CST says Saudi communications, technology market hits SAR 154 bln

Part of the ICT Indicators Forum 2023

The Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) announced that the size of the communications and technology market in the Kingdom reached SAR 154 billion in 2022, becoming the largest and fastest growing in the MENA region.

Under the auspices of the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Alswaha, the commission inaugurated today, March 8, the ninth edition of the the ICT Indicators Forum 2023, according to a statement.

CST Governor Mohammad Al-Tamimi revealed that the Kingdom pumped more than SAR 93 billion worth of capital investments into digital infrastructure over the past six years.

Such expansion led to a boom in the quality of services provided. This is through an 11-fold hike in mobile internet speeds, which exceeded 181 megabytes per second — twice the global average. Accordingly, Saudi Arabia maintained its position among the top ten countries in mobile internet speed, according to the top official.

He further indicated that the commission has successfully launched the high-speed internet service in 21,000 villages across the Kingdom, to ensure the continuity of communication services for more than five million people.

The 5G coverage rate in the Kingdom reached 53%, while it exceeded more than 94% in Riyadh. This is in addition to doubling fiber-to-the-home networks, bringing the total number of homes covered to 3.7 million.

Moreover, the rate of internet services penetration in Saudi Arabia surged to 99% in 2022. Meanwhile, the percentage of mobile communications subscriptions reached 172% of the total population.

Al-Tamimi also pointed out that the average per capita consumption of mobile internet data in the Kingdom exceeded 1,200 megabytes per day, or three times the global daily rate.