51 Million Mobile Communications Subscriptions and About 16 Million Internet Users in the Kingdom by the End of 2013

The Communications and Information Technology Commission launched today, Tuesday, the eighteenth issue of its quarterly electronic newsletter concerned with monitoring the most important developments in the communications and information technology sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The newsletter included the volume of spending on communications and information technology services in the Kingdom, as the Commission's estimates indicate that it is estimated at around SAR 102 billion in 2013, compared to SAR 36 billion in 2005, with an average annual growth rate of about 14%. Spending on information technology represents about 36% of total spending, most of which is spending on hardware and information technology services.

The number of subscriptions to mobile communications services reached about 51 million subscriptions by the end of 2013, with a penetration rate of about 170% of the population. Regarding the internet, the number of internet users in the Kingdom rose by the end of 2013 to reach about 16.5 million users, with a penetration rate exceeding 55%. Total subscriptions to broadband services over mobile communications networks reached about 14.27 million subscriptions by the end of 2013. These subscriptions include data services and subscriptions to voice communications packages, making the penetration rate of broadband services over mobile communications networks, relative to the population, about 47.6%. According to the Commission's estimates, the telecommunications sector's contribution to GDP was about 2.78% for the year 2013, amid a rise in the value added of telecommunications activity over the past three years.