Stc Group

Saudi Telecommunication Company (stc Group) was established as a Saudi joint-stock company on 21 April 1998 and began operations of telecommunications services throughout Saudi Arabia on 2 May 1998 as a wholly owned entity of the government of Saudi Arabia.^[7][8] The group received commercial registration as a Saudi Joint Stock Company on 29 June 1998 under registration No. 1010150269, and closed its initial public offering (IPO) in January 2003.^[9] On 11 April 2006, stc approved the increase of share capital from SR $15,000 million to SR $20,000 million through a transfer from the retained earnings to the capital.^[10]

The Saudi Digital Payments Company (stc bank) launched in 2017, with official work beginning in 2018.^[11]

In December 2019, the company launched a new identity, and the names of its branches in Bahrain and Kuwait were changed from VIVA to stc Kuwait and stc Bahrain.^[12] In June 2021, the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia approved the conversion of the Saudi Digital Payments Company (stc Pay) into a digital bank.^[13] The company replaced all its 3G networks with 5G in October 2021.^[14]

In 2021, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) sold 120 million shares in Saudi Telecom Company (stc Group) for $3.2 billion after completing a secondary share offering of stc Group.^[15][16]

In February 2022, it was announced that stc subsidiary, TAWAL, has acquired the Pakistani company, AWAL Telecom Private Limited - an independent passive telecommunications tower provider, for an undisclosed sum. AWAL was rebranded as TAWAL Pakistan.^[17][18]

In collaboration with Alibaba Group, the Alibaba Cloud was launched in May 2022.^[19] Center3, a new digital infrastructure assets company owned by stc Group, was launched in October 2022.^[20] The company also completed the first global 1.2T/channel trial in its DWDM optical network.^[21]

In February 2023, GO Telecom partnered with the company to provide IoT services throughout stc Group’s network.^[22] Microsoft and stc also expanded their partnership that same month to further advance digitalization across Saudi Arabia.^[23] It was announced in March 2023 that stc Group would provide the digital infrastructure for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, making it the company’s third consecutive year of partnership.^[24] Saudi Telecommunication Company's subsidiary TAWAL officially began operations in Europe in August of that year.^[6]

In September 2023, it was announced stc Group had acquired a 9.9% stake in the Madrid-headquartered multinational telecommunications company, Telefónica, S.A.. The deal was worth €2.1 billion - making stc Group the company’s largest shareholder.^[25][26]

In 2017, the InspireU business accelerator was launched. Since the program’s inception, the InspireU accelerator has supported over 90 digital projects, with investments and financial transactions hitting a market value of $SAR 12 billion. Over 40 million users have benefited from InspireU’s projects.^[27]

In 2021, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) sold 120 million shares in Saudi Telecom Company (stc Group) for $3.2 billion after completing a secondary share offering of stc Group.^[15][16]

The STV Investment Fund, which invests in small and medium-sized companies in communications and information technology, was established in 2018.^[28]

In October 2021, stc Group launched 3 data centers in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al-Madina with a $SAR 1 billion investment.^[29]

The company launched its corporate investment fund (CIF) in February 2023. CIF invests in early-stage startups in the cybersecurity, AI, digital gaming, IoT, and blockchain sectors.^[30]

As of May 2023, stc Group has invested over $SAR 3.5 billion in social, educational and health initiatives.^[31] Its ImpactU program has supported projects with a total value of $SAR 800,000. The program aims to incubate five startups annually and increase the initial investment for each to $SAR 100,000 to drive local economic growth.^[32]

stc Group services are divided into four broad categories:

• Al-Jawal - Mobile network
• Al-Hatif - Landline network
• Solutions by stc - Internet services
• stc Bank - Digital payment & digital wallet^[33] first and largest fintech unicorn in the Middle East^[34]

stc Group also offers two content platforms:

• stc Play - Gaming and esports platform that allows users to participate in tournaments and access game exporters
• stc TV - Entertainment streaming service

In 2020, stc Pay earned its electronic money institute (EMI) license. Western Union soon after purchased 15% shares at a $1.3 billion valuation, making stc pay the first and largest fintech unicorn in the Middle East.^[34]

The group is currently operating as a conglomerate to manage all assets, subsidiaries and joint ventures by the Saudi Telecom Group. Mohammed K. A. Al Faisal is the current chairman.^[35]

The company is a recipient of the GSMA T-ISAC Award 2024 for Recognition of Excellence and Leadership, whereas, Nauman Khan, Telecom Threat Management Lead Consultant at stc received the GSMA T-ISAC Individual Recognition Award 2024. These awards were presented at the GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 in Barcelona, Spain.^{[36][37][38][39][40]}