On the Occasion of the Ninth Anniversary of the Allegiance to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques

His Excellency the Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission, Engineer Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Darrab, on behalf of himself and the Commission's staff, extended the highest congratulations and greetings to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness the Trustworthy Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, and His Royal Highness the Deputy Crown Prince, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Advisor and Special Envoy of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Royal Highness Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the dear Saudi people, on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of the allegiance to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques -may God preserve him-, praying to the Almighty to bless this nation and its people with the blessings of security, safety, prosperity, progress, and flourishing.

Engineer Al-Darrab said on this occasion, "Our dear nation continues today, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques -may God preserve him-, to march with confident steps toward growth and progress, as the state -may God support it- has surrounded various sectors in the Kingdom with special care, unlimited support, and generous directives, to help them achieve the leadership's aspirations of spreading prosperity and flourishing for this nation and its people."

Engineer Al-Darrab added, "The care and attention that the communications and information technology sector enjoys from the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques -may God preserve him- has ensured the sector's continued achievement of developmental leaps, and fulfillment of the aspirations of the Kingdom's government and its citizens represented in harnessing this sector's capabilities to serve and facilitate matters for citizens, and to help government facilities perform their work effectively in serving citizens and residents, and to contribute to advancing development and raising the efficiency of the national economy. He noted that the sector in the Kingdom has become associated with leading positions regionally and internationally, being the largest sector compared to the communications and information technology sector in the Middle East region in terms of capital value and spending volume, accounting for more than 70% of the size of this sector in Gulf Arab markets."

The Commission's estimates indicate that spending on communications and information technology services is estimated at around (SAR 102 billion) in 2013, compared to (SAR 21 billion) in 2002, with an average annual growth rate of about (10%). Spending on information technology represents about (36%) of total spending, concentrated mostly in spending on equipment and information technology services.

It is expected that spending on communications and information technology services will grow by more than (10%) in 2014, due to large investments from the government and private sectors, and it is also expected that the communications and information technology services market will witness strong growth in demand for the latest technology products and protection and information security programs, along with increasing interest in modern technologies and interactive applications, in line with new developments in technology, information, and communications networks; this will lead to growing direct investment in communications and information technology services and related support services.

Al-Darrab noted that the sector has continued its growth and expansion successfully according to the needs dictated by each stage. He added that "the current stage has witnessed the emergence of a need to provide more options for communications and information technology service users in the Kingdom, and to double the care given to subscribers, improve services, and create more innovation and diversity in packages; the Commission has responded to this need by taking a number of steps, most importantly opening the market to provide Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) services, and licenses have been handed to two operators in the past few days, with the application document for obtaining a license for a third operator being issued, bringing the number of mobile communications service providers in the Kingdom to five operators, and this number is expected to increase to 6 operators when a third virtual operator license is granted."

Regarding the performance of the communications and information technology sector in the Kingdom, Al-Darrab explained that the sector still maintains a penetration rate classified among the highest globally regarding the spread of mobile communications services, reaching (170%) by the end of 2013, and by the end of the same year the internet penetration rate exceeded 55% of the population, compared to 5% in 2001, while the number of subscriptions to broadband services via mobile and fixed communications networks exceeded 17 million subscriptions.

Regarding the deployment of services in remote and commercially unprofitable areas, Al-Darrab said that the generous support from the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques -may God preserve him- has enabled the Commission to continue its work in launching universal service fund projects aimed at providing voice services and broadband internet services in remote and commercially unprofitable areas, noting that the projects that were launched previously in successive stages, along with 3 projects recently put out to competition among companies qualified to provide voice communications services and broadband internet services, will serve a number of population clusters located in 94 governorates, covering all regions of the Kingdom.

The strong support provided by the government for high-tech projects requiring good digital infrastructure had a notable impact on increasing the level of demand for broadband services, and it has also become noticeably apparent year after year that many government procedures are now conducted through electronic government transactions, while demand for internet services is expected to witness a notable rise in the coming few years as a result of the availability of fiber optic networks (FTTx) and the high speeds they provide, and the increasing supporting and facilitating factors for internet content, and the spread of smart handheld devices and the programs and applications they contain that depend on internet connectivity.