Overview

Saudi Arabia is advancing rapidly on its path towards becoming a fully digital society across all aspects of life. The Kingdom is preparing for the next generation of technologies in order to provide the highest quality services to users and residents. Saudi Arabia's strong ICT infrastructure and high internet and mobile phone penetration rate present an appealing proposition to local and foreign potential investors in the Kingdom's digital sector. The Kingdom is one of the top ICT nations in terms of spectrum allocation, and it is committed to regulatory excellence and a business-friendly environment.

Explore Saudi Arabia's

Digital Infrastructure Sector

9th
for IPV6 Penetration globally in 2021
$18BN
investments to build a nationwide network of large-scale data centers
$2.5BN
allocated to build digital infrastructure needed for industry 4.0
7th
for mobile internet speed in Q2 2021
3rd
world wide for 5G speeds in April 2021
34%
5G network coverage across the Kingdom in 2020

Value Proposition

Strong commitment to a booming data center marke

Demand for data center capacity continues to rise at a rapid rate around the world.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) launched an $18 billion plan to build a nationwide network of large-scale data centers to transform Saudi Arabia into a data center regional hub.
Relevant entities are working day and night to increase the growth of co-location capacity data centers needed to attract other digital investments, such as cloud service providers, gaming publishers, video streaming service operators and content delivery network (CDN) operators to localize their services inside the Kingdom.

A large market demand requiring a large supply

Telecom constitutes 59% of the Saudi ICT market size, compared to 15% of the ICT sectors in benchmark countries.
23% in fixed broadband contribution of telecoms revenues, compared to 46% in ICT benchmark countries, signaling high growth potential.
6.6 higher mobile data consumption in Saudi Arabia compared to ICT benchmark countries.
3.3 higher average revenue per user for fixed internet in Saudi Arabia compared to ICT benchmark countries.

Long-term investments that are already paying off

14% investments in mobile infrastructure and services at a 5-year average capital intensity, compared to 7% in ICT benchmark countries.
4% investments in fixed broadband infrastructure and services at a 5-year average capital intensity, compared to 9% in ICT benchmark countries.

Excellent quality and wide coverage ensuring access for all

134.7% penetration of mobile telecom services in Q2 2021
47.16 million mobile telecom subscriptions in Q2 2021
147.06 Mbps in average mobile internet download speed in Q2 2021
370.12 Mbps average 5G internet download speed in Q2 2021
60 governates in the Kingdom have access to 5G services in Q2 2021
91.56 Mbps average high-speed fixed internet download speed in Q2 2021
35.9% household penetration of high-speed fixed internet subscriptions in Q2 2021
2.2 million high-speed fixed internet subscriptions in Q2 2021

A world-class regulator ensuring continuous excellence

Saudi Arabia's telecommunications sector is regulated by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), a top-ranking fifth-generation ICT regulator according to the ITU.
There are multiple efforts focused on enhancing competition among mobile operators, with two new MVNO licenses awarded in 2021, and efforts underway to reduce STC’s dominant position in the fixed broadband.