Mobily buys additional spectrum for SAR 130 mln

Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) on Sunday purchased additional spectrum in the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands for SAR 130 million, the telco said in a statement to Tadawul on Monday.

The company will also pay an annual usage fee of SAR 73.29 million for the two bands, it added.

The new spectrum blocks will aid in increasing the quality of the service offered to its clients, improve its customer experience, cope with the increase of data usage and prepare for future technology evolutions.

Mobily acquired 2x10MHz of spectrum in the 800MHz band for a total license fee of SAR 100 million, payable in equal annual installments over 14 years starting Jan. 1, 2019. It will also pay an annual usage fee of SAR 54 million for the spectrum that will be available to use from H2 2018.

Separately, it also won an additional 2x5MHz of spectrum in the 1800MHz band for a total license fee of SAR 30 million, payable in equal annual installments over 14 years starting Jan.1 2019. The annual usage fee will be SAR 19.29 million, with the spectrum available for use from March 1, 2019.

The license fees will be funded from its cash flows and available facilities, the company said.

The acquisition will also increase the rationalization of future CAPEX spending and prepare the network for the future 5G technology, it added.