announced plans to set up a consortium to acquire the telecom towers owned by the two entities and merge them under a registered commercial entity, Towers Company, in Saudi Arabia. 

 

The duo said that they have received in-principle approval from the board of Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) on the application submitted by them along with Raidah Investment Company (Al Raidah) and IHS KSA. 

 

The companies plan to establish a consortium to acquire the telecom towers owned by Mobily and Zain KSA to merge them under a registered commercial entity in Saudi Arabia, named "Towers Company", according to a bourse filing on Wednesday. 

 

The approval allows for unifying these towers under the registered entity to obtain a license for providing infrastructure wholesale services, stated the companies in a filing to the Saudi bourse Tadawul. 

 

CITC’s letter of approval said Mobily, Zain KSA, and Al Raidah should collectively hold the majority stake in the new entity, while IHS should own a minority of the shares. 

 

In July last year, Zain KSA had signed a MoU with Mobily to form a joint committee to prepare a request for proposal for the telecom towers.-TradeArabia News Service