Saudi Arabia’s TAWAL Telecom To Invest $80 Million Annually in Pakistan

TAWAL Telecom, a leading Saudi infrastructure company, is ready to start operations in Pakistan and aims to make sizeable investments to the tune of $70-80 million annually.

According to sources in the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the process of the acquisition of AWAL Telecom by TAWAL Telecom is in its final stages and the Chairman PTA, Amir Azeem Bajwa, has asked the concerned department to expedite the process. They added that the PTA will complete the process in a week or two and will issue the letter to the company.

This development follows recent reports that the company intends to allow mobile network operators in Pakistan to meet their enhanced coverage and capacity requirements for rapidly growing data demands.

TAWAL Telecom’s Country Representative in Pakistan, Shah Faisal, told Propakistani that apart from meeting with the Minister for Finance, Miftah Ismail, the company’s delegation also met with the Chairman PTA, and discussions on investment in Pakistan’s telecom sector we held in both meetings.

Minister Ismail and the Chairman PTA have assured the company of all possible support.

Faisal mentioned that the company is currently going to acquire AWAL Telecom in Pakistan, which has 70 to 80 operational telecom towers in the country. TAWAL plans to install 1,000 to 1,200 3G/4G BTS sites in Pakistan annually to enhance coverage and improve the quality of service. It will commence its operations in Pakistan as soon as the PTA grants permission for it.

TAWAL plans to invest $70-80 million in Pakistan yearly and is ready to acquire any other large telecom company available in the market or buy more telecom towers if a company is ready to sell them.

Pakistan is an emerging market and the number of voice and broadband subscribers has increased in recent years. TAWAL’s entry into Pakistan will be the first step toward expansion into other countries in the region, Faisal explained.

TAWAL is a subsidiary of Saudi Telecom giant STC and it owns over 15,500 towers in Saudi Arabia. It announced its entry into the Pakistan market via a full acquisition of AWAL Telecom in February this year. After getting regulatory approvals, AWAL will be rebranded as ‘TAWAL Pakistan’ and will start operations in the Pakistani market.