30 March 2017

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) and Zain Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to execute the first high-speed Mobile Broadband project in rural areas.

Zain Saudi Arabia was awarded the project following the approval of the CITC’s Board of Directors earlier this month.

Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Rwais, Governor of CITC, and Prince Naif Bin Sultan Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Kabeer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zain Saudi Arabia, signed the agreement in the CITC headquarters in Riyadh.

Prince Naif offered his gratitude to Dr. Mohammed Al-Suwaiyel, Minister of the Communication and Information Technology, and Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Rwais for their trust in granting Zain this important project after competing with the other Saudi telecom operators.

He also hailed the CITC’s efforts to achieve the sector’s objectives in the National Transformation Program 2020, adding that Zain is fully committed in these efforts in order to play its role in the transformation program.

Eng. Sultan Abdulaziz Al-Deghaither, Chief Technology Officer at Zain Saudi Arabia, said “this first phase of the project targets providing the high-speed MBB services to villages and provinces in Majmaa, Rmah, Hafer Albatin, Garyat Al Olya, Qriat, Domat Aljandal, Skaka, Tabarjal, Alowgliya, Rfhaa, Traif, and Arar.”

Al-Deghaither added “Zain’s investment on its network infrastructure will enable us to adopt the latest and most advanced technologies in this project. This project will be executed with the highest commitment and maximum priority to contribute in the achievement of the National Transformation Program 2020 and Kingdom’s Vision 2030.”

MBB project in rural areas will ensure providing high-speed MBB services to rural areas in the Kingdom, by supporting infrastructure investments and increasing the MBB coverage in the rural areas in the country to 70% to serve more than 140,000 users.

© The Saudi Gazette 2017