RIYADH - The Communications and Information Technology Commission announced today, Thursday, on the sidelines of the international technical conference “LEAP22”, which is being hosted by the Kingdom in the capital Riyadh during the period (1-3) this February, the commercial launch of virtual mobile communications services “MVNO”, for each From “Integrated Mobile Telecommunications Company Limited” and “Future Networks for Communications Company”, bringing the number of companies operating virtual mobile communications services “MVNO” to four companies since the availability of this type of licenses.

The Deputy Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission for Regulation and Competition, Eng. Omar bin Abdul Rahman Al-Rajaji, explained that the commercial launch of virtual mobile communication services comes after the two companies granted the necessary licenses to provide voice communication services and Internet services in the Kingdom, in addition to a number of mobile communication services that include: text messages. Short term, voice mail, media services and others, without the default service provider owning any towers or frequencies, indicating that the provision of services depends on renting or purchasing capacities from service providers with infrastructure, and then providing services to subscribers.

The licensing of virtual mobile communications services comes within the authority’s plans to enhance and stimulate the investment environment of the telecommunications sector in the Kingdom, enhance the level of competitiveness in the sector and improve the users’ experience by providing them with additional options, in line with the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 by transforming into a digital society, in addition to stimulating the investment environment. For the telecommunications sector, which is reflected in the level of competitiveness in the sector and the attraction of local and international investors, thanks to the many incentives that the telecommunications sector in the Kingdom enjoys, in return for its strong digital infrastructure, which was reflected in the expansion of the spread of services, and the prosperity of the sector’s markets.

It is noteworthy that the ICT sector in the Kingdom is the largest in the Middle East and North Africa, where the market size at the end of 2021 amounted to 144 billion riyals.