Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s Etihad Etisalat “Mobily” on Monday signed a contract with Ericsson to Saudise information technology (IT) services and improve their quality across the kingdom.

The deal will support Mobily’s role in boosting investments in the digital economy, Saudising the IT industry, raising Saudi cadre skills, and providing the most up-to-date technologies to customers, Mobily CEO Ahmed Aboudoma said in a statement.

Meanwhile, President of Ericsson in the Middle East and Africa Rafiah Ibrahim said that the deal would complement his company’s managed services offering by providing Mobily subscribers “with speed, security, and reliability leading to a differentiated customer experience.”

Last week, the two telecommunication services providers signed an agreement through which Ericsson would offer end-user support (first level support), information systems and applications, infrastructure management services, and manage IT operating services.

In March, Mobily and Ericsson also signed a deal to launch the first programme for the internet of things (IoT) in Saudi Arabia with the aim to raise interactions between university students and teaching staff and to promote IoT both within the kingdom and internationally.

Mobily last reported narrowing its losses in both the second quarter and first half of 2018. The Saudi mobile operator’s losses retreated 58.54% to SAR 78.6 million ($20.95 million) in Q2-18 from SAR 189.6 million ($50.55 million) in the corresponding period of 2017.

As for the six-month period ended 30 June, Mobily’s losses more than halved by 51.23% to SAR 172 million from SAR 352.7 million in H1-17.