Frequency Licensing Fees Regulations

Frequency Licensing Fees Regulations, in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers No. (632) dated 15/11/1443H (14/06/2022).

1. Approval of the RegulationsCouncil of Ministers decision No. (632) dated 15/11/1443H (14/06/2022)

The following terms and phrases shall have the meanings assigned thereto, unless the context requires otherwise:

CITC

The Communications and Information Technology Commission.

High-Usage Cities

These cities are: Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Jubail, Dammam, Khobar, and Dhahran.

Other Cities

All other cities, except the High-Usage Cities.

High-Usage Administrative Regions

These administrative regions are: Riyadh Region, Eastern Region, and Makkah Region.

Other Administrative Regions

All administrative regions, except the High-Usage Administrative Regions.

Frequency License

is a permission to use specific frequencies in a wireless station, a geographical area, or a wireless device for a specified period.

Wireless Station License

is a permission to use a specific frequency in a radio station based on standards and technical specifications.

Geographical Area License

is a permission to use a specific frequency in a geographical area at the level of a city, an administrative region, or the Kingdom.

Wireless Device License

is a permission to use frequencies in a wireless device that operates a specific internationally coordinated group of frequencies for a specific radio service.

1. 1

   CITC shall be responsible for calculating, applying and collecting fees for all Frequency Licenses in the Kingdom.

2. 2

   The Frequency License fees in these regulations are calculated based on one Gregorian year.

3. 3

   If a Frequency License term is less than or more than one year, fees shall be calculated in proportion to the number of licensed days.

4. 4

   The minimum annual fee is (2000) SAR for licensing a satellite radio station and (200) SAR for any other licenses.

5. 5

   CITC sets the mechanism for the billings of a Frequency License fee, their due date, the period required to complete the payments, and the procedures in the event of late payments.

6. 6

   CITC has the right to license frequencies using a competitive mechanism. In this case, the Frequency License fees shall be dependent on the outcome of this mechanism.

7. 7

   Calculation of fees for the use of frequencies on a temporary basis is subject to the provisions and regulations issued by CITC in this regard.

8. 8

   CITC has the right to amend the defined High-Usage Cities according to the change of the spectrum density usage in them.

9. 9

   CITC has the right to amend the defined High-Usage Administrative Regions according to the change of the spectrum density usage in them.

1. 1

   With the exception of the licenses mentioned in Articles (4 & 5) hereof, the annual fees for all frequency usage licenses shall be according to the following equation:

   Fee = C × B × F × S × E

   Whereas:

   (C)

   A fixed value that represents the minimum costs of frequency spectrum management and is equal to (200).

   (B)

   The bandwidth factor; the value of this factor is equal to the sum of the transmitter frequency bandwidth in MHz.

   (F)

   The frequency band factor.

   (S)

   The Frequency spectrum service factor.

   (E)

   The Frequency spectrum efficiency factor; the value of this factor in normal cases is (1). CITC has the right to set other values for this factor in some cases according to what CITC perceives to be encouraging for the optimal use of the frequency spectrum.

2. 2
   The Frequency Band (F):

   The values of the frequency band factor shall be according to the table below:

   Frequency band factor values

   Frequency Band	Frequency Band Factor Value
   Up to (230) MHz	250
   Greater than (230) MHz and up to (400) MHz	450
   Greater than (400) MHz and up to (470) MHz	600
   Greater than (470) MHz and up to (694) MHz	125
   Greater than (694) MHz and up to (960) MHz	30
   Greater than (960) MHz and up to (2200) MHz	15
   Greater than (2200) MHz and up to (5925) MHz	4
   Greater than (5925) MHz and up to (10000) MHz	2
   Greater than (10) GHz and up to (19.7) GHz	1
   Greater than (19.7) GHz and up to (30) GHz	0.5
   Greater than (30) GHz and up to (40) GHz	0.25
   Greater than (40) GHz	0.1

3. 3
   Frequency Spectrum Services Factor (S):

   1. a
      Fixed Service:

      The frequency spectrum service factor values for a Wireless Station License operating in the fixed service (point-to-point) in the frequency bands greater than (5925) MHz shall be according to the table below:

      Frequency spectrum service factor values — fixed service (point-to-point)

      Frequency Bandwidth	Frequency Spectrum Service Factor Value
      Less than (50) MHz	0.4
      Greater than or equal to (50) MHz and less than (100) MHz	0.25
      Greater than or equal to (100) MHz and less than (200) MHz	0.15
      Greater than or equal to (200) MHz and less than (500) MHz	0.1
      Greater than or equal to (500) MHz and less than (1000) MHz	0.05
      Greater than or equal to (1000) MHz and less than (2000) MHz	0.035
      Greater than or equal to (2000) MHz	0.02

      The frequency spectrum service factor values for the fixed wireless service (point-to-point or point-to-multipoint) for the frequency bands greater than (5925) MHz for Geographical Area License at the Kingdom level shall be according to the table below:

      Frequency spectrum service factor values — fixed wireless service at the Kingdom level

      Frequency Band	Frequency Spectrum Service Factor Value
      Greater than (5925) GHz and up to (10) GHz	160
      Greater than (10) GHz and up to (19.7) GHz	240
      Greater than (19.7) GHz and up to (30) GHz	400
      Greater than (30) GHz and up to (40) GHz	500
      Greater than (40) GHz	100

      In the event that the geographical area coverage is less than the Kingdom level, the fees shall be reduced according to the ratio between the requested coverage level factor to the Kingdom level factor that can be found in the table under paragraph (d).

   2. b
      Satellite Service:

      The frequency spectrum service factor value for a Wireless Station License operating in the satellite service is (2).

   3. c
      Broadcasting Service:

      The frequency spectrum service factor values for a Wireless Station License operating in the broadcasting service shall be according to the table below:

      Broadcast service factor values

      Frequency Band	Output Power (W)	Broadcast Service Factor Value
      Up to (470) MHz	Less than or equal to (100) W	0.15
      	Greater than (100) W	1
      Greater than (470) MHz	Less than or equal to (1) kW	0.1
      	Greater than (1) kW and less than (10) KW	0.2
      	Greater than or equal to (10) kW	1

   4. d
      Other Frequency Spectrum Services:

      The Frequency Spectrum Services value for Frequency Licenses that operate other frequency services (including private mobile radio (PMR) services) other than the mentioned above, and for other cases to which the articles of the Regulations do not apply, shall be as shown in the table below:

      Frequency spectrum service factor values — other frequency spectrum services

      License Type	Up to (470) MHz			Greater than (470) MHz
      	Output Power less than or Equal to (5) W	Output Power Greater than (5) W and less than (25) W	Output Power Greater than or Equal to (25) W
      A radio station located in “Other Cities”	1	2	3	1
      Radio station located in a “High-Usage Cities”	2	4	8	2
      Geographical area - “Other Cities”	4
      Geographical area - “High-Usage Cities”	12
      Geographical area – “Other Administrative Regions”	15
      Geographical area – “High-Usage Administrative Regions”	30
      Geographical area - at the level of the Kingdom	240

      Scroll the table horizontally to see the remaining columns

The fees for licensing frequency bands specified for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) systems are as follows:

1. 1

   The fees for licensing the use of frequency bands specified for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) systems are determined through a competitive mechanism. Otherwise, the annual fees for licenses to use the frequencies of these frequency bands per MHz in the Kingdom, shall be calculated as shown in the table below. In the event that the geographical coverage is less than the level of the Kingdom, the fees shall be reduced according to the ratio between the required coverage level factor to the Kingdom level factor in the table set out in paragraph (d) under (3) hereof.

2. 2

   CITC updates the frequency bands and their license fees in the table below, at its discretion, and the update is approved by the CITC Board of Directors.

   Annual fees for licensing the frequency bands specified for IMT systems

   Frequency Band (MHz)	Sub-Frequency Bands (MHz)	Annual Fees (SAR/MHz)
   (700)	(703-733)/(758-788)	(2,000,000)
   (800)	(791-821)/(832-862)	(2,000,000)
   (900)	(880-915)/(925-960)	(2,000,000)
   (1500)	(1427-1518)	(1,000,000)
   (1800)	(1710-1785)/(1805-1880)	(1,000,000)
   (1900)	(1880-1920)	(500,000)
   (2000)	(2010-2025)	(500,000)
   (2100)	(1920-1980)/(2110-2170)	(1,000,000)
   (2300)	(2300-2400)	(500,000)
   (2600)	(2500-2690)	(500,000)
   (3500)	(3400-3600)	(500,000)

The fees for Wireless Device Licenses are as follows:

1. 1
   Aeronautical & Meteorological Services:

   The annual fees for a Wireless Device License operating of an internationally coordinated group of frequencies for Aeronautical & Meteorological Services is (SAR 200) per device.

2. 2
   Maritime Services:

   The annual fees for a Wireless Device License operating of an internationally coordinated group of frequencies for maritime services is (SAR 200) per device.

3. 3
   Terminal stations operating in satellite networks:

   The annual fees for a Frequency License operating at terminal stations of a satellite service network is (SAR 10,000) per network.

No fees shall be collected for using frequencies in the following cases:

1. 1

   Low power wireless devices that operate in accordance with CITC approved technical specifications.

2. 2

   Wireless devices for which CITC has issued an approved technical specification and do not require a Frequency License, such as Land-going communications service devices (Barari). Receivers only equipment, satellite receivers, television sets, radio astronomy and remote sensing equipment, and the Global Positioning System (GPS).

3. 3

   Wireless devices used in safety services and internationally coordinated search and rescue systems.

4. 4

   Scientific research purposes.

5. 5

   Any other uses deemed to be exempted under the approval of CITC Board of Directors.

1. 1

   CITC shall be the body responsible for interpreting the texts contained herein. It has the right to issue the necessary decisions to implement the regulations contained herein.

2. 2

   These Regulations shall come into force after (ninety) days from the date of its approval, and any contradicting Frequency License fees’ provisions shall be canceled.

3. 3

   Paragraph 2 of this Article excludes the Frequency Licenses issued prior to the enforcement hereof.