54 Million Mobile Communications Subscriptions by the End of the Third Quarter of 2015

The number of subscriptions to mobile communications services reached about 54 million subscriptions for the third quarter of 2015, with prepaid subscriptions accounting for approximately 85.18% of total subscriptions, making the penetration rate of mobile communications services relative to the population about 171.1%.

As for active telephone lines, the number of subscriptions by the end of the third quarter of 2015 reached about 3.73 million lines, of which 2.60 million lines were for dwellings, equivalent to about 70% of total active lines, in addition to 1.13 million commercial lines, making the fixed-line penetration rate relative to dwellings about 45.6%, and the fixed-line penetration rate relative to population approximately 12%.

Total subscriptions to broadband services over mobile communications networks, in their comprehensive definition, continued to rise, reaching about 35.71 million subscriptions by the end of the first half of 2015, which include subscriptions to data services and subscriptions to voice communications packages, making the penetration rate of broadband services over mobile communications networks, relative to the population, about 114%. The increasing spread of smartphones and their applications has led to a significant rise in the number of users in recent years, and an increase in data traffic through these devices, supported by wide coverage of third- and fourth-generation networks in various regions of the Kingdom.

The number of subscriptions to broadband services over fixed communications networks, which include digital subscriber lines (DSL) and fixed wireless connections, in addition to fiber optics and other wired lines, also reached about 3.62 million subscriptions by the end of the third quarter of 2015, with a penetration rate estimated at about 53.6% for dwellings, representing an increase of about 25.4% over the same quarter of the previous year.

The internet penetration rate continued to rise at high rates over the past years, with the number of internet users in the Kingdom currently estimated at about 21 million users, with a penetration rate estimated at about 67.3% relative to the population.

An increase in demand for internet and broadband services has recently been noted, with significant use of and connection to programs based on internet connectivity, such as social media channels, as subscribers have come to seek higher speeds and larger download capacities, and the amount of data used has increased in the past few years.

Demand for internet services is expected to continue rising in the coming few years, as a result of the availability of fiber optic (FTTx) networks and the high speeds they offer, especially in major cities, the wide coverage of third- and fourth-generation networks in various regions of the Kingdom, as well as the increasing factors supporting and boosting internet content, the spread of smart handheld devices, and the internet-based programs and applications they contain.