The Telecommunications and Information Technology Department of Saudi Arabia will award three fixed line network operating licences in July to consortia led by Bahrain’s Batelco-Atheeb, Hong Kong’s PCCW and the US’s Verizon Communications.

The Telecommunications and Information Technology Department of Saudi Arabia will award three fixed line network operating licences in July to consortia led by Bahrain’s Batelco-Atheeb, Hong Kong’s PCCW and the US’s Verizon Communications. The licences will end the monopoly of the state-run telecom company Saudi Telecom Company.