Saudi Telecom names Olayan Al-Wetaid as new group CEO

Olayan Mohammed Alwetaid, group chief executive officer of STC. (Supplied)
Short Url
  • Alwetaid worked at Saudi Aramco before joining STC
  • He holds more than 20 years of experience

RIYADH: Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) has named Olayan Mohammed Al-Wetaid as its new group CEO, starting March 28, 2021.

Al-Wetaid has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry and worked at Saudi Aramco before joining STC, the firm said in a statement to Tadawul.

He is currently a senior VP of a consumer business unit at STC and heads several STC subsidiaries, such as Channels, Intigral and Contact Center Co. (CCC). He was previously CEO of STC Bahrain.

STC is seeking an international and regional presence, and is investing in countries such as Kuwait, Bahrain and Malaysia.

The telecom company offers information and communication technology solutions and digital services in areas including telecommunication, IT, financial technology, digital media and cybersecurity.

It aims to lead the Kingdom’s digital transformation in line with goals set out as part of Vision 2030.

Major achievements during 2019 allowed STC to move forward in terms of digital services.

The company recently launched three large data centers in Riyadh, Jeddah and Madinah, with an investment of nearly SR1 billion ($270 million).

FASTFACTS

• STC is seeking an international and regional presence, and is investing in countries such as Kuwait, Bahrain and Malaysia.

• It aims to lead the Kingdom’s digital transformation in line with goals set out as part of Vision 2030.

These will enable the digital transformation of government and private companies as part of its efforts to enhance cloud-based infrastructure in the areas of artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, computing and automation.

According to STC, the new data centers have more than 150 ready-made units, providing 10.8 MW of critical IT power, with space capable of reaching 16.8 MW. The projects represent the first phase of the new era of “next generation” STC data centers, the company said.

The telecom provider’s latest available financial results show that during the first nine months of 2020 it generated revenue of SR43.737 billion ($11.66 billion), an increase of 6.41, while net profit for the same period was up 0.7 percent to SR8.402 billion.

In terms of global rankings, among the world’s top 50 digital companies, STC ranked first in the MENA region, according to Forbes Magazine, and is one of the world’s 10 largest communications companies in terms of market value.

STC also won the 2019 Best Practices Award in the Business Intelligence, Visual Analytics and Data Discovery category from Transforming Data With Intelligence, a leading source of education and research on data-related topics.