RIYADH — Saudi Arabia ranks third globally and first in the Middle East, Europe and North Africa (EUMENA) region in terms of fifth generation (5G) networks spreading over 30 cities with setting up of more than 5,797 towers. This reflects the great development achieved by the Kingdom's communications and information technology sector in boosting the digital transformation to achieve the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology strove to bring the 5G technology to the Kingdom and thus making it one of the pioneering countries to launch this service in the Middle East and North Africa region countries. The Kingdom launched commercial service of 5G during the second half of 2019, after its participation in the meetings of the International Telecommunication Union and the 3GPP standardization organization to ensure support for the 5G technology for available frequency bands in the Kingdom in addition to the World Radio Conference 2019 (WRC-19). The 5G technology of mobile networks has brought about a qualitative leap in the services provided and is a major possibility for modern applications including smart cities, digital homes, connected vehicles and many other applications of Internet of Things (IoT) technology with different requirements. The 5G technology characteristics is to provide unprecedented speeds in the world of mobile networks, exceeding the speed of data to 10 times the reality of the fourth generation networks, and providing very short response time for immediate applications, along with the ability to use a huge number of devices. At the same time, it provides many applications that cannot be got through 4G networks. During the last Haj season, the ministry deployed, through 5G technology, applications that rely on this technology to serve Haj and Umrah pilgrims. This technology has an active role towards the technical transformation in the Kingdom and the empowerment of the fourth industrial revolution, as well as provision of telehealth including emergency service such as providing first aid under the supervision of a remote medical advisory staff during the phase of handling of the case, its diagnosis and description of treatment, and transfer to the hospital if it is necessary. This technology will add solutions by facilitating the use of artificial intelligence programs to be more reliable in analyzing data in any field, whether industrial, commercial, medical, or service to pilgrims, in addition to the areas of entertainment and sports. With regard to the industrial field, the 5G technology will support building and developing the environment of local industries and smart factories, as most modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, big data, augmented reality, and other technologies depend on instant and immediate communication. In the commercial sector, the 5G technology will transform business areas into a digital world by connecting billions of devices online and opening more business and financial opportunities across the industry, in addition to developing the e-commerce sector using augmented virtual reality to build a realistic shopping experience through virtual stores, as it contributes in developing the transportation industry and logistics services by connecting billions of Internet of Things devices and thus providing greater visibility and control over transport systems. The 5G technology will enhance the entertainment sector through developing augmented reality and virtual reality applications for video and 3D-based games that contribute to its development. In the sports sector, this technology will enable the construction of virtual world applications and smart and rapid communication to develop the sports technology industry. This generation increases the efficiency and development of smart city applications and solutions in order to improve the environmental, social and quality of life aspects. Through this technology, the Kingdom seeks to emerge as the topper among the countries in the region by activating this technology, through implementing many initiatives and early benefit from its gains by opening the field to many advanced technologies that are dependent on them such as the Internet of Things, virtual reality, robots, smart cities, and other future technologies.
