A broadband project aiming to provide high-speed internet access to households in sparsely-populated areas across the Saudi Kingdom is 50% complete ahead of schedule, according to telecoms regulator the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC). A total of 70,000 people across 13 governorates in Riyadh, the eastern region, Al-Jouf and the Northern borders region have benefited from the improved connections, following the broadband rollouts.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, in March 2017 the CITC awarded Phase I of the broadband coverage expansion project to Zain Saudi Arabia. Under the contract, the operator is set to increase high-speed broadband coverage in the Kingdom’s underserved areas to 70% by 2020.