STC rolls out commercial 5G services in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) has officially deployed commercial 5G services for the first time in the Kingdom.

"The 5G network reflects a major technical leap and provides a fundamental network for future and existing applications, such as high-speed mobile internet," chief executive officer Nasser Al Nasser said in a statement on Thursday.

The 5G services will be initially available in certain districts and large cities through home routers, which will be available in some outlets.

The 5G will not only affect the efficiency of communication between people and their phones or computers, but will also affect more sophisticated uses such as Internet of Things (IoT), robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

STC's commercial launch of 5G came a few days after the service rollout by VIVA Kuwait, a subsidiary of STC.

VIVA Bahrain will also deploy 5G services soon, Al Nasser added, without giving further details.

In October 2018, the Kingdom's largest mobile operator announced plans to start commercial operations of 5G network in 2019, Argaam reported.