A large market in population size, the telecommunications sector in Saudi Arabia has begun to display growth in some areas comparable to a number of its neighbouring countries in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).
Since 2005 private investment has begun to be introduced in the mobile-phone sector. Long-standing constraints on foreign investment have significantly contributed to the more limited development of telecoms and information technology (IT) in the kingdom.
However, telecoms services are poised to become one of the most dynamic sectors in Saudi Arabia. The state-owned Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) has been carrying out major land-line and information technology (IT) infrastructure work countrywide, taking over some of the functions previously subsumed within the relevant ministry.
The Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology is beginning to oversee the deregulation of the industry and has allowed a second telecoms operator to operate in the mobile-phone sector. Under this contract, a consortium headed by a non-Saudi company began operation in 2005.
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