Syed Amin Ul Haque, Federal Minister for IT and Telecom (MoITT), has welcomed the entry of Saudi Telecom group TAWAL into the Pakistani market.
The Federal Minister stated to the TAWAL delegation that this investment would strengthen Pakistan-Saudi Arabia relations.
TAWAL recently decided to enter the Pakistani market, according to MoITT officials, following several meetings with state officials. According to officials, this development is the result of eight to ten months of work by the Federal Minister and ministry officials.
During this time, the TAWAL group met with ministry officials and discussed various business plans. Following that, Amin Ul Haq, Federal Minister, Sohail Rajpoot, Federal Secretary, and ministry officials persuaded the TAWAL delegation to invest in Pakistan.
Notably, before finalising the investment plan, Olayan Alwetaid, CEO TAWAL, and the Chief Investment Officer visited the Ministry of IT and Telecom and met with Minister of IT Syed Amin Ul Haq, Secretary IT Sohail Rajput, and Member Telecom Omer Malik.
Federal Minister Amin Ul Haq briefed the delegation on investment opportunities and incentives offered by the Federal Government to investors during the meeting. He also briefed the delegation on the expansion of Pakistan’s telecom market.
TAWAL CEO informed the Federal Minister that his company has reached an agreement in principle with the stakeholders of Pakistani tower company AWAL.
He explained that after regulatory approval from Pakistani authorities, AWAL will be rebranded as TAWAL Pakistan and will serve as the launchpad for TAWAL’s operations in Pakistan.
TAWAL’s entry into the Pakistani market was welcomed by Minister Haq, who added that the government’s favorable telecom policies made this possible. This will further strengthen Pakistan-Saudi Arabia relations, he added.
AWAL Telecom (Pvt.) Ltd. is a Passive Telecommunications Tower Provider Company based in Islamabad, Pakistan, that was founded in 2014 with a licence from the Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA).
It was one of the first companies in the country to provide Telecom Infrastructure services such as Telecom Towers Site Planning, Site Acquisition, and approvals from Government Regulatory Authorities, Tower Commissioning, Power Provision, and Round the Clock Operations and Maintenance Services to multiple Telecom Cellular and Broadband Operators on a shared basis.
TAWAL, according to PTA sources, has access to both options. They can either apply for a new TTP licence or request a name change. The operator will be able to begin operations in Pakistan once all regulatory requirements have been met.
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