Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has agreed to buy mobile towers from rival operator Atheeb Telecommunication for 230 million riyals ($61 million). Atheeb is the second fixed-line operator in Saudi Arabia, providing fixed services including voice and broadband services
STC said in a statement that the deal would be financed by internal resources, but did not provide details of the transaction. STC which competes domestically with Mobily and Zain Saudi, reported a 10.3 percent increase in net profit in the fourth quarter of last year. It made net profit of 2.15 billion riyals in the three months to Dec. 31, up from 1.95 billion a year earlier.
August last year, STC entered into a mobile tower joint venture with Mobily, the second-largest operators in the country in an attemp to reduce its capital and operating expenditures.
