Zain secures 15-year licence extension in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s telecoms regulator has extended the operating license held by Zain’s local subsidiary by a further 15 years, until 2047. The regulator, the CITC will also migrate Zain to a unified telecommunication license.

However, as a condition of the license changes, Zain will pay an additional entitlement of 5 percent of Zain Saudi Arabia’s annual net income throughout the extension period.

The overall financial impact of the extension is expected to benefit Zain KSA’s annual amortization by approximately $115 million per year.

Commenting on this milestone, Bader Al-Kharafi, Zain Group Vice-Chairman and Zain Saudi Arabia Vice-Chairman said: “-The positive impact of this 15-year extension on the future sustainability and growth of Zain Saudi Arabia is enormous on multiple levels as it will allow us to invest more in network upgrades and expansion as we roll out to meet the ever increasing demand for vital telecommunications across the Kingdom.”