Traffic on Mobily's 3G network up 73% in Makkah

Enlarge Image

RELATED ARTICLES

• Saudi Arabia: Mobily hits record of 3.5G with 1.8 million subscribers
• Mobily launched free WiFi Internet service in the Holy sites
• Huawei constructs IP bearer network for Mobily in Saudi Arabia

Mobily's 3.5G network in and around Makkah saw a 73% increase in traffic compared to last year's Hajj season. The bulk of the increase came via national and international data transfers through broadband and EDGE technologies, with broadband being the leading medium in downloads.

Nasser Al-Nasser, Chief Network Development Officer at Mobily, said that 3G usages was mostly for internet and national and international video calling. He added that Mobily enjoys a large number of video interconnectivity with numerous international operators, facilitating the ability of pilgrims to keep in touch with their loved ones at home through voice and video. Some of the countries that pilgrims can make video calls to are Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain, Spain, Australia, France and Malaysia. Additionally, national users can make video calls to 326 cities and towns throughout the Kingdom, even if the recipients are on the new operator's network. Through site sharing and antional roaming deals spanning several years, the new operator is using Mobily's infrastructure until its own network is complete.

Nasser said that Mobily's network performed brilliantly as it has always done during the past Hajj season, especially that the company uses state-of-the-art technologies through contracts worth billions of riyals.