DEVELOPMENT DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY

Introduction

Digital infrastructure is a critical component for countries to grow, and achieve economic and industrial development, and is considered a critical pillar for any advanced economy. It plays a central role in enhancing communication, enabling access, and exchanging data leading to economic development, innovation, productivity, job creation, and overall quality of life improvement.

Therefore, KSA Vision 2030 clearly prioritized the development of the digital infrastructure, as it is one of the most important national economic streams, because of its impact on improving quality of life, uplifting education, healthcare, attracting and developing investment, and other services.

The Kingdom's commitment to the development of digital infrastructure was evident and was represented in its efforts to expand network coverage, improve quality of communication, and stimulate investment, by creating the appropriate regulatory environment and support, building effective partnerships with service providers, supporting the growth of local investors, and setting standards that facilitate the deployment of the broadband network.

Moreover, the digital economy policy issued by the Council of Ministers Resolution No. (267) dated 14/5/1442 AH, highlighted the importance of digital infrastructure by highlighting that it is the "cornerstone of the digital economy". It is an enabler to the access and use of digital services. Therefore, the policy outlined the Kingdom's efforts to ensure high-speed internet to all sectors and segments of society and showcased KSA’s plan to stimulate investment by building strategic partnerships between public sector and service providers, and improve the efficiency of spending and operations through the harmonization and integration of national efforts, leveraging technical solutions, and setting the necessary frameworks for the governance of spending on technology and communications.

The Kingdom made significant leaps in its digital infrastructure in the past few years (e.g., fiber coverage reached 45% of households in 2022 vs 25% in 2017, while MBB speed reached 95Mbps in 2022 vs 11 Mbps in 2017). However, the sector is still facing several challenges. The Kingdom's geographical size and terrain diversity represents a challenge to expanding coverage due to increasing costs. On the other hand, the utilization of existing infrastructure remains limited due to low levels of infrastructure sharing.

Moreover, weak financial incentives to cover remote areas that are sparsely populated, low investment in research and development due to the lack of guidance and support, and limited reliance on renewable energy to operate digital infrastructure, especially data centers, are additional challenges facing the digital infrastructure in the Kingdom.

Finally, the lack of a strategic direction led to weak resilience of the digital infrastructure, low level of content localization, and a dependence on routes outside the Kingdom for Internet traffic.

To address these challenges and achieve the Kingdom's ambitions, there’s a need for the development of a comprehensive and effective policy that addresses these challenges holistically, direct and coordinate efforts related to digital infrastructure and ensure achieving the targets set by the Kingdom for this sector.

This policy has been developed to outline key pillars setting an overarching direction and acting as a reference for relevant stakeholders to harmonize all efforts in the development of the digital infrastructure and underscoring the Kingdom's unwavering commitment to harness the power of digital infrastructure for economic development and a better quality of life. Accordingly, the policy is designed around 5 key pillars: “Connectivity and Coverage”, “Digital Hub”, “Advanced Network Technologies”, “Healthy Digital Infrastructure market”, and “Resilience and Internet Ecosystem”.

Objectives

Scope of Application

Definitions

Policy: Digital infrastructure policy.

MCIT: Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

CST: Communications, Space and Technology Commission

Sector: Communication and information Technology sector

Key Areas: Places located outside the urban area (or what is known as remote) provided that government facilities are available there

Digital infrastructure: A physical system used to provide services including facilities, networks, and devices.

Data Centers: A physical facility that houses data through computer systems and associated components, and includes computing infrastructure required by IT systems, such as servers, data storage systems, and network equipment.

Network technologies: Technologies that allow users to exchange data of all sizes across many modern devices and channels spread over the Internet, including the fifth-generation network, (5G), the Internet of Things (IoT) and others.

Net Neutrality: In principle, it is the concept of equality in the use of applications and services, and internet traffic between local and international content providers, if any.

Resilience: The ability of digital infrastructure to deal with stressful conditions, withstand shocks, continuously adapt, and move quickly enough to overcome the disruptions and crises that appear over time.

Internet Ecosystem: A network of interconnected resources and actors that support the operation, development, and use of the Internet

Digital Divide: The gap between those who have access to and use information communication technologies (ICTs) and those who do not.

Broadband: A means of transmitting information, wired or wirelessly, at high speed and high capacity as well (compared to the capacities available in old telecommunications networks such as the first generation and second-generation mobile networks)

Coverage: The percentage of households that have access to a broadband connectivity service compared to all households in a given area.

Digital Hub: A location with a physical or virtual space that brings together individuals, organizations, and advanced networks with high speed and capacity to drive digital innovation and economic growth in the location itself, around the region, or around the whole world.

Reliability: The ability of the infrastructure to function as expected and to meet the needs of its users. This includes the ability of the infrastructure to be available, performant, and secure.

Pillars

1. Connectivity and Coverage

Improving connectivity coverage and quality will help bridge the digital divide and meet the connectivity requirements of the current and emerging digital services. By promoting inclusivity and expanding connectivity and access, KSA will empower its citizens with the tools to thrive in a digital world driving innovation, socioeconomic progress, and prosperity.

As such, this pillar aims to achieve the following priorities:

• Work efficiently toward bridging the digital divide in KSA by ensuring access to digital services for all people, households, and establishments in the Kingdom.

• Provide full broadband coverage for the entire Kingdom’s population across all regions.

• Provide ultra high-speed broadband quality across the urban, dense-urban, in addition to key areas within the Kingdom.

• Ensure adequate national backbone capacity to cater for the increasing demand for bandwidth.

• Optimize digital infrastructure resources and investments by promoting ICT and non-ICT infrastructure sharing.

• Ensure effective and efficient spectrum management to promote the accessibility for innovative wireless technologies.

• Ensure the development and deployment of any advanced technologies that help to enhance the broadband services quality, availability, and affordability.

• Promote the use of sustainable practices and technologies to provide connectivity and contribute to SDGs (sustainable development goals).

2. Digital Hub

Digital transformation is one of the most important pillars of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, as it is critical to achieve economic growth and social prosperity. Given the high demand for cloud computing capabilities and data transfer, and s a result of this positive impact on the economy, the Kingdom seeks to become a leading regional digital hub leveraging its strategic location, as the hub linking three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe.

In addition, KSA is focusing on enhancing international cooperation and attracting foreign investments, by building the necessary digital infrastructure, including advanced data centers that support high speeds

As such, this pillar aims to achieve the following priorities:

• Enhance KSA’s international connectivity by capitalizing on its strategic geographical location and make the Kingdom a focal point for regional and international communication.

• Position KSA as a regional computing powerhouse with adequate data center capacity strengthening the Kingdom’s digital leadership in the region.

• Provide high quality and low latency digital services to meet the requirements of end-users inside the Kingdom and out.

• Adopt sustainable practices in the design and operation of data centers and enhance sustainability of the economic environment.

3. Advanced Network Technologies

In an ever-evolving interconnected world, continuous innovation and development of advanced network technologies equipped with better performance, self-reliance, cost-effectiveness, security, and sustainability is essential, especially with the increasing demand for higher speeds, more computing power, and extra capacity.

As such, this pillar aims to achieve the following priorities:

• Capitalize on KSA’s existing strengths and position the Kingdom as a leader in the development and adoption of advanced network technologies by promoting research and development in advanced network technologies.

• Encourage ICT sector stakeholders in leveraging advanced network technologies to realize its benefits including but not limited to cost optimization, service agility and new revenue streams.

• Forge strategic partnership and collaboration with the private sector to drive innovation in the field of network technologies, by providing support for companies operating in the field of advanced network technologies.

• Forge strategic partnership and collaboration with leading countries, industry leaders, research centers, and facilitate knowledge sharing to drive innovation in the field of network technologies.

• Enable the development and adoption of sustainable network technologies, set standards and incentives that encourage the adoption of this type of sustainable technologies and support innovation in their development.

• Promote the establishment of research and development centers for advanced network technologies and support its collaboration with international players.

4. Healthy Digital Infrastructure market

Digital infrastructure is one of the most asset intensive investments, which is why it is crucial to focus on attracting investments, promoting a healthy competitive market, and meeting end-user needs for achieving KSA’s ambitions.

As such, this pillar aims to achieve the following priorities:

• Stimulate the adoption of digital infrastructure services across end-users by providing benefits ensuring healthy balance in the market.

• Ensure sector growth by attracting local and foreign investments towards digital infrastructure ensuring higher availability of funds for expanding digital infrastructure and better services for the beneficiaries.

• Promote shared funding collaboration between public and private sectors to develop the digital infrastructure especially in rural and economically less attractive areas and ensure effective implementation.

• Ensure a healthy digital infrastructure ecosystem by enabling a balanced approach between minimum acceptable returns for private sector, and end-users’ needs to encourage and enable innovative business models.

• Promote neutral ownership of digital infrastructure ensuring that services are provided on a non-discriminatory basis promoting investment and ensuring competition and service quality

• Ensure network neutrality to provide transparency, prevent service providers from any discriminatory practices, and establish regulatory rules and standards that prevent discrimination in the provision of services

• Stimulate development of telecommunications providers to create adjacencies and enable digital services and solutions by providing the support and incentives required for innovation.

• Develop a framework for the national internet ecosystem to ensure clear roles and responsibilities, coordinate efforts, maximize the benefits for all, and protect end-users and service providers from unlawful operation and unlicensed provision of services by setting clear regulatory rules and standards.

5. Resilience and Internet Ecosystem

Digital infrastructure resilience is considered an important pillar to achieve KSA’s Vision 2030, as it allows networks and systems to withstand and overcome disruptions and continue to operate, which positively impact the national economy, enhances public safety, and ensures national security. In addition, internet ecosystem readiness will allow KSA to create a dynamic, innovative, and resilient internet, which allows for increase economic growth.

As such, this pillar aims to achieve the following priorities:

• Increase KSA’s digital infrastructure local and international resilience by enhancing localization and adding multiple connectivity routes.

• Achieve leadership in the development of a dynamic, innovative, and resilient Internet ecosystem that fosters inclusivity and safeguards interests of KSA citizens and residents.

• Adopt best practices for protection of digital infrastructure from cyber threats and other shocks

• Proactively prevent connectivity downtime through robust mechanisms, swift response to outages, and continuous improvement to maintain reliable connections.

• Establish an institutional framework to promote monitoring of activities, rapid dissemination of early warning disaster notifications and better coordination and collaboration between relevant entities.

• Ensure disaster response and recovery measures across the digital infrastructure are adopted and continuously updated.

• Ensure reliability by raising the readiness of the digital infrastructure by keeping pace with best practices and standards.

• Ensure the security of the infrastructure (physical infrastructure, hardware, network elements) as well as ensuring systems security (equipment, devices, distributed systems, virtual servers) in coordination with all relevant entities.

Ministry of Communication and Information Technology	Setting policies, strategies, plans, and programs related to the sector, including digital infrastructure, and taking the necessary measures to facilitate the uses of digital infrastructure in all governmental, economic, social and service fields
Communications, Space & Technology Commission	Regulating the sector and achieving policy pillars regarding regulations related to digital infrastructure
Relevant Government Entities	Implementation of the pillars of this policy according to each entity's roles and responsibilities regarding the sector's services, products and innovations related to digital infrastructure.
Private Sector	Key stakeholder in implementing the pillars of this policy via programs, services, products, and research and innovations related to digital infrastructure.
Government funds, venture funds, investors and entrepreneurs (local and global)	Support investments in projects/programs, digital infrastructure innovations, and related digital services.

DEVELOPMENT DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY

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Introduction

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Objectives

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Scope of Application

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Definitions

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Pillars

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Roles and responsibilities

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