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Saudi Arabia Fully Acquires Awal Telecom in Pakistan

Saudi Arabia Fully Acquires Awal Telecom in Pakistan
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Saudi Arabia Fully Acquires Awal Telecom in Pakistan

Saudi Arabia Fully Acquires Awal Telecom in Pakistan

TAWAL, the leading Saudi ICT infrastructure company and one of stc Group subsidiaries, its full acquisition of Awal Telecom in Pakistan.

The move, which is TAWAL’s first of its kind, is an initial step in the company’s international expansion outside Saudi Arabia.

The deal is to see AWAL rebranded as TAWAL Pakistan and form the launchpad of TAWAL’s operations in the country following the regulatory approval from the Pakistani authorities.

AWAL, a fully licensed operation by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, currently builds and operates in the country’s northwest region primarily.

Chief Executive officer of stc Group Olayan Alwetaid said: “We are very pleased of TAWAL’s entry into Pakistan market as one of stc Group subsidiaries. TAWAL is looking forward to fruitful partnerships with the country’s mobile network operators and meeting the demand for robust telecommunications infrastructure there."

“We believe that TAWAL is in a strong position to extend its footprint outside Saudi Arabia and are exploring opportunities in key markets regionally and globally.”

For his part, Cchief executive officer of TAWAL Mohammed Alhakbani said: “Pakistan is an exciting market with high growth potential, and TAWAL is looking forward to extending our digital transformation and ICT infrastructure development capabilities to the country."

With four major mobile network operators servicing 238 million people, Pakistan is the 5th most populous country after China, India, the United States and Indonesia (excluding the European Union).

The country currently has over 189 million cellular subscribers and 108 million-plus 3G/4G subscribers, with mobile voice and mobile broadband subscriptions having seen double-digit growth in recent years.

TAWAL owns over 15,500 telecom towers in Saudi Arabia. It operates in the Kingdom under a license to provide wholesale services for infrastructure that was issued by the Communications and Information Technology Commission in 2019.

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UK Finance Minister Says Govt to Cut Costs by 15 Percent

A handout picture released by the BBC, taken and received on March 23, 2025, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves appearing on the BBC's "Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg" political television show in London. (Photo by Jeff OVERS / BBC / AFP)
A handout picture released by the BBC, taken and received on March 23, 2025, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves appearing on the BBC's "Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg" political television show in London. (Photo by Jeff OVERS / BBC / AFP)
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UK Finance Minister Says Govt to Cut Costs by 15 Percent

A handout picture released by the BBC, taken and received on March 23, 2025, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves appearing on the BBC's "Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg" political television show in London. (Photo by Jeff OVERS / BBC / AFP)
A handout picture released by the BBC, taken and received on March 23, 2025, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves appearing on the BBC's "Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg" political television show in London. (Photo by Jeff OVERS / BBC / AFP)

UK finance minister Rachel Reeves said Sunday she plans to cut the costs of running government by 15 percent within four years, as she grapples with strained public finances.

Her comments came ahead of her crucial Spring Statement on Wednesday when she is expected to detail billions of pounds of spending cuts across various government departments, AFP reported.

"We are, by the end of this parliament, making a commitment that we will cut the costs of running government by 15 percent," she told the BBC.

The broadcaster reported that target would translate to annual savings of £2.2 billion ($2.8 billion) across Britain's civil service, which employs more than 500,000 people.

Reeves said it would be up to individual departments to decide how many civil servants will lose their jobs but added that personnel could be cut by 10,000.

"I would rather have people working on the front line in our schools and our hospitals, in our police, rather than in back-office jobs," she told Sky News.

Reeves also insisted that she will stick to her own fiscal rules when she delivers her financial update on Wednesday.

They are not to borrow to fund day-to-day spending and to see debt fall as a share of the gross domestic product by 2029-2030.

Since she has also committed to not increasing taxes, sticking to the rules raises the prospect of spending cuts to some departments.

The Labour government has failed to get Britain's economy firing since it swept to power last July, a task complicated by Donald Trump's return to the White House.

"The world has changed," Reeves told Sky.

"We can all see that before our eyes, and governments are not inactive in that –- we'll respond to the change and continue to meet our fiscal rules."

Official data released on Friday showed that public sector net borrowing -- the difference between spending and tax receipts -- grew last month, leaving Reeves with little wiggle room to meet her rules.

The restrictions are designed to ensure that the government's spending plans maintain credibility in financial markets.

On Tuesday, the government announced contested cuts to disability welfare payments, hoping to save more than £5 billion annually by the end of the decade.

Reeves insisted Sunday that there would still be "real-terms" increases in total public spending in every year of this parliament, which is due to end in 2029.