28/10/2009
RIYADH, Oct 28, 2009
Mobily has secured a 900 million riyals ($240 million) from SABB bank to expand the WiMax geographic coverage as the second largest Saudi mobile phone operator bets on data to drive profit growth.
The 66-month loan was granted to Mobily's wholly-owned subsidiary Bayanat al-Oula, Mobily said in a statement.
The loan will help expand WiMax coverage to 20 cities from four currently, it added. Mobily bought Bayanat in 2007 for $400 million.
In June, Mobily awarded Samsung Electronics a $100 million deal to expand Bayanat's WiMax network.
WiMax, an emerging mobile technology which blankets entire cities with high-speed wireless Web access, has been competing to become the next-generation mobile wireless standard.
