SCBC Team – Riyadh
The telecommunications and information technology sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has won the praise of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) regarding the Kingdom’s strategy for “digital transformation”, which is in line with global trends in this field; Where the Union described the Communications and Information Technology Commission in the Kingdom as the regulator of the sector as a pioneering model in the shift towards classifying the sector’s regulators within the highest mature category (referring to the 5G technology).
In a report, the International Telecommunication Union highlighted a number of achievements and leaps made by the Kingdom in the communications and information technology sector, including supporting innovation, adopting emerging technologies, developing strategic axes to stimulate the digital economy, prioritizing the rapid growth of the telecommunications sector and encouraging investment in it, and developing infrastructure. Digital economy worth more than $15 billion, while ensuring access to high-quality services, and seeking sustainable economic diversification as part of Vision 2030, which adopts in one of its axes the strategy of a “thriving digital economy”, as well as protecting the beneficiaries by providing reliable services and ensuring fair competition, and to balance the diverse needs of multiple stakeholders.
The report noted the ability of the Saudi telecommunications and information technology sector to keep pace with the rapid changes in this sector globally, indicating that this ability is reflected in the qualitative development at the level of powers of the sector regulator in the Kingdom, with the arrival of the download speed of broadband for mobile devices to 77.55 Mbps in August 2020, And increase mobile phone coverage to 99% of the population for the 3G, and 94% for the 4G.
The report touched upon the measures taken by the communications and information technology sector to deal with the emerging coronavirus pandemic, indicating that it has worked cooperatively, quickly, and effectively with service providers to meet the increase in demand for access to data over the Internet with increasing speed and capacities, and providing operators with additional bands for the spectrum. He stressed that this rapid response has played an important role in enabling remote work, business continuity, and support for delivery applications, e-government services, education, and telehealth throughout the Kingdom.
The report of the International Telecommunication Union added that the Saudi Communications Authority is among the advanced regulators with regard to the global trend to benefit from telecommunications to include neighboring sectors, by targeting neighboring sectors with greater potential that could be affected due to rapidly expanding technology developments, such as mobility, health care, manufacturing, energy, education, finance, and retail trade.