Telecommunication in Saudi Arabia
The development of telecommunications in Saudi Arabia is roughly equivalent to the average of the European Union. Under the country code +966, there were a total of 46.68 m connections in 2019. Among them were 41.30 m million mobile phones, which corresponds to an average of 1.2 per person. In the EU, this figure is 1.2 mobile phones per person.In the expansion of broadband Internet connections, Saudi Arabia is back. Around 96% of all residents have access to the Internet. Approximately 20% have their own fast Internet connection, which is at least faster than the previous ISDN (more than 2048 kbit/s).
With about 145,941 webhosts, Saudi Arabia is below the world's average by population.
Back to overview: Saudi Arabia
Development of telephone and internet connections
With an average download speed of 82.44 Mbit/second for fixed-network broadband internet, Saudi Arabia ranked 50th in an international comparison. The upload rate of only 27.07 Mbit/second was significantly lower (68th place). The quality of the Internet, consisting of signal fluctuations (jitter) and latency, is very far ahead at 18th place.In mobile internet, i.e. on tablets and smartphones, Saudi Arabia comes 5th with a download speed of 119.06 Mbit/second. The upload speed of around 21 Mbit was enough for 9th place.
The "Speedtest Global Index" published regularly by Ookla is based on several million individual measurements in Februar 2021 from 175 countries.
The following diagrams show the development of the various telephone and Internet connections as a percentage of the country's population. Values above 100% mean that, on average, every inhabitant has more than one connection.
Access to the Internet in Saudi Arabia from 1990 - 2019
Broadband internet in Saudi Arabia 2001 - 2019
Landlines 1990 - 2019
Mobile phones 1990 - 2019
| Spreading in 2019 | Saudi Arabia Total | Saudi Arabia percent | EU Total | EU percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 32.80 m | 95.72 % | 382.31 m | 85.43 % |
| Broadband users | 6.80 m | 19.85 % | 158.30 m | 35.37 % |
| Landlines | 5.38 m | 15.69 % | 165.48 m | 36.98 % |
| Mobile cellulars | 41.30 m | 120.51 % | 542.60 m | 121.25 % |