Page 73 - SAMENA Trends - March-April 2022

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

World-First Trial of 5G HAPS Technology Takes Place in Saudi Arabia in the

Red Sea Project

altitude and providing a clear and evenly
distributed signal, HAPS enables additional
capabilities, including the Internet of
Things (IOT), emergency communications,
disaster recovery, temporary coverage for
events and tourist hotspots, and terrestrial
site backhaul. “The success of the trial in
Saudi Arabia’s western coast had many
challenges” noted Richard Deakin, CEO
of Stratospheric Platforms. “Now that the
5G HAPS technology has been proven,
the question is one of further commercial
UK company Stratospheric Platforms Saudi Arabia’s ICT sector. The deployment development. This is why having a diverse
Limited (SPL), a partner of German of HAPS in the Kingdom has been made consortium such as ours, which includes
telecommunications company Deutsche possible by an enabling ICT ecosystem strong government support, is essential to
Telekom (DT) has successfully trialed and strong government support. This the continued realization of the program.”
pioneering technology that provides 5G successful demonstration puts us at the Technology advancements in Saudi
network coverage from the stratosphere. technological frontier globally and takes us Arabia are being driven by the country’s
Conducted on February 5th at The Red Sea closer to our Vision 2030 goal of extending Vision 2030, a whole-of-society program
Project site on Saudi Arabia’s western coast, high-quality ICT access to every part of designed around economic diversification.
the test was the world’s first demonstration the country.” HAPS are radio stations Recent ICT initiatives include allocating
of the High-Altitude Platform System located on an object flying or floating more than 23 GHz of frequency spectrum
(HAPS) using aircraft to extend a 5G in the stratospheric layer. Stratospheric for commercial and innovative uses, the
service, covering a geographical area of Platforms Limited used a German- launch of regulatory sandbox projects,
450 km2. The trial was facilitated by Saudi made, long-endurance Grob aircraft for open access for network operators, and
Arabia’s digital regulator, CITC. Speaking the Saudi trial. While HAPS remains an the full-spectrum adoption of the WiFi-6e,
after the successful conclusion of the emerging technology, it can potentially becoming the first country in the EMEA
test, Dr. Mohammed Al Tamimi, Governor bring connectivity to areas that are not region to do so.
of CITC, highlighted the significance of the covered, or are only partially covered,
event: “This is a great accomplishment for by cellular networks. Positioned at high

Saudi Arabia’s ICT Spending to Reach US$32.9 Billion in 2022

a value of $32.1 billion. This came during in terms of its preparedness and response
the 8th edition forum, hosted jointly by to the pandemic, and the pioneering Vision
the Communications and Information 2030 initiative has been a key facilitator of
Technology Commission and International that success,” Hamza Naqshbandi added.
Data Corp., to tackle the current ICT market Since 2017, Saudi Arabia has added 37,000
and Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation telecommunication towers covering about
journey. The global market intelligence 99 percent of the Kingdom's area, with
provider has also described the Saudi ICT the value of its ICT and postal markets
sector as one of the most rapidly growing exceeding SR140 billion ($37 billion) in
Saudi Arabia’s information and markets in the region. "The Kingdom's 2021. In a global context, IDC forecasted
communications technology, or ICT, response to the pandemic was one of that worldwide ICT spending will increase
spending is expected to reach US$32.9 the strongest and most robust that any from $3.86 trillion in 2021 to $5.34 trillion
billion in 2022, a year-on-year growth of economy had to the pandemic," said IDC’s in 2025. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly
2.3 percent, the International Data Corp. associate vice president for Saudi Arabia owned subsidiary of International Data
forecasted. The Saudi ICT sector expanded and Bahrain.” "IDC research shows that Group, a tech media, data and marketing
8 percent between 2019 and 2021, to reach the Kingdom was way ahead of the curve services company.

73 MARCH-APRIL 2022