Mobily slashes call rates to SAR 0.19/minute

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), Saudi Arabia’s second-largest mobile services provider, has slashed on-net and off-net call rates, as well as SMS fees to SAR 0.19.

The new package, called Hala, also reduces data usage to SAR 0.15 for 1 MB.

Mobily said the move comes in line with the Communications and Information Technology Commission’s (CITC) new regulations, which aim to reduce telecom costs for users in the kingdom.

Last month, Zain, Saudi Arabia’s third mobile operator, also decided to slash its call rates to rate at SAR 0.19 per minute.

Mobily recently ran into financial trouble after announcing that it had discovered accounting errors related to excessive booking of revenue. The company reported a SAR 199 million loss for Q1-2015, after claiming a SAR 1.61 billion net profit during the same period last year. It had previously restated its 2014 earnings, after saying it suffered a $243 million (SAR 911 million) loss instead of the $58.6 million (SAR 219.84 million) profit reported in its unaudited results for January.