Saudi Telecom Company, Saudi Arabia’s largest telecom operator, and Aegis, a global outsourcing services company and part of the $15 billion Essar Group, today announced a landmark strategic partnership, which would see Aegis managing STC’s entire customer care operations including billing, directory enquiry, collection, verification, etc.
Aegis, a leader in total customer lifecycle management, serves over 150 clients through a network of 47 delivery centres spread across 11 countries. It has more than 50,000 employees and serves a diversified base of customers in the BFSI, telecom, healthcare, travel and hospitality, consumer goods, retail, and technology verticals.
As part of the deal, Aegis and STC would form a near equal stake joint venture — christened Call Centre Company — which would provide customer care service to STC’s over 28 million customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). In the first phase, STC would transfer about 550 agents across two centres providing directory assistance to the joint venture. Over the next 18-24 months, the balance 4,500 STC customer care agents would become part of the Aegis family.
In CCC, both the partners would have near equal stakes with STC holding 50% plus one share, and Aegis the rest. Aegis would have operational control and responsibilities. The CCC would enjoy an exclusivity contract with STC.
“STC has been a pioneer in the telecom landscape of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and now has broadened its horizon to focus on other growth markets like the GCC, Africa, and India. Time has now come for us to increase our focus on our core operations, which is providing next-generation telecommunication services to our customers. We are happy to have found an able partner in Aegis, who we are confident would provide a great level of customer satisfaction to our valued customers, given their vast experience in managing customer experience across multiple geographies,” said Saud Al Daweesh, Group CEO, STC.
“We are delighted to be selected by STC in this landmark deal which not only demonstrates the visionary thinking of the STC management but also endorses Aegis’s expertise in managing customer experience. This deal would help STC variablise their fixed cost and free up their management bandwidth to focus on emerging opportunities. This would also provide a huge leg up to Aegis’s West Asia presence, since the joint venture would actively seek new businesses. We have aspirations of making this the largest BPO operation in the region,” Aparup Sengupta, MD and Global CEO, Aegis, said.
Besides targeting other customers in KSA, CCC would also be scouting for customer care opportunities in Bahrain and Kuwait.
