Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission Announces the Success of the Commission's Plan for This Year's Hajj 1437H

His Excellency Dr. Abdulaziz bin Salem Al-Ruwais, Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission, announced the success of the operational plan for the communications and information technology sector for this year's Hajj season 1437H. Al-Ruwais said that this year witnessed a significant increase in the use of communications and information technology by the guests of the Most Merciful, and noted that the preparations and plans for this year's Hajj season had been implemented, praise be to God, in an outstanding and successful manner and according to what was planned, in cooperation with telecommunications companies and government and private entities related to the Hajj season.

Al-Ruwais affirmed that this success would not have been achieved without God, and then the support and guidance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz – may God preserve him –, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Supreme Hajj Committee, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Crown Prince, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, and with the support and follow-up of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Suwayel, Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Chairman of the Commission's Board of Directors.

Al-Ruwais said that the number of successful calls during the period from 1-13 Dhu al-Hijjah 1437H (according to the Umm al-Qura calendar) in the cities of Makkah and Madinah exceeded 826 million calls, with the average number of subscribers on mobile telecommunications service providers' networks in Makkah reaching approximately 5 million subscribers per day and more than 900,000 foreign SIM cards connected to local networks, while the average number of subscribers in Madinah reached more than 1.7 million subscribers per day and more than 160,000 foreign SIM cards connected to local networks.

Al-Ruwais explained that network performance recorded, praise be to God, high levels, with the call success indicator exceeding 99% in both Makkah and Madinah, while the rate of failure to connect to the network and the rate of call drops during calls remained at normal levels.

The Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission noted that data traffic volume exceeded 13,000 terabytes compared to 4,000 terabytes during last year's Hajj season (1436H), meaning that data usage during this year's season increased more than threefold compared to last year's season. This is a result of the availability of advanced infrastructure from 3G networks and increased 4G mobile network capacities, in addition to the availability of Wi-Fi networks.

Al-Ruwais concluded his remarks by thanking the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz – may God preserve him –, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Supreme Hajj Committee, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Crown Prince, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Governor of the Makkah Region and Chairman of the Central Hajj Committee, and His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Madinah Region, for the support and guidance the sector receives from them, especially during the Hajj season.

He also prayed to God to accept the pilgrims' Hajj, and to return them safely to their families and homelands.