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 48.96 m connections in 2020. Among them were 43.22 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 98% of all residents have access to the Internet. Approximately 23% 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 92.25 Mbit/second for fixed-network broadband internet, Saudi Arabia ranked 50th in an international comparison. The upload rate of only 37.04 Mbit/second was significantly lower (57th place). The quality of the Internet, consisting of signal fluctuations (jitter) and latency, is very far ahead at 20th place.In mobile internet, i.e. on tablets and smartphones, Saudi Arabia comes 4th with a download speed of 160.40 Mbit/second. The upload speed of around 24 Mbit was enough for 6th place.
The "Speedtest Global Index" published regularly by Ookla is based on several million individual measurements in Mai 2021 from 180 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 - 2020
Broadband internet in Saudi Arabia 2001 - 2020
Landlines 1990 - 2020
Mobile phones 1990 - 2020
| Distribution in 2020 | Saudi Arabia Total | Saudi Arabia percent | EU Total | EU percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 34.07 m | 97.86 % | 393.46 m | 87.87 % |
| Broadband users | 7.89 m | 22.66 % | 162.67 m | 36.33 % |
| Landlines | 5.75 m | 16.51 % | 159.99 m | 35.73 % |
| Mobile cellulars | 43.22 m | 124.13 % | 541.96 m | 121.03 % |