Mobily, Ericsson ink SR600m expansion deal to expand 3.5G and beyond

This is Mobily's second major announcement this year for its 3.75G network, following an earlier statement in March announcing the high speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), making it then one of 31 operators around the globe according to the GSM World Association to provide a full HSPA (HSUPA/HSDPA) experience to its growing customer base.

Mobily has 800,000 active HSPA subscribers, who consume more than one gigabyte of data a month, and who contribute to an overall mobile data exchange of 42 terabytes a day, making Mobily's HSPA network the busiest on the face of the planet.

Today, Mobily's HSPA network covers 78% of all populated areas and provides customers with an average speed of 1.8 megabits per second on an HSPA network that supports speeds of up to 7.2 megabits per second. Mobily has successfully covered more than 326 cities and towns in the Kingdom with the 3.5G and 3.75G.

The contract awarded to Ericsson will increase network capacity and triple mobile broadband speeds, giving Mobily's customers a faster broadband Internet experience.

Abdulaziz Al Tamami, Chief Operations Officer of Mobily, said:

"Mobily is carefully watching and observing the needs of its customer base, which grows day by day, and as such, we are upgrading capacity on our network maintain current customer experiences, whether they are using the Internet through a connect modem, their mobile phone or directly on their iPhones, and of course in anticipation of the needs of coming customers."

Ericsson's contract, said Al Tamami, comes as part of its commitment to its mobile broadband customer base and as part of a series of other capacity expansion contracts through other global vendors like Chinese and Finnish giants, Huawei and Nokia.

At this stage, the Mobily executive added, Mobily will not only increase coverage will focus on expanding capacity in high demand areas in a number of areas.

From Ericsson's side, Donal Lynch, Ericsson VP and Key Account Mobily said: "Ericsson is proud to continue its strategic partnership with Mobily and this investment further enhances Mobily's position as one of the leading operators in the development of mobile communications in the Kingdom.

Lynch said he believes that Mobily's demanding focus on innovation and network quality will continue to provide Mobily's customers with best in class services.

Internationally, Mobily also has the interconnect agreements for international video calls, MMS and 3G roaming with operators across the world. Mobily customers can make video calls and have 3G roaming in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt.