The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) signed an agreement with STC to implement the third phases of the initiative to stimulate investment in the deployment of telecommunications and broadband wireless services in remote areas across various villages and abandoned areas in KSA.
The Agreement signed by His Excellency Engineer Eng. Abdullah AlKanhal, Deputy Minister for Communications and Digital Infrastructure, and Engineer Abdullah A. Alzmame, Infrastructure VP at STC, in the presence of a number of officials.
In this respect, His Excellency Engineer Abdullah Al-Sawah affirmed that the conclusion of such an agreement constitutes part of the efforts exerted by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to provide all KSA regions with required telecommunications and broadband services within the framework of the Saudi Vision 2030, which is based on key themes, aimed at building a vibrant society, a thriving economy and an ambitious nation and includes several programs, namely the National Transformation Program 2020 intended to achieve the strategic objectives of this Vision, which entrusted MCIT with the strategic goal to enhance the digital economy through the development of the digital infrastructure necessary to create desired digital community, government and economy.
AlSawah stressed the important of the Initiative to stimulate investment in the deployment of telecommunications and broadband wireless services in remote areas as one of the key initiatives aimed at achieving the objective of developing the digital economy in partnership with the private sector in order to accelerate the deployment of the wireless and high-speed telecommunications and broadband network (at speeds exceeding 10 Mbps) to cover more than 70% of homes in villages and abandoned areas by 2020, in addition to stimulating investment in infrastructure on concessional terms, while developing necessary organizational and technical tools and frameworks, and providing operators with required support to implement the deployment of the telecommunications and broadband network in remote areas.
Hence, the Initiative aims at addressing the villages and abandoned areas’ urgent need for high-speed Internet networks, as well as increasing its coverage in remote regions, in which it only reaches 1%, and encouraging limited investment in village and abandoned areas’ telecommunications networks to ensure the continued provision of Internet services.
The implementation of the third phases of the Agreement aims at covering 444,076 homes, thus benefiting more than 2.5 million citizens and resident in more than 3 thousand villages and abandoned areas scattered in numerous KSA regions, namely Riyadh, Al-Qassim, Mecca, Medina, Al Bahah, Tabuk, Jizan, Ha’il, Asir and Najran, to carry on with the development and growth of the country, thus contributing to building an ambitious digital nation. The Agreement reflects STC’s commitment to play a pivotal role in enabling the digital transformation of the public and private sectors all in accordance with the Saudi Vision 2030.
It is worth mentioning that this Initiative implemented in several phases. In this respect, the first one was completed upon the deployment of the wireless network in remote areas in March 2017, which covered more than 16% of homes, thus including 128,000 homes and benefiting more than 700,000 citizens and residents in more than 700 villages and abandoned areas across Riyadh, Eastern Province, Mecca, Asir, Northern Borders and Al Jawf.
Source: Press Release