Saudi telecom spending hits SAR 136 bln in 2017

Saudi Arabia's telecom operators spent a total of SAR 136 billion on telecom and information technology services in 2017, and generated SAR 70 billion in revenue throughout the year, official report showed.

A report published by the industry regulator, The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), showed that the sector's direct and indirect contribution to non-oil economy stood at six and ten percent respectively.

Meanwhile, the number of mobile subscribers dropped 8 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 40.2 million in 2017, with a penetration rate of 126.7 percent.