Zain to launch Saudi's third mobile network

DUBAI // Zain Saudi Arabia will to begin operating the kingdom's third mobile phone network on Tuesday, it said in regulatory filing. A company official said in July the firm was looking to launch in August to tap business during the fasting month of Ramadan, which is to begin in early September. A group fronted by Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications (Zain) bought the third Saudi mobile phone licence last year for US$6.1 billion (Dh22bn), hoping to tap growth in the largest Arab economy, home to about 25 million people. Marwan al Ahmadi, the chief executive, said in March he expected the company to begin operating in June. Zain, which raised 6.3 billion riyals (Dh5.8bn) in an initial public offering this year, will compete with Saudi Telecom and Etihad Etisalatin in a mobile phone market where penetration hovers around 100 percent. *Reuters