Communications and Information Technology Commission Launches the Work of the National 5G Enablement Task Force in the Kingdom

The Communications and Information Technology Commission announced the launch of the National 5G Enablement Task Force in the Kingdom, whose membership includes telecommunications and IT service providers and a number of manufacturers and other interested parties in this field. The task force aims to enable early adoption of 5G technologies in the Kingdom and set out mechanisms to facilitate the rollout of its networks.

The task force discussed the proposed work plan for the coming two years, along with the sub-working groups stemming from it, including the group concerned with making spectrum available for these technologies and the group concerned with vital and developmental sectors such as education, health, and energy. Eng. Majed bin Mohammed Al-Muzaid, Deputy Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission for Technology and Infrastructure and Chairman of the task force, noted that establishing this task force would provide a unified platform for coordinating and integrating efforts among parties concerned with 5G, and would contribute to positioning the Kingdom among the countries leading in providing this technology and benefiting early from the gains it will achieve, such as smart city applications and the Internet of Things.

The commercial launch of 5G networks worldwide is expected by 2020, following the conclusion of the World Radiocommunication Conference to be held in the fourth quarter of 2019. Some specialized reports indicate that 5G will contribute to enabling a global investment volume estimated at USD 12.3 trillion by 2035.