Mobily won't sell towers as profits grow to highest level in 8 years: CEO 

RIYADH: Etihad Etisalat Co., known as Mobily, does not intend to sell its telecom towers, as its revenues and profits grow to the highest level in the past eight years in 2021, the CEO said to Alarabiya. 

The growth witnessed was driven by the positive performance of the individual and business sectors that grew over the past year and an increase in the customer base, Salman Al Badran added. 

He said that fiber optic customer base grew by 140 percent, while the business sector grew by over 17 percent.

Al Badran pointed out that the company’s market share in the business sector is growing significantly, with the sector representing 15-20 percent of the revenues. 

While the option of selling its towers is off the table, the company is looking at all options regarding them, he said, adding that Mobily currently discusses with telecom operators the goal of merging towers to raise operational efficiency and improve performance. 

Some telecom networks elsewhere have done sale and leaseback deals for their transmission towers in recent years.

During the 12 months of 2021, Mobily’s profits increased by 37 percent to exceed SR1 billion ($266 million).