Telecommunications in Saudi Arabia

Telecommunications in Saudi Arabiahave evolved early in theKingdomsince the establishment the Directorate of Post, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT) in 1926.

History

CIA map of telecommunication infrastructure in the Arabian Peninsula, 1949

The Directorate of Post, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT) was the first governmental entity established by the founderKing Abdul Aziz Al-Saudin 1926 to provide and control the postal and telecommunication services.In 1934 the Kingdom imported the first mobile wireless station to provide the telegraph services.In the same year, the telephone service was also launched to link cities and villages in the Kingdom.In 1984 the first fiber optic network was introduced and operated in the country, whereas in 1995 the mobile phone service was introduced.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC)was the first company inSaudi Arabiato provide Mobile and Fixed line Telephone service. While the first internet connectivity was offered bySahara Netin summer of 1994, the Communications Commission then allowed other companies to compete with STC in Saudi Arabia taking the total number of companies to five: (1). STC Mobile: It includes landlines and mobile, and includes a mobile (phone). (2)Integrated Telecom Company(ITC) second operator after STC, established in 2005 and offers internet, broadband, connectivity and satellite services for businesses, consumers and wholesale (3). Mobily: the UAE's telecommunications company, which is the mobile and internet Fabraupetk (Fiber Optic) New Ground. (4). ZIN Zain: a Kuwaiti company, which is the only mobile (5). GO ATHEEB: a Saudi modern, with an Internet connection line is similar to Ground. In 2019, Saudi Arabia was ranked the second among the G20 countries in regards of the availability of radio spectrum awarded to operators for public mobile telecom services.

Telephones

See also:Telephone numbers in Saudi Arabia

A mobile phone tower inQatif

Telephones- main lines in use: 011 463,3507 (2011 - source: ITU)

Telephones -mobile cellular: 53,705,808 (2011 - source: ITU)
note: In 2004, theSaudi Telecom Company(STC) monopolization was broken by authorizingEtihad Etisalat/Mobilyto compete in mobile communication, in June 2009GO Telecom (Etihad Atheeb Telecom)or "جو" also entered the market.

Digital Radio Trunking- 100,000 (Unofficial):
In late 2005, bravO! Telecom was launched as the country's digital radio trunking operator under a B.O.T agreement with the incumbent operator STC, with an estimated 100,000 subscribers as of November 2007.

Telephone system:
domestic: extensive microwave radio relay and coaxial and fiber-optic cable systems

International:
International undersea cables:EIG,I-ME-WE,FEA,MENA,SEA-ME-WE 3,SEA-ME-WE 4,FALCON,SAS-1,SAS-2,Gulf Bridge International,TATA TGN-Gulf

Microwave radio relay toBahrain,Jordan,Kuwait,Qatar,UAE,Yemen,andSudan;

Coaxial cable toKuwaitandJordan;

Satellite earth stations - 5Intelsat(3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean), 1Arabsat,and 1Inmarsat(Indian Oceanregion)

Radio

Radiobroadcast stations: AM 43, FM 31, shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios: 6.25 million (1997)

Television

Further information:Television in Saudi Arabia

Televisionbroadcast stations: 117 (1997)

Televisions: 5.1 million (1997)

Internet

See also:List of Internet service providers in Saudi Arabia

A graph showing the growth of Internet users in Saudi Arabia from 2001 to 2011

InternetService Providers (ISPs): 22 (2005)

Internetusers:30.25 million, 91% of the population (2018)

Country code(Top level domain):.sa

Saudi Post

Broadband Internet access

AnADSLservice inSaudi Arabiahas become available since 2001. As part of its monopoly on all methods ofcommunicationinSaudi Arabia,theSaudi Telecom Companyis the only complete provider, though severalISPsare available, with the permission ofCITC.

STCis the only provider for telephone lines inSaudi Arabia.For this reason customers have to pay two fees, one toSTCfor activation of theADSLservice across the telephone line, and a second to anISPto provide Internet service across theADSLline.STChas been highly criticized for their service in providingADSLaccess as customers had to wait many months to receive ADSL service on their phone lines. In 2006, STC had invested in increasing the size of theirADSLinfrastructure and since then the wait times had improved, but many customers are still on waiting lists. Mobily, Integrated Telecom and STC also provide Fibre Optic Internet access, with coverage limited to larger cities.

As of 2011, the maximumInternetspeed available is currently 200 Mbit/s.

Speed	Rate
2 Mbit/s	149 S.A.R ($39.70)
20 Mbit/s	249 S.A.R ($66.34)
40 Mbit/s	299 S.A.R ($79.67)
100 Mbit/s	449 S.A.R ($119.66)
200 Mbit/s	749 S.A.R ($199.57)

As of October 2006, the 20Internet service providersinSaudi Arabiabecame connected through "Data service provider" -licensed companies, such asSaudi Telecom CompanyandIntegrated Telecom Company.TheISPswere previously connected throughKACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology),who was also responsible forDNSand filtering traffic. Since October 2006 theCommunications and Information Technology Commissionis responsible forDNSand filtering services.

There are several reasons for the service being unpopular, in particular the unreasonably expensive prices and incompetent low-quality service. Perhaps this was proved when STC submitted a request to enter neighboringEgyptas a provider and was refused due to lack of experience, staff, equipments and such.

In late 2005 it was announced that a company by the name of Electronet would start providing broadband connections through electric lines by mid-2006. However, as of early 2009 the service has not been implemented and the company's website has been idle for years. Some of the developed countries are having trouble implementing internet connections via power lines so it is highly unlikely this technology will ever appear in Saudi Arabia. Electronet is currently dissolved.

In 2019, the average speed of mobile internet services reached 37.5 Mbit/s jumping from 9.2 Mbit/s in 2017.

In Q2 2024, a little over 3.9 million out of the total 9 million households had been passed by fiber, representing a 43% penetration rate.Responsible for over half of the passed premises, the national operatorSTCplays an important role in the infrastructure development but is well supported by other actors, namely Dawiyat,Mobilyand TLS.

Internet censorship

Main article:Internet censorship in Saudi Arabia

Screenshot of a Saudi Arabian ISP blocking a website

In August 2009 ONI classified Saudi Arabia as pervasive in the social and Internet tools areas, as substantial in political, and as selective selective in conflict.

Saudi Arabia notoriously on the spot addresses and bans more than 5 million websites on the web, mainly pornography whichthe government bans anything that is,LGBT rights in whichsame-sex sexual activity is illicit,human rights issues, terrorism, criticism against the kingdom and the royal family, information from enemies of Islam, and satire.Access to websites affiliated with Iran, withHezbollah,with Yemeni groups and associated with the SyrianMuslim Brotherhood,and information telling about theHolocaustwere blocked as well. An example of technology used for Internet surveillance and filtering in Saudi Arabia is American-ownedSmartFilter.

Digital divide

This section is an excerpt fromDigital divide by continent, area and country § Saudi Arabia.[edit]

The digital divide in Saudi Arabia is seen through their Internet usage statistics 47.5% of Saudi Arabians use the internet compared to 78.2% of the United States. Of the 47.5%, 83.87% of Saudi households use the internet and only 10% of these households have one internet user.Saudi Arabia, as of 2017, has 96% of women using the internet and 88% of men. In addition, both females and males use the internet almost equally.

See also

• Saudi Telecom Company
• Integrated Telecom Company
• Al Wafa Communication for Internet Services
• Bayanat Al Oula for Network Services
• Etihad Etisalat/Mobily
• List of Internet service providers in Saudi Arabia