Ashraf AboArfe
Saudi Arabia’s efforts to reallocate the frequency spectrum for mobile services and stimulate investment in wireless infrastructure amounting to 40 billion riyals over the past three years, making it among the fastest 10 countries in the world in the speed of “Internet” through mobile networks, and is ranked second in the G20 In providing spectrum to provide mobile telecommunications services.
For years, the Kingdom was among the lowest rates in the world in terms of “internet” speed, and it was ranked late in the world in the quality of performance of this pivotal and necessary service in our time. The last of those years was in the year 2017 AD when the Kingdom was ranked 105th in the world at a rate. Speed does not exceed 7Mbps; This is not commensurate with the value and the regional and global roles played by the Kingdom.
Since that date, the Kingdom has sought to employ all its capabilities. To change this reality, especially with the increasing pivotal roles of the global network “the Internet” and the intensity of its adhesion to the contemporary daily life of all societies, forming the first precursors to a new global revolution that was later called the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
To keep pace with this global movement, His Highness, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz launched the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and a number of visions and initiatives emerged from it. Among its main goals was to support the process of “digital transformation” at all levels, and to create a strong and distinctive digital infrastructure that works to empower That march, and it supports and stimulates the governmental and private sectors; To align its operating system with digital transformation plans.
In conjunction with this movement, the Communications and Information Technology Commission launched an initiative to redistribute what is physically known as the “frequency spectrum”, which is one of the limited natural resources that the Kingdom possesses, and is used in industries and modern wireless technologies, mainly in wireless communications, in addition to monitoring, control, sensing, and wireless transmission systems, among others. .
In coordination with government and private agencies, and with the support of the National Transformation Program, it liberated more than 800 MHz of frequency spectrum from obsolete uses, and redistributed them; To be available for commercial use by mobile service providers for use in increasing the capacity of wireless networks and improving service quality.
During the period (2017-2019), the TRA held four public auctions for the frequency spectrum, during which the total frequencies allocated to mobile communications networks increased from 260 MHz to 1110 MHz, which led to an increase in the average download speed of the “Internet” via mobile networks more than 10 times (from 7 megabits per second in mid-2017 to more than 97 megabits per second by the end of 2020 AD), and the Kingdom became among the fastest 10 countries in the world in the speed of “Internet” through mobile networks, and is ranked second in the Group of Twenty in providing spectrum to provide services Mobile communication.
The reallocation of the frequency spectrum for mobile services in the Kingdom contributed to stimulating investment in wireless infrastructure by an amount of 40 billion riyals over the past three years, with which the non-oil revenues from the public auctions held by the authority exceeded more than 10 billion riyals.
And due to the importance of this limited resource and working to maximize national benefit from it; The Kingdom has published a roadmap for the commercial and innovative use of the frequency spectrum (2021-2023), which includes providing more than 22 GHz for the innovative and smart wireless uses of the spectrum. With the aim of supporting and enabling the adoption of the fifth generation technologies of mobile communications, the sixth generation of “Wi-Fi”, wireless high-speed networks, satellite systems for broadband services, and the “Internet of Things” and artificial intelligence with the services and smart options that can be used in applications that include Smart homes and meters, connected cars, fleet management (vehicles or robots) and other applications, as well as the availability of multiple frequency bands; For the purpose of experimenting and developing emerging and advanced radio technologies and systems such as high-altitude platforms and intelligent wireless transport systems, in addition to providing sufficient frequency bands to enhance digital broadcasting in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom contributes to this initiative, which aims to provide and allocate this unprecedented amount of frequencies for commercial and innovative uses by establishing a pioneering approach, regionally and internationally, to enable the multiplicity of wireless technologies used for a limited bandwidth, and to enable their coexistence and coexistence in its use, which enables the optimal use of this limited resource in light of the huge number Various wireless applications, systems and uses, and the great acceleration in their development to make their use necessary in all areas of daily life.
This progressive approach adopted by the authority in managing this critical resource enables the acceleration of the adoption of many wireless technologies for various purposes and uses in various sectors and industries, and contributes to the creation of the advanced digital environment and infrastructure necessary to move the Kingdom towards a digital future society in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
This initiative will include a plan to offer several frequency bands through public auctions during the current and next year, and in these auctions, the authority will offer several frequency bands of high economic value that will enable improvement of services provided to the public, and place the Kingdom as the most country in the world to allocate the frequency spectrum for fifth generation services.
