Siemens receives UMTS orders from Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia
Siemens' Communications division (Com) has received two orders for setting up high-speed mobile data networks, from Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia respectively. For Telephone Systems International Ltd. (TSI) Siemens Com is to set up a UMTS network in Kabul to be used by Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC). TSI, whose official headquarters are in New York and which was founded by the Kabul-born Ehsan Bayat, holds an 80 percent stake in AWCC. The other 20 percent of shares belong to the Afghan Ministry of Communications. Besides 3G technology Siemens is to supply AWCC with 2G equipment for about 50 towns and cities in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan some 1.5 million people currently avail themselves of mobile telephone services, which amounts to a market penetration of about four percent.
In Saudi Arabia Siemens Communications will upgrade the mobile radio network of Saudi Telecom in the north of the country with UMTS technology. "Siemens built our GSM network and has impressed us in recent years with its technology and the way it works," Dr. Ziad Al-Otaibi, Vice President of Saudi Telecom, explained. "We will continue to expand W-CDMA coverage in the country in the future, both geographically and in terms of subscriber capacity," he added. Saudi Telecom was the first commercial GSM mobile operator in Saudi Arabia. Siemens Com was neither prepared to make available information on the financial scope of the project agreed with the company from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, nor to release financial details of the deal with TSI, the company that operates in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. (Robert W. Smith) / (jk/c't) |
