Communications and Information Technology Commission provides wireless voice and internet services to (17,762) villages and hamlets by the end of April 2017

The Communications and Information Technology Commission explained that, through universal service projects, it has provided mobile voice communications services and internet services to (17,762) population clusters (centers, villages, and hamlets), inhabited by about (4,185,000) people, up until the end of April of this year, 2017. This achievement comes as a result of the generous support provided by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques - may God protect him - and in fulfillment of the universal service policy and the universal access obligation, in order to provide communications and information technology services to all commercially unprofitable population clusters spread throughout the Kingdom. Despite the Kingdom's vast geographical area, which represents a major challenge in this regard, "universal service" (which is delivering mobile voice service and internet service) has been provided inside the buildings of the targeted population clusters (centers, villages, and hamlets), whose population ranges between 100 to 5,000 people. What is known as the "universal access obligation" (which is providing voice service and internet service) has also been deployed with the required quality outside the buildings of the targeted population clusters with a population of less than 100 people, so that they can be reached within a distance not exceeding 10 km.

The Commission affirms that the commitment of universal service providers towards population clusters in the targeted governorates does not end once the project implementation is complete, as the implementation agreement lasts for two Gregorian years, during which the project is implemented, services are provided to the targeted population clusters, the quality and availability of the provided services are monitored, and any complaints received by the Commission regarding these clusters are addressed. The service of the population clusters in the targeted governorates then becomes part of the service provider's obligations.