Saudi telecoms regulator offers new broadband satellite license

Saudi Arabia’s Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has started offering on Sunday a new broadband satellite license to expand the service to remote regions, the regulator said in a statement.

Companies eligible for bidding for the license include Saudi Telecom Co. (STC), Mobily, Zain KSA and Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Co., the ITC (Integrated Telecom Co.), and Bayant Al-Oula Co.

“This step is part of the 2020 National Transformation Plan of the telecom sector,” said Abdulaziz Al-Ruwais, Governor of CITC. The kingdom “encourages investment in infrastructure in order to expand the wireless broadband coverage to 70 percent of the homes in remote areas by 2020.”

The project will provide services to more than 140,000 people in villages and towns in 13 regions across the kingdom.