GO Telecom (Etihad Atheeb Telecom)
GO جو Telecom (Etihad Atheeb Telecom) is a telecommunication company that was approved for a fixed line license from the Communications and Information Technology Commission (Saudi Arabia) (CITC) on 19 May 2007. The company aim to provide advanced fixed line services in the Kingdom. GO is an alliance of Atheeb Trading Company, Al-Nahla Trading Company, Batelco of Bahrain, and Traco Company with a capital of 1 billion Saudi Riyals.
Etihad Atheeb Telecom also acquired a 3.5GHz frequency spectrum across 13 regional divisions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia valued at 520 million Saudi Riyals in addition to a license for advanced fixed telephone lines amounting up to 5 million Saudi Riyals.
The license acquired by the Company permits the company to provide various fixed and wireless services such as voice telephone communications, data services, Internet services, Internet telephony services, and Broadband internet services via WiMax technology, fixed telephone lines, and optical fibers to homes and businesses; in addition to video services, all of which will be available as the company launched operations in the field of telecommunications in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during 2009.
In January 2009, it offered 30% of its shares in an IPO that raised SAR300 million (USD80 million), the largest in the Middle East and the third largest worldwide, among 50 companies launching IPO’s in the first quarter of the year. The company listed its shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange in March 2009.
Etihad Atheeb launched operations in mid-2009. The Batelco/Atheeb Trading consortium planned to invest SAR3.8 billion (USD1 billion) in the company’s telecommunication and ICT business over five years.
On 8 June 2009 GO launched a WiMAX 802.16e network (mobile WiMAX) with 800 access points in partnership with Motorola covering Riyadh and Jeddah.