India Broadband Forum

India Broadband Internet

Saudi Arabia: Next big market for 3G services

Saudi Arabia is due to license a third telecom operator by the end of this year. This move is expected to provide tremendous potential for third-generation mobile-phone use.

Nokia is one of the nations looking at this segment in Saudi Arabia. Walid Moneimne, senior vice-president for Europe, Middle East and Africa at handset manufacturer Nokia said in a statement: “It’s a key indicator that definitely it is happening. We’re talking about phenomenal development … and the Middle East and Africa are going to be the fastest in the world.”

Saudi Telecom is currently the biggest mobile service provider in the country and they just recently rolled out its 3G service last month. The only other player Mobily has also launched similar services in the country.

The market is yet to see a deep penetration of internet services. This gives a huge opportunity to the mobile operators to take advantage of the situation to sell 3G mobile phones in the country.