Telecom service provider Etisalat (Mobily) has appointed Serkan Okandan as the deputy CEO.
The new position will assist Mobily to strengthen the ongoing transformation process and the mobile service provider’s strategy to become an ICT player. Mobily earlier announced its plans to transform itself from a telecom provider to a major ICT service provider by 2020 by building data centers across Saudi Arabia.
Okandan joined Etisalat as the group CFO in January 2012. Apart from the group CFO position, he is currently representing Etisalat as a board member at its operations in Pakistan, Morocco and Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Mobily earlier said its revenue rose 6 percent to SR12.227 billion for the first six months of 2014 from SR11.553 billion.
Mobily said the growth in revenues in the first six months is due to increase in data revenues, both fixed and mobile, through the sales of distributors and operators through wholesale contracts and capital leases.
The net profit decreased 19 percent to SR1.312 billion for the second quarter.
The gross profit of the second quarter grew 4 percent to SR3.088 billion. The gross profit margin of the second quarter has increased to 52 percent compared to 50 percent for the same period of last year.
The company will accelerate the pace of spreading broadband services. Mobily’s data revenues totaled 39 percent of the total revenue of the company for the first six months, compared to 27 percent for the same period of the previous year.
The number of homes covered through the fiber-optic network (FTTH) reached 850 thousand homes distributed over 18 cities in the Kingdom.
Fiber-optic sales increased by 89 percent for the first six months compared with the same period of the previous year.
In August, Mobily announced the launch of Mobily Ventures that will invest in high-tech startup companies in the telecommunication, IT, media and entertainment industries.
The focus will be on early stage and growth stage startups in areas, including e-commerce and retail innovation, mobile financial services and payment, digital advertising, digital content and entertainment as well as IT and cloud services.
Baburajan K
[email protected]
