Telecommunications in Saudi Arabia have evolved early in the
Kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
since the establishment the Directorate of Post, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT) in 1926.
History
The Directorate of Post, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT) was the first governmental entity established by the founder
King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud in 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 in1995 the mobile phone service was introduced .
Saudi Telecom Company (STC) was the first company in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
to provide Mobile and Fixed line Telephone service. 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
Integrated Telecom Company (Salam) ( ar, شركة الاتصالات المتكاملة), It is currently known by its trade name Salam ( ar, شركة سلام) is a telecom provider established in 2005 offering broadband, interconnection and S ...
(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
Telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
s - main lines in use:
011 463,3507 (2011 - source: ITU)
Telephones -
mobile cellular:
53,705,808 (2011 - source: ITU)
''note:''
In 2004, the
Saudi Telecom Company
Saudi Telecommunication Company (stylized as stc) (Arabic: شركة إتصالات السعودية ) is the Saudi digital enabler of telecommunications services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and among the operators in the Middle East. The comp ...
(STC) monopolization was broken by authorizing
Etihad Etisalat/Mobily to compete in mobile communication, in June 2009
GO Telecom (Etihad Atheeb Telecom)
Go, GO, G.O., or Go! may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Games and sport
* Go (game), a board game for two players
* ''Travel Go'' (formerly ''Go – The International Travel Game''), a game based on world travel
* Go, the starting position lo ...
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 Nov'07.
Telephone system:
''domestic:''
extensive microwave radio relay and coaxial and fiber-optic cable systems
International:
International undersea cables:
EIG,
I-ME-WE
I-ME-WE (India-Middle East-Western Europe) is a submarine communications cable system between India and France. The design capacity is 3.84 Terabits per second. It has been operational since 2009 with Tripoli, Lebanon being connected in November ...
,
FEA,
MENA
MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...
,
SEA-ME-WE 3,
SEA-ME-WE 4,
FALCON
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene.
Adult falcons ...
,
SAS-1, SAS-2,
Gulf Bridge International
Gulf Bridge International (GBI) is the Middle East's first privately owned submarine cable system linking the countries bordering the Persian Gulf on a self-healing ring to each other and onwards to Europe, Africa and Asia. Gulf Bridge Internatio ...
, TATA TGN-Gulf
Microwave radio relay to
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
,
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
,
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
,
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
,
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
, and
Sudan;
Coaxial cable to
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
and
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
;
Satellite earth stations - 5
Intelsat (3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean), 1
Arabsat
The Arab Satellite Communications Organization (often abbreviated as Arabsat) is a communications satellite operator in the Arab World, headquartered in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Arabsat was created to deliver satellite-based, public and ...
, and 1
Inmarsat (
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
region)
Radio
Radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
broadcast stations:
AM 43, FM 31, shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios:
6.25 million (1997)
Television
Television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
broadcast stations:
117 (1997)
Televisions:
5.1 million (1997)
ISPs
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
Service Providers (ISPs):
22 (2005)
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
Users: 30.25 millions, 91% of the population (2018)
Country code
Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes (geocodes) developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The term ...
(Top level domain):
.sa
.sa is the Latin alphabet Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) of Saudi Arabia. Domains of this type can be registered through SaudiNIC, a department of the Communications and Information Technology Commission. The Arabic alphabet ccT ...
Saudi Post
Saudi Post ( ar, البريد السعودي "سُبل") is a government operated postal system in Saudi Arabia; it is generally referred to within the kingdom as "al-Bareed". It was previously part of the Ministry of Post, Telegraph and Telepho ...
Broadband Internet access
An
ADSL
Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...
service in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
has become available since 2001. As part of its monopoly on all methods of
communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...
in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, the
Saudi Telecom Company
Saudi Telecommunication Company (stylized as stc) (Arabic: شركة إتصالات السعودية ) is the Saudi digital enabler of telecommunications services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and among the operators in the Middle East. The comp ...
is the only complete provider, though several
ISP
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
s are available, with the permission of
STC.
STC is the only provider for telephone lines in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. For this reason customers have to pay two fees, one to
STC for activation of the
ADSL
Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...
service across the telephone line, and a second to an
ISP
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
to provide Internet service across the
ADSL
Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...
line.
STC has been highly criticized for their service in providing
ADSL
Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...
access 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 their
ADSL
Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...
infrastructure 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 maximum
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
speed available is currently 200 Mbit/s.
As of October 2006, the 20
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...
s in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
became connected through "Data service provider" -licensed companies, such as
Saudi Telecom Company
Saudi Telecommunication Company (stylized as stc) (Arabic: شركة إتصالات السعودية ) is the Saudi digital enabler of telecommunications services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and among the operators in the Middle East. The comp ...
and
Integrated Telecom Company
Integrated Telecom Company (Salam) ( ar, شركة الاتصالات المتكاملة), It is currently known by its trade name Salam ( ar, شركة سلام) is a telecom provider established in 2005 offering broadband, interconnection and S ...
. The
ISP
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
s were previously connected through
KACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology), who was also responsible for
DNS and filtering traffic. Since October 2006 the
Communications and Information Technology Commission
The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC; ar, هيئة الاتصالات وتقنية المعلومات, Hai'at al-Ittisalat wa Tiqniyyat al-Ma`lumat) is the Saudi communications authority. It was first established under ...
is responsible for
DNS and 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 neighboring
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
as 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 Mbps jumping from 9.2 Mbps in 2017.
Internet censorship
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 which
the government bans anything that is, LGBT rights in which
same-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, with
Hezbollah, with Yemeni groups and associated with the Syrian
Muslim Brotherhood,
and information telling about the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
were blocked as well. An example of technology used for Internet surveillance and filtering in Saudi Arabia is American-owned
SmartFilter.
See also
*
Saudi Telecom Company
Saudi Telecommunication Company (stylized as stc) (Arabic: شركة إتصالات السعودية ) is the Saudi digital enabler of telecommunications services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and among the operators in the Middle East. The comp ...
*
Integrated Telecom Company
Integrated Telecom Company (Salam) ( ar, شركة الاتصالات المتكاملة), It is currently known by its trade name Salam ( ar, شركة سلام) is a telecom provider established in 2005 offering broadband, interconnection and S ...
*
Al Wafa Communication for Internet Services
AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media
* Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera
* Al (''Fullmetal ...
*
Bayanat Al Oula for Network Services
*
Etihad Etisalat/Mobily
*
List of Internet service providers in Saudi Arabia
This is a list of internet service providers in Saudi Arabia.
Internet in Saudi Arabia is provided by several service providers: the Saudi Telecom, the CITC, and the ISP which provides the monthly subscriptions.
ISPs in Saudi Arabia
*Saudi Te ...
References
{{Portal, Saudi Arabia
Internet in Saudi Arabia