Telecommunica-tions operators Saudi Telecom Co (STC), Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Zain Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that they had agreed with the government to a change in the calculation of their annual royalty fees. The companies also said they had reached a deal with the government to settle disputed fees to be paid for previous years up to 2017. In return, the trio agreed to invest in upgrading their network infrastructure over the next three years.
The kingdom has set specific goals to boost high-speed broadband internet connectivity as part of its Vision 2030 plan to modernise the economy, including exceeding 90 percent of housing coverage in densely populated cities and 66 percent in other urban areas. The operators said the agreement will involve an annual royalty of 10 percent of net revenue from telecommunications services starting from Jan. 1, 2018. Mobily said in addition it would also pay an annual licence royalty equal to 1 percent of its annual net telecommunication revenues.