Saudi Telecom, Manchester United's Prospective Sponsors In Detail

Saudi Telecom (STC), Manchester United's prospective new shirt sponsors began commercial operations in 1998 as Saudi Arabia's sole telecommunication operator with six hundred thousand subscribers. At the beginning of 2000, STC had 1.4 million subscribers and with the introduction of its prepaid card Sawa ended that same year with 2.5 million.

By the end of 2002, the Saudi Government announced that 30% of Saudi Telecom Shares will be released for sale to Saudi citizens & organizations; Saudi citizens (20%), General Organization of Social Insurance (GOSI) (5%), and Pension Fund Organization (5%). The IPO price was set at 170 Saudi riyal per share and generated 36 billion Saudi riyal for the Saudi treasury, By the end of the subscription period, requests for shares exceeded the number offered by 3.5 times The General Assembly Meeting of Saudi Telecom new shareholders held at the end of April 2003, elect new board members for the first time. By the time the company was listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) at the end of 2002, it had in excess of five million subscribers. By the end of 2005 Saudi Telecom was ranked as Saudi Arabia's fourth largest company in terms of market capital and 17th among member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference with over 12 million mobile subscribers and 3.3 million fixed land lines, the largest telecom operator in the Middle Eastern region. The company covers 98 percent of Saudi Arabia, about 2,600 cities and villages Through its subsidiary Arab Submarine Cables Company STC with Emirates Telecommunications Corporation Etisalat and Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company ITPC have commenced the laying of the first fibre optic submarine cable to land in Iraq; connecting the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Etisalat and Saudi Telecom have also partnered up to commission an international high capacity SEA-ME-WE 4 submarine cable that connects France to Singapore and links other nations en route. STC is the parent company of Saudi Net, Saudi Arabia's largest internet service provider in terms of subscribers, and a founding major shareholder in Arab Satellite Communications Organization, a satellite communications and television broadcasting corporation. It is also a shareholder in Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, a satellite-based mobile telephone company. In July 2004, the government granted a second mobile license to Etisalat, which initiated a new competitive age for STC. Zain consortium won the third mobile license in Saudi Arabia in April 2007. STC's monopoly in fixed lines was broken when Batelco and its alliances, including Atheeb Group, won Saudi Arabia's second fixed-line license in April 2007.

In august 2008 they signed a five year sponsorship deal with English premier leauge club Manchester United to provide fans in Saudi Arabia with exclusive content including Goals, News updates and exclusive ringtones.

One of the most interesting issues with STC current market situation, is the fact that their services does not cover the whole of the country considering it is the oldest government owned telecom company operating in Saudi Arabia, as their focus is to services certain areas of the country where high netwroth individuals, Government bodies, Government officials and large businesses reside, case in point, Riyadh the capital of Saudi Arabia is not covered in total (Please note that this issue has been outstanding for a number of years) not to mention other rural areas, Thus, giving other telecom companies in the area a significant market share to capture.

Another interesting topic is their sponsorship deal of Manchester United, where they have gone overseas to sponsor a football team, neglecting local interests, case in point, Zain (an international telecom provider) have paid more than SR 138 Million (US$ 36.8 Million) in sponsorship to a local race track (Al-Reem International Race Track)to promote the motor sports industry being a startup industry with a huge fan interest potential and help the community that they earn their income from......Back To Home Page.....