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

The Communications and Information Technology Commission today, Saturday, released the eleventh issue of its quarterly electronic newsletter concerned with tracking the most important developments in the telecommunications and IT sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the end of the first quarter of 2012.

The newsletter included the number of mobile telecommunications subscriptions, which reached approximately 54.3 million subscriptions by the end of the first quarter of 2012, with prepaid subscriptions comprising the vast majority of these subscriptions at nearly 85%, making the mobile telecommunications penetration rate among the population approximately 188.5%.

Regarding the internet, the internet penetration rate increased sharply over the past years, rising from 5% in 2001 to approximately 49.1% by the end of the first quarter of 2012. The number of internet users in the Kingdom is currently estimated at more than 14 million users.

The newsletter detailed the growth and penetration rates in broadband services, which reached 2.16 million via fixed telecommunications networks, while total broadband subscriptions via mobile telecommunications networks, in their broad definition, reached approximately 11.95 million subscriptions.

The newsletter also included the results of a field survey recently conducted by the Commission to identify the reasons for internet use in the Kingdom and the obstacles limiting it, in addition to shedding light on the outcome reached by the Commission, in cooperation with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, regarding the pilot Raseel project (رسيل.السعودية), which aims to provide email services using Arabic addresses.

It is worth noting that this issue of the Communications and Information Technology Commission's electronic newsletter is a quarterly publication concerned with tracking the most important figures and indicators witnessed by the telecommunications and IT sector in the Kingdom. To view the full contents of the newsletter, please visit the Media Center window on the Commission's website at www.cst.gov.sa.