56.1 Million Mobile Communications Subscribers and 13 Million Internet Users in the Kingdom by the End of the Third Quarter

56.1 Million Mobile Communications Subscribers and 13 Million Internet Users in the Kingdom by the End of the Third Quarter

"The Communications and Information Technology Commission" Tracks Sector Developments in the Ninth Issue of Its Electronic Newsletter

The Communications and Information Technology Commission launched today, Saturday, the ninth 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 by the end of the third quarter of the current year, 2011.

The newsletter included the Commission's Board of Directors' approval of the second edition of the National Numbering Plan, in addition to reference to the Commission's decisions regarding enabling service providers to launch temporary promotional offers without the need for prior approval, and regulating the process of activating and selling prepaid SIM cards.

The newsletter also covered the Commission's study on launching three new licenses for virtual operators to provide mobile communications services in the Kingdom, in addition to the announcement of the launch of the satellite search and rescue distress alert service program.

The newsletter stated that the number of subscriptions to mobile communications services reached about 56.1 million subscriptions by the end of the third quarter of 2011. Prepaid subscriptions constituted the vast majority of these subscriptions, at nearly 87%, making the penetration rate of mobile communications services relative to the population about 198%.

Regarding the internet, the internet penetration rate increased at a high rate over the past years, rising from 5% in 2001 to about 46% by the end of the third quarter of 2011. The number of internet users in the Kingdom is currently estimated at about 13 million users.

The newsletter detailed the growth and penetration rates in broadband services, which reached about 40.5% relative to the population, while total subscriptions to broadband services over mobile communications networks, in their comprehensive definition, reached about 11.5 million subscriptions.

It is worth noting that this issue of the Communications and Information Technology Commission's electronic newsletter is a quarterly publication concerned with monitoring the most important figures and indicators witnessed by the communications and information technology sector in the Kingdom. To view the full contents of the newsletter, please visit the media center section on the Commission's website at www.cst.gov.sa.