Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH – The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) slapped fines amounting to a total of SR8.8 million on most of the telecom companies in the Kingdom for various violations.

The CITC, the Kingdom’s telecom regulatory authority, said that penalties were issued by its committee to examine violations of the communications regulations, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

According to the report, the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) was imposed with fines amounting to SR3,310,000 while the Etihad Communications Company (Mobily) was slapped with SR1,412,000.

There were also fines amounting to SR2,137,000 against the Saudi Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain); SR218,000 against the Etihad Jawraa Telecommunications and Information Technology Company (Lebara Mobile); and SR200,000 against Virgin Mobile Saudi Arabia.

Fines also slapped against some other violators amounting to a total of SR870,000, the report pointed out.

The telecom regulatory authority revealed that the decisions issued with regard to these fines are final.

The fines were issued for a number of violations specially mentioned on the website of CITC, noting that it continues to follow up on telecommunications companies and is keen on promoting fair competition among various service providers.