Saudi Arabia Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Last updated: 25 Mar 2022 Update History

Report Pages: 150

Analyst: Sebastien De Rosbo

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Saudi focus on Vision 2030 program reaping rewards

Saudi Arabia’s telecom and ICT sectors continue to benefit from the range of programs aimed at diversifying the economy away from a dependence on oil, and establishing a wider digital transformation over the next decade. An essential element of this has been the widening reach of 5G networks, which by mid-2021 reached about half of the population and the majority of cities.

The competitive mobile sector is serviced by Saudi Telecom Company (stc), Mobily, and Zain KSA, as also four licensed MVNOs. The MNOs have focussed investment on upgrading LTE infrastructure and further developing 5G. This in part is aimed at generating additional revenue from mobile data services, and also to their contribution to the Vision 2030 program.

The ongoing pandemic has resulted in more people working and schooling from home during periods of restricted travel. This has stimulated growth in mobile data traffic, while the government has encouraged non-cash transactions and so helped develop the vast e-commerce market.

While Saudi Arabia’s fixed broadband penetration remains relatively low, there has been a concentration of fibre infrastructure and the Kingdom has developed one of the fastest services in the region.

BuddeComm notes that the outbreak of the pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains all around the world. During this time, the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device and ICT equipment production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to source necessary equipment or manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure. Overall progress towards 5G may also be postponed or slowed down in some countries. On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services is likely to be impacted by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. In contrast, the demand for mobile and broadband services is expected to rise, as more citizens will require online services for work, entertainment, education, tele-health, and social purposes.

This valuable BuddeComm report provides analyses, information, industry statistics and insights into in Saudi Arabia’s progressive telecoms sector.

Key developments:

e& proposes raising its stake in Mobily to 50%;
Public Investment Fund reduces its stake in stc to 64%;
Zain KSA extends 5G coverage to 51 cities;
Regulator extends assessment period for auction of 450MHz spectrum;
Saudi Arabia climbs in the Digital Infrastructure Index 2020 league table;
Mobily cancels scheme to merge its mobile towers with those of Zain KSA;
Regulator awards two more MVNO licenses;
Open network access rules come into force, helping develop the fibre broadband sector;
Two additional cable systems to be added to the Blue-Raman cable system;
MCIT expecting to raise $18 billion for data centre expansion project by 2030;
Saudi Arabia continues implementing strategies as part of its the Vision 2030 program;
Report update includes telcos’ financial and operating data to Q4 2021, regulator’s market data updates to June 2021, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of the pandemic on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report include:

Saudi Telecom Company (stc), Integrated Telecom Company (ITC), GO Telecom/Etihad Atheeb, Mobily/Etihad Etisalat/Bayanat Al-Oula, Zain KSA, Virgin Mobile Saudi Arabia, Arabsat.

Key statistics
Country overview
Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Economic considerations and responses
Subscribers
Infrastructure

Telecommunications market

Market overview
Market analysis

Universal licenses
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030

Regulatory environment

Historic overview
Regulatory authority
Telecom sector liberalisation
Fixed-line developments

Licenses
Interconnect and access
Universal service

Mobile network developments

Licenses
Roaming
Mobile Termination Rate (MTR)
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
Fingerprinting law
Spectrum

Mobile market

Mobile statistics

Mobile voice

Mobile infrastructure

Tower sharing
5G
4G (LTE)
3G
Satellite mobile
NB-IoT
Mobile data
Mobile broadband

Major mobile operators

Saudi Telecom Company (stc)
Mobily (Etihad Etisalat)
Zain Saudi Arabia
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)

Mobile content and applications

M-banking and m-payments

Fixed-line broadband market

Market overview

Market analysis

Fixed-line broadband technologies

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks

Integrated Telecom Company (ITC)

Other fixed broadband services

Fixed network operators

Saudi Telecom Company (stc)

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
International infrastructure (satellite, submarine)

Terrestrial cable networks
Submarine cable networks
Satellite networks

Smart infrastructure

Data centres, cloud computing
Blockchain
Artificial Intelligence
Smart grids
Smart cities

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related Reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top-level country statistics and regulatory authorities – Saudi Arabia – 2021 (e)
Table 2 – Saudi Arabia - GDP and inflation – 2012 – 2022
Table 3 – Development of mobile, fixed-line, and total telecom revenue (SAR billion) – 2012 – 2020
Table 4 – Change in fixed and mobile voice and SMS traffic – 2012 – 2018
Table 5 – Change in the number of mobile numbers ported – 2012 – 2019
Table 6 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 7 – Change in the number of prepaid and contract subscribers (million) – 2012 – 2019
Table 8 – Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2018
Table 9 – Change in the number of prepaid mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Table 10 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 11 – Change in the number of mobile broadband subscriptions by type (million) – 2015 – 2019
Table 12 – Change in the number of Mobily’s mobile subscribers – 2006 – 2017
Table 13 – Development of Mobily’s financial data (SAR billion) – 2012 – 2021
Table 14 – Development of Zain KSA’s financial data ($ million) – 2012 – 2021
Table 15 – Development of Zain KSA’s mobile ARPU – 2012 – 2021
Table 16 – Change in the number of Zain KSA’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 17 – Growth in the number of Zain's base stations – 2012 – 2020
Table 18 – Growth in the number of internet users – 2015 – 2022
Table 19 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 20 – Change in the number of fixed broadband subscriptions by platform (million) – 2012 – 2019
Table 21 – Development of stc Group’s financial data (SAR billion) – 2012 – 2021
Table 22 – Development of stc Group’s operating profit and net profit (SAR billion) – 2012 – 2021
Table 23 – Change in the number of fixed-lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 24 – International internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2020
Table 25 – Historic - Saudi Arabia - fixed lines in service – 1996 – 2011
Table 26 – Historic - Saudi Arabia - mobile, fixed-line and total telecoms revenue of service providers (SAR billion) – 2001 – 2011
Table 27 – Historic - mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1996 – 2011
Table 28 – Historic - Mobily revenue – 2006 – 2011
Table 29 – Historic - stc Group revenue and net profit (SAR billion) – 2005 – 2011
Table 30 – Historic - Saudi Arabia - prepaid subscribers – 2002 – 2011
Table 31 – Historic - Saudi Arabia - major mobile operators’ market share – 2005 – 2011
Table 32 – Historic - Saudi Arabia - fixed broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2011
Table 33 – Historic - Development of Zain KSA’s financial data ($ million) – 2009 – 2011
Table 34 – Historic - Change in the number of Zain KSA’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2011
Table 35 – Historic - Development of stc Group’s operating profit and net profit (SAR billion) – 2009 – 2011

List of Charts

Chart 7 – Development of mobile, fixed-line, and total telecom revenue – 2012 – 2020
Chart 8 – Change in fixed and mobile voice and SMS traffic – 2012 – 2018
Chart 9 – Change in the number of mobile numbers ported – 2012 – 2019
Chart 10 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 11 – Change in the number of prepaid and contract subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Chart 12 – Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2018
Chart 13 – Change in the number of prepaid mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Chart 14 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 15 – Change in the number of mobile broadband subscriptions by type – 2015 – 2019
Chart 16 – Development of Mobily’s financial data – 2012 – 2021
Chart 17 – Development of Zain KSA’s financial data – 2012 – 2021
Chart 18 – Change in the number of Zain KSA’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 19 – Growth in the number of internet users – 2015 – 2022
Chart 20 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 21 – Change in the number of fixed broadband subscriptions by platform – 2012 – 2019
Chart 22 – Development of stc Group’s financial data – 2012 – 2021
Chart 23 – Development of stc Group’s operating profit and net profit – 2012 – 2021
Chart 24 – Change in the number of fixed-lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Chart 25 – International internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2020

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 5 – Submarine cables in-service in Saudi Arabia
Exhibit 6 – 2Africa landing stations

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Saudi Arabia Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Saudi focus on Vision 2030 program reaping rewards

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report include:

Key statistics

Country overview

Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Fixed network operators

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related Reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views