Page 24 - SAMENA Trends - June-August 2021
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REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES  SAMENA TRENDS

        Financial charges and Zakat          reportUnmodified conclusion         Cash Flow (EBITDA-CAPEX), to reach SAR
        The  financial  charges  for  H1  2021   Reclassification   of   Comparison   2,284  million  versus  SAR  1,603  million
        amounted to SAR 248 million compared to   ItemsCertain  comparative  figures  have   in  H1  2020,  representing  an  increase  of
        SAR 300 million in H1 2020, representing a   been reclassified to conform to the current   42.41%.
        decrease of 17.57%, reflecting the decrease   period’s presentation.     The  interim  financial  statements  for  the
        in SAIBOR.                           Additional InformationCAPEX:        period  ended  30th  June  2021  will  be
        Zakat  expenses  for  the  current  period   Capex  in  H1  2021  amounted  to  SAR  425   available through Mobily IR App for mobile
        amounted  to  SAR  38  million  compared   million  versus  SAR  1,017  million  in  H1   and  tablet  devices,  and  Mobily  Investor
        to Zakat expense of SAR 31 million in H1   2020.                         Relations  Website,  after  being  published
        2020.                                Operational Cash Flow:              on Tadawul website.
        Statement of the type of external auditor's   Mobily improved its H1 2021 Operational




                                             Omantel Innovation Labs to Push Innovation in

                                             Omani Tech Startups


        Omantel, the leading telecommunications   designed  to  fit  perfectly  into  this   powered  store.  Soon,  shopping  at  the
        company in Oman and a key role-player in   ecosystem  and  aim  to  put  the  company   Ahlain Store in Oman Oil’s filling station at
        MENA, is excited to announce the launch   at  the  heart  of  Oman’s  emerging  culture   Omantel’s headquarters in Madinat al Irfan
        of  the  Omantel  Innovation  Labs,  which   of  entrepreneurial  growth,  knowledge   will be a queue-free, cashless, grab and go
        will contribute to Oman’s Vision 2040 and   sharing,  collaboration  and economic   experience. Omantel has also successfully
        promote innovation and entrepreneurship   development  through  digitization,”  said   conducted  a  5G  test  using  the  mmWave,
        in new and emerging technologies. Under   Talal  Said  Al  Mamari,  Chief  Executive   paving  the  way  for  enhanced  user
        this  new  initiative,  Omantel  will  leverage   Officer  of  Omantel.  Omantel  has  been   experience  especially  in  crowded  spaces
        its  expertise,  partnerships,  reach,  and   showcasing  innovation  possibilities  with   such  as  during  festivals  and  events.  The
        access  to  technology  to  build  a  tech-  frontier  technologies  through  numerous   trial  has  demonstrated  Omantel’s  ability
        based  startup  ecosystem.  The  key  focus   recent  projects  that  add  efficiency  to   to deliver multi-gigabit speeds with eight
        of Omantel Innovation Labs is to cultivate   operations  and  excitement  to  everyday   cell  carrier  aggregation  functionalities
        entrepreneurial  skills  among  the  youth   activities. Omantel has piloted two major   and used a carrier bandwidth of 800MHz
        and  accelerate  the  growth  of  relevant   5G  projects  in  Oman’s  transport  and   at 26GHz. Keeping such developments in
        Oman-based  technology  startups  across   logistics  sector  that offer showcase the   mind,  the  aim  of  the  Innovation  Labs  is
        five  technological  verticals:  5G,  Internet   use  of  5G  infrastructure  beyond  network   to build a platform that can generate use
        of   Things,   Cybersecurity,   Customer   speed and efficiency but also bring more   cases  for  prioritized  technologies  and
        Experience  Technology,  and  Big  Data.   accountability  and  streamlining  to  port   facilitate an ecosystem that complements
        Located  in  a  1100m2  facility  at  Omantel   operations. Omantel is enabling the Middle   Omantel’s differentiating activities.
        headquarters  in  Muscat,  the  Innovation   East’s  first  Artificial  Intelligence  and  IoT-
        Labs  will  organize,  participate  in,  and
        host  multiple  activities  to  support  the
        Company’s internal innovation agenda by
        providing systematic spaces, approaches,
        events  and  activities  that  can  accelerate
        product  conceptualization,  prototyping,
        testing  and  deployment  of  solutions  to
        Oman  and  Omantel-centric  challenges.
        “We  want  to  support  and  tap  into  new
        ideas and technologies, stay ahead of the
        curve and drive local innovation. For this,
        we need to optimally deploy our resources
        and create an environment wherein caliber
        and  opportunities  match  national  digital
        transformation goals. Omantel Innovations
        Labs  have  been  conceptualized  and





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