Mobily, STC to explore joint options for telecom towers

Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) on Sunday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) to explore joint options to "extract value" from their telecommunications towers in the kingdom.

The agreement, if reached, would allow operators to reduce capital and operating expenses, Mobily said in a statement to Tadawul.

The MoU, which is valid for three months, comes into effect from today and can be extended for several periods of 30 days.

Both combanies would be able to involve other licensed operators in the assessment, if needed, the MoU said.

Mobily, the kingdom’s second largest mobile operator, had earlier studied the possibility of selling its telecommunications tower portfolio for up to $2 billion, Argaam reported.