H.E. Eng. Abdullah Alswaha, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Chairman of the CST’s Board of Directors announced the success of CST’s Operational Plan for This Hajj Season 2024, indicating that this success is the result of the unlimited support from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the direct follow-up of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince of the Prime Minister.
H.E. explained that digital infrastructure and technology played a vital role in serving and enhancing the overall Hajj experience for pilgrims, while also ensuring their health and safety. Modern technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have enabled governmental entities to offer reliable services, showcasing pioneering global models in serving pilgrims by harnessing AI to manage the crowd, support decision-making, and facilitating virtual healthcare access, along with using drones and the Internet of Things (IoT) to assist with transportation decision-making.
Alswaha commended the efforts of the industry’s staff in both government entities and telecom service providers that served pilgrims and facilitated their Hajj journey.
CST Governor stated that the unlimited support from the leadership resulted in the recording of exceptional network performance levels across more than (6200) telecom towers, with 5G towers surpassing 4,000 towers, reflecting an impressive 37% increase compared to 2023, while the Wi-Fi points exceeded 10500 points in Makkah AlMukarramahand AlMadina AlMunawarahand the Holy Sites.
H.E. the Governor also added that the total data consumption reached 65.47 thousand TB, equivalent to watching 26.82millionhours of 1080p HD video clips, with internet download speeds exceeded 341.6 Mbit/s, while the voice calls total exceeded 337 million calls with a success increase of 99%, as a result of the developed network infrastructure and the availability of WiFi networks.
Source: https://www.cst.gov.sa/en/mediacenter/pressreleases/Pages/2024061801.aspx