The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranks fourth globally when it comes to the use of 5G or fifth-generation technology due to a nationwide push for digital transformation, according to a report by the Saudi Press Agency.
The countries ranked ahead of the Kingdom when it comes to 5G are the US, South Korea and China. The Kingdom also ranks 10th in terms of internet speed.
The deputy minister for technology, industry and digital capacities at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Ahmed Al Theneyan told the media, “We are proud of the digital transformation and qualitative leaps we have accomplished in all fields. The Kingdom jumped from 150th to 10th place globally in terms of internet speed, showcasing the durability of its infrastructure. This was also due to the increasing use of fiber optics that have reached more than three million Saudi households, accompanied by 5G technology that will be used in the health and industrial sectors among others.”
The Kingdom controls more than 7,000 5G towers and the ministry has launched several training programmes.According to reports, Saudi Arabia’s telecom sector’s localisation rate is 52 percent and the ministry is also implementing programs that support job creation.
Last year, telecom provider Zain deployed the region’s largest 5G network in the Kingdom. In its first phase, Zain rolled out around 2000 towers across 20 cities in the Kingdom.
Zain Vice-Chairman and Group CEO Bader Al Kharafi said that 5G will bring substantial change for the kingdom’s telecom industry, creating new business models and unlocking opportunities for many sectors including financial, ICT, agricultural, tourism, entertainment, automotive, health, education and public sectors among others.