Saudi Arabia is leading the rollout of 5G in the Middle East and North Africa, says the GSMA’s news Mobile Economy Report for the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) 2022. The revelation is one the one of the many conversations to be had at Mobile 360 Riyadh, a two-day conference hosted by the GSMA. The event is also significant for being the first, post-Covid in-person gathering of the telecoms industry in the MENA region.
The report also explores how Saudi Arabia has evolved into a digital hub and a leader in the regional transition to 5G, a position enabled by positive regulation, government funding and projects such as stc’s MENA HUB – a $1 billion investment in regional connectivity and infrastructure that will support Saudi Arabia’s rapidly expanding digital and cloud sector.
The report predicts that the dominant 4G networks of today will peak in 2023 as consumers transition to 5G. By 2025, 5G will account for nearly a fifth of total mobile connections in MENA but currently there are around 15 million 5G connections eight MENA countries. Meanwhile, the number of mobile internet users in MENA swelled to over 300 million in 2021.
In Saudi Arabia, 60 of the 136 governates were covered by 5G services as of mid-2021, up from 30 just one year earlier. In addition, the telcos stc and Zain have built commercial 5G Stand Alone (SA) networks in Saudi Arabia to cater to the most demanding industrial scale use cases. The operator stc has also launched 5G SA in Kuwait.
“Covid-19 made mobile networks instrumental for social and economic activity. Now it’s time to drive economic recovery and promote sustainable development,” said Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA.
The key themes at Mobile 360 Riyadh will be Expanding the Boundaries of Technology; Urban Innovation in Action and Digital Policies for a Digital Future. Additional debates include a discussion on What Next for the Mobile Sector and dedicated sessions on FinTech, Smart Cities, Spectrum and Sustainability.
Mobile 360 Riyadh is hosted by sponsor stc. Other sponsors include Neom, Cisco, Ericsson, Evina, Huawei, Digis Squared, Ookla, Protei, PXS, SES, Syniverse, Technotree and Viavi.
Source: https://www.mobileeurope.co.uk/saudi-arabia-leads-on-5g-rollout-gsma/