The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has launched an initiative to provide 60,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots in some public locations across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with telecom providers in the Kingdom. These locations include hospitals, malls, public parks and the Two Holy Mosques. The initiative includes providing free access to the public Wi-Fi network for each service provider for a period of up to two hours per day to a large number of beneficiaries and visitors of public places in a number of Saudi cities. CITC has worked with telecom providers to implement this initiative through several phases, and will continue oversight of the execution phase of this initiative, which is carried out by service providers. This phase includes fulfilling CITC's requirements, including unifying the network name for these free, facilitating user entry, and providing coverage maps that showcase all free Wi-Fi points across the country. Governor of CITC Dr. Mohammad Bin Saud Al-Tamimi stated, "This initiative comes within the commission's keenness to spread communication and information technology services across the Kingdom, which reflects the development of the ICT infrastructure in the Kingdom and contributes to achieving CITC's strategic mission to enable the Kingdom's transformation into a digital society." The Kingdom is one of the leading countries to spread ICT services and enable digital transformation as one of the main pillars to enable economic prosperity and achieve the Kingdom's Vision 2030. — SPA
