TAWAL, the leading Saudi ICT infrastructure company and one of stc's subsidiaries, announced its entry into the Pakistani market with the full acquisition of Awal Telecom. A first step in TAWAL's international expansion plan, the move represents the company's first foray outside of Saudi Arabia.
TAWAL has agreed in principle with AWAL Telecom's shareholders to acquire the company in its entirety. TAWAL will bring significant capital investment, processes, and expertise to the market and introduce innovative products.
AWAL will be rebranded as TAWAL Pakistan upon regulatory approval by Pakistani authorities, launching TAWAL's operations in that country. AWAL, a fully licensed operation of Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, currently builds and operates mainly in the northwest region of the country.
stc Group CEO Olayan Alwetaid said: "We are very pleased that TAWAL has entered the Pakistani market as one of our subsidiaries. It looks forward to working with the country's mobile network operators and meeting the demand for robust telecommunications infrastructure. As an international company, TAWAL is in a strong position to expand outside Saudi Arabia, and we are exploring opportunities in key markets globally and regionally."
Pakistan is a country with four mobile network operators serving 238 million people, making it the 5th largest country in terms of population behind China, India, the U.S. and Indonesia (excluding the EU). Mobile subscribers currently number over 189 million, and the number of 3G/4G users is over 108 million, with a double-digit increase in mobile voice subscriptions and mobile broadband subscriptions in the past few years.
Mobile network expansion and the broader availability of value-added services, such as 4G LTE and 5G, are expected to create market and revenue growth. There are currently fewer than 40,000 tower sites in the country, indicating significant construction potential in the next few years.
TAWAL owns more than 15,500 telecom towers in Saudi Arabia. With Saudi Vision 2030 in mind, the company actively supports Saudi Arabia's digital transformation plans. As it expands across new cities and rural areas in Saudi Arabia, it is actively implementing smart-city-ready technologies such as camouflage telecom towers, intelligent poles that can support 5G and IoT, in-building solutions (IBS), and small cells.