Saudi telecommunications companies are likely to reduce mobile call charges in 2015 because of increased competition from new entrants into the market.
This is according to Aziz Al-Hulayyil, regional director of the International Data Corporation (IDC) for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, who based his forecast on a study carried out by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC).
Mobile companies in the Kingdom charge nearly 35 halalas per minute, while the world average is 7 halalas.
Al-Hulayyil, who released the IDC’s forecasts for the year on Monday, said that new companies entering the market would introduce lower tariffs, which would force established players to reduce their rates to maintain their consumer base.
Call charges in Saudi Arabia account for as much as 30 percent of an average person’s monthly income, making it one of the highest tariffs in the world, the Shoura Council, the Kingdom’s consultative legislative body, indicated recently.
He said that declining oil prices would not lead to reduced spending on telecommunications projects in the Kingdom.