International Telecommunication Union Praises the Kingdom's Precedence in Its Trial Launch of 5G Technology

The International Telecommunication Union - the United Nations specialized agency for communications and information technology - praised, in a report issued today, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's leadership at the level of the Middle East and North Africa region and its adoption of the latest modern technologies, as a result of the Kingdom's precedence in conducting the first successful trial launch of 5G (the latest mobile phone technology), which took place during the first week of the blessed month of Ramadan this year. The report also pointed to the Kingdom's great interest in broadband and its services, given the great impact of such technologies on the local economy and their contribution to achieving Saudi Vision 2030.

The report noted that this precedence confirms what His Excellency the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Engineer Abdullah Al-Swaha, stated earlier, that the Kingdom aspires to always be ahead in activating 5G services before 2020, as well as what His Excellency the Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission, Dr. Abdulaziz bin Salem Al-Ruwais, also explained, that the Kingdom is working to implement many initiatives concerned with providing 5G in the Kingdom, and that it will be among the pioneering countries in providing and activating it to benefit early from the gains it will achieve.

The report also affirmed that this precedence came after the Commission issued licenses to conduct 5G tests for mobile network operators through the use of radio channels with a width of 100 megahertz in the 3.6-3.8 gigahertz frequency band, and this enabled Saudi Telecom Company to conduct the first trial launch at the level of the Middle East and North Africa region for 5G technology in the city of Khobar, reaching data transfer speeds exceeding 1 gigabit per second, surpassing all limits of previous wireless technologies, and since the capabilities of this technology are very high, it will open the way for the spread of other advanced technologies that depend on it, such as the internet of things, virtual reality, robotics, and other advanced technologies in other fields. It is expected that all operators in the Kingdom will deploy 5G networks early, achieving precedence for the Kingdom in commercial operation.

It is noted that the Kingdom, represented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Communications and Information Technology Commission, has made intensive efforts -since an early time- to enable 5G technology in the Kingdom, having formed the national working team that includes in its membership communications and information technology service providers, and a number of manufacturers and stakeholders in this field, aiming to enable early adoption of 5G technologies in the Kingdom and set up appropriate mechanisms to facilitate the deployment of infrastructure networks. Engineer Majid bin Mohammed Al-Muzaid, Deputy Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission for Technology and Infrastructure, explained that the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques plays an effective role in creating the best factors that enable the private sector to invest in implementing and deploying 5G services in the Kingdom with high quality, and to be ahead in providing the latest technologies in the field of communications and information technology.