As Part of Preparations for the Return of Distance Learning, "The Communications Commission" Extends the Provision of Additional Frequencies to Mobile Communications Service Providers to Enhance Network Performance

The Communications and Information Technology Commission announced, today, the extension of the period for providing additional frequencies on the (700, 800) MHz bands, with an increase estimated at more than 50% over the frequencies used in those bands, with the aim of enhancing the performance of current fourth-generation networks to accommodate the increasing rate of data consumption in conjunction with the return of the distance learning process, and to ensure its continuity, adding that it has directed all telecommunications service providers to raise the readiness of digital infrastructure, and support infrastructure preparations for virtual education.

The Commission indicated that the increase in frequencies contributed to accommodating the increasing demand for communications services during the past period, which was directly reflected in the performance of the work system in the government and private sectors, resulting in high performance rates in employing technology to perform the tasks of various entities.

The Commission had previously revealed that the Kingdom's digital infrastructure had accommodated the significant increase in data consumption during the coronavirus pandemic, as an individual's daily mobile internet data consumption during that period exceeded 3 times the global average, estimated at 200 megabytes.