CST Announces the Readiness of its Operational Plans for the 2025 Hajj Season to Serve Pilgrims

The Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST) announced the readiness of operational plans for the ICT sector for the 2025 Hajj season, with unlimited support and enablement from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques H.R.H. King Salman bin Abdulaziz AlSaud, and H.R.H. Prince Mohammed bin Salman AlSaud, Crown Prince and Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and under the supervision of H.E. Eng. Abdullah bin Amer Alswaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology and the Chairman of the CST’s Board of Directors, to provide all means of comfort for worshipers.

H.E. Eng. Haytham AlOhali, the Acting Governor of CST, stated that as the Kingdom’s ICT regulator, CST harness all its capabilities to facilitate communications and technology services and ensure their provision at the highest quality. This is achieved through investment in a robust infrastructure, enabling government and private entities to deliver their digital services, and monitoring the frequency spectrum using the latest technologies to detect any interference that could interfere with network coverage. He also praised the efforts made to provide all services for worshipers during the Hajj season, which align with the unlimited support from the wise leadership to this sector.

During his inspection tour, H.E. Alswaha visited several telecom service provider sites in Makkah and the holy sites to review the sector’s preparations for this year. While H.E. AlOhali highlighted that service provider preparations included providing more than 10,500 WiFi access points across Makkah, Madinah, and the Holy Sites. The mobile internet speed in Makkah reached 264 Mbps, marking a 10% increase compared to last year. In Madinah, the speed reached 336 Mbps, representing a 19% increase from the previous year. 5G coverage in Makkah, Madinah, and the Holy Sites reached 99%, while 4G coverage in the same areas exceeded 99%.

This year, more than 4,000 personnel from the communications and technology sector are contributing to serving the pilgrims, both at the entry points and within the Holy Sites.

CST had completed its preparations to welcome pilgrims’ across various ports, ensuring the ICT infrastructure readiness to meet their needs, with inspection visits conducted to multiple locations including King Abdulaziz International Airport, Halat Ammar Port, Alwadia Port, and the Jadidat Arar Port to ensure service providers' eligibility and enhance collaboration in serving pilgrims during their Hajj journey.