Saudi Arabia is tops in the world in 5G speeds, beating out South Korea by a significant margin as the Kingdom unveiled its plans to become a a 5G regulator, according to reports.
Saudi Arabia was the fastest among 15 countries surveyed by industry tracker Opensignal, which tracked data between July 1 and September 28 those countries with 5G networks, a report from IANS news said. Saudi Arabia delivered an average 5G download speed of 377.2 Mbps.
South Korea’s 5G download speed is the world’s second fastest, behind Saudi Arabia, reaching an average speed of 336.1 megabits per second (Mbps).
Saudi Arabia regulatory body for the industry, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), revealed it is “on track to becoming a 5G regulator, while unveiling a strategy to leverage multiple facets of communications and technologies to spur the telecoms sector,” a report in developingtelecoms.com said.
In a statement, the CITC said it will progress from a telecoms regulator to a digital one. Under this new direction, it will work to drive innovation through regulatory processes by combining postal services, telecommunication, IT and emerging technologies. All to create an “essential digital ecosystem” and “attractive communications infrastructure” for Saudi Arabia, the report said.
The watchdog also said its progression to being classed as a 5G regulator by UN agency the International Telecommunications Union is on track, a classification it noted as “reserved for the world’s most advanced and high-performing ICT regulators.” Saudi Arabia aimed to become one of the top 20 countries for telecommunications and IT by 2030, by improving the sector’s performance and its contribution to GDP.
“The digitalization of the world’s economy has significantly accelerated in 2020. Our new strategy aims to place Saudi Arabia among the world’s best when it comes to implementing and regulating new digital technologies across all sectors,” Mohammed Al Tamimi, CITC governor said.
“We are one of the most tech-savvy and connected nations in the world and CITC, as the national regulator, must ensure that the digital infrastructure and regulatory framework reflects this. Saudi Arabia has already received international recognition for our achievements in the ICT sector and, with this new direction, we will be able to accomplish even more.”
