Zain Jordan planning to invest JD50m to JD60m in 2019

AMMAN — Zain Jordan is expected to invest JD50 million to JD60 million in 2019 to upgrade its network and enhance services, according to the company’s CEO Fahad Al Jasem.

Zain Jordan, a unit of the Kuwaiti-based Zain Group, invested around $90 million in 2018 to introduce and expand services such as its fibre-to-home service, Jasem said in a recent meeting with the press.

“Most of our investments in 2018 focused on the expansion of the fourth generation network and investments also included fiber-to-home service, as west Amman is currently covered by this service,” he said.

In 2019, the company is planning to double its fibre-to-home coverage, he said.

According to Jasem, Zain Jordan’s investments in the Kingdom over the past 23 years, in addition to revenues it provides to the Treasury, exceeded JD2.3 billion.

The company invests JD50 million to JD60 million annually to upgrade its network and infrastructure, said Jasem.

He added that an increase in the consumption of data by the company’s customers necessitates continued investments in upgrading it network and services.

He added that the company has around 8,375 towers in Jordan.

Zain Jordan’s CEO stressed the importance of Jordan’s flexible and stable legislation, which encourages investments by telecom companies, noting that the sector contributes around 12 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

During the presser, he said the company will introduce the eSIM, or embedded SIM, in 2019 in Jordan, which is a SIM-card that is embedded in the mobile device. It allows consumers to store multiple operator profiles on a device simultaneously, and switch between them remotely, according to the GSM Association, which is a trade body that represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide.

On introducing the fifth generation services, he said no decision has been made on the introduction of the network, adding that such a decision would rely on feasibility studies to determine prices, availability and demand for the service.

On supporting entrepreneurs, he said that Zain Jordan will continue and expand its activities and programmes to support entrepreneurship in Jordan through its Zain Innovation Campus (ZINC).

ZINC hosted more than 3,155 activities that benefited more than 146,000 people since its launch.