Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud His Royal Highness Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Crown Prince & Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Defense His Royal Highness Meqran Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Second Deputy Prime Minister Annual Report 2012 8 Table of Contents CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT 12 7. UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND (USF) 49 GOVERNOR’S STATEMENT 14 8. STUDIES 60 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 16 9. ACCOMPLISHMENTS COMPARED TO THE KINGDOM’S 62 NINTH DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2. THE ICT SECTOR IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA 19 10. WORK PROGRAM FOR 2013 68 2.1 Sector Growth and Indicators 19 APPENDICES 70 2.2 Regulatory Framework 27 Appendix A: Decisions of the Board of Directors 70 2.3 CITC Roles and Responsibilities 27 Appendix B: Public Consultations 71 2.4 Motah Award 28 Appendix C: Other Activities and Achievements 71 3. THE CITC BOARD OF DIRECTORS 29 Appendix D: Participation in Meetings and Conferences 77 4. VISION AND MISSION 31 Appendix E: Licenses Issued 81 5. CURRENT SITUATION 32 Appendix F: CITC Websites 90 6. MAIN ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS 36 Appendix G: Code of Ethics and Professional Conduc 91 6.1 Promotion of Competition and Sector Development 36 Appendix H: CITC Financial Accounts 92 6.2 Consumer Protection 41 6.3 Management of Scarce Resources 45 6.4 Regulatory Environment and Transparency 47 6.5 Other Achievements 48 9 Annual Report 2012 CITC Board of Directors 10 The CITC Board of Directors H.E. Eng. H.E. Eng. Mr. Mr. Mohammed J. Mulla Abdullah A. Al Darrab Ahmed A. Alabdelaali Fahad A. Al Dakkan Minister of Communications CITC Governor Ministry of Trade and Industry Ministry of Finance and Information Technology (MCIT) Deputy Chairman Member Member Chairman Dr. Dr. Mr. Mr. Mohammed A. Suwailem Asaad S. Abdo Saleh E. Al-Hosaini Abdulrahman S. AlShammari KACST Private Sector Private Sector Private Sector Member Member Member Member 11 Annual Report 2012 Chairman’s Statement The information and communications Aware of these facts, the Government of the technology (ICT) sector has evolved signifi- Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques – may cantly during the period of the Eighth and God protect him – has provided ongoing sup- Ninth Development Plans, especially in the port for the continuing deployment of ICT areas of ICT market liberalization, promoting services in all parts of the Kingdom, both and fostering competition, availability and through overall support of the ICT sector and range of services, and improved efficiency of through a policy of universal access and uni- the ICT infrastructure. Moreover, it has been versal service in remote areas. shown that the deployment and availabil- The 2012 Global Information Technology Re- ity of high-quality ICT services at reasonable port issued by the World Economic Forum prices is a significant factor in enabling de- and INSEAD ranked the Kingdom as 34th in veloping economies to attain higher levels of the global network readiness index, improv- development. They promote economic and ing from 38th in the previous year. Saudi social transformation, stimulate efficiency in Arabia also ranked 17th in the global indica- all areas of production and service, and are tor for policy and regulatory environment, important to achieving a knowledge-based improving from 32nd in the previous year. economy and information society. These rankings suggest continuous progress in the ICT sector in the Kingdom. 12 The Communications and Information Technology Com- means to access government services, such as health and mission (CITC) has worked diligently since its inception education, and they will also have a significant impact on for the advancement of the ICT sector, notably in devel- other economic sectors and on the national economy. oping the regulatory tools needed to ensure fair com- I am pleased, on behalf of the Board of Directors, to in- petition, safeguarding the rights of users, addressing troduce the 2012 Annual Report which reviews the major complaints, resolving disputes between licensed service activities and accomplishments of CITC during the year. providers, enforcing quality of service criteria, under- taking initiatives in all areas of ICT, promoting cyber se- I wish to take this opportunity to thank the members of curity, preparing plans for the development of Internet the Board, H.E. the Governor of CITC and all CITC staff services in the Kingdom, and conducting technical and for their superb efforts. May God preserve our beloved economic studies to further the development of this im- country, led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques portant sector. – may God protect him – and continue to bless us and guide us in all our endeavors. Although this period has seen a remarkable increase in the availability and range of most ICT services, more ef- Eng. Mohamed Jamil A. Mulla fort is required to deploy high-speed broadband services through fiber optic networks as they are an important Chairman of the Board 13 Annual Report 2012 Governor’s Statement The information and communications tech- ity of technology and services. The ICT sector has nology (ICT) sector is one of the most important become a key component in the development of and dynamic sectors because it contributes to sus- all other sectors as a catalyst for increased efficien- tainable development in all scientific, cultural and cy and performance. social areas. It has a positive impact on the gen- It should be noted that spending on ICT services eral population as well as a tangible impact on in- reached an estimated SAR 94 billion in 2012 com- creasing productivity and growth in all other eco- pared to SAR 21 billion in 2002, an average annual nomic sectors through applications that enhance growth rate of about 16%. This indicates that all business performance. Based on these facts, the segments of Saudi society – individuals, the pri- Government of Saudi Arabia, led by the Custodian vate sector and government – have contributed to of the Two Holy Mosques – may God protect him and benefited from the significant development in – has supported the ICT sector as a vital compo- this important sector. nent of the national economy, not only for its core contributions in the areas of employment and The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), which regulates the sector, has economic diversification, but also for its dynamic implemented many projects and activities related and innovative ability to provide extensive forms to ICT to further advance this vital sector in 2012. of products, services and enabling technologies that underpin the development of the Kingdom as To promote competition and provisioning of ser- a knowledge-based economy in the world market. vices, CITC issued a number of new licenses bring- ing the total to 292 at the end of 2012 compared Since its launch, the ICT sector, with God’s help and to 230 in 2011. guidance and thanks to the continued support of the Government, has achieved impressive growth To improve the level of ICT services, reduce prices in infrastructure and in deployment and availabil- and improve customer care, and foster competi- 14 tion and attract investment, CITC has studied the develop- established an automated system for receiving and follow- ment of the mobile services market in the Kingdom. The study ing up complaints and launched several campaigns to raise found a need to enlarge the retail and wholesale sales struc- public awareness among users. ture in the mobile services market by issuing new licenses for Voice and broadband Internet services have been provided mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). This will result to 3,421 communities in remote areas which are commer- in improved customer care, more customer choice, innova- cially unprofitable. Two more projects have been awarded tive services bundles and greater competition at the retail covering 690 communities, and additional projects will be sales level. Accordingly, CITC has taken concrete steps in this tendered in 2013 covering a further 3,417 communities. direction including drafting an MVNO license, preparing the regulatory framework, and developing eligibility and selec- And, as a result of its efforts to develop the sector, and its tion criteria for applicants. It is expected that MVNO licenses pursuit of excellence and leadership, CITC won first place in will be issued in 2013. the Motah award sponsored by King Abdulaziz City for Sci- ence and Technology (KACST) for using open source software Consumer protection is an important element in the devel- in providing Saudi domain name services and related infra- opment of the ICT sector and CITC has implemented a num- structure. ber of measures to enable consumers to exercise their rights and responsibilities. CITC processed 15,519 complaints in I wish to take this opportunity to thank H.E. the Chairman 2012, drafted procedures for dealing with consumer com- of the Board, the Members of the Board and all CITC staff plaints, drafted guidelines for service providers to address for their hard work and dedication. Thanks, also, to all those complaints, and prepared an integrated plan to develop a who contributed to the success of the Commission by shar- system for handling complaints aimed at achieving the high- ing their expertise, views, opinions, advice and support. est level of customer satisfaction. In addition, CITC applied international best practices for regulating tariffs for all opera- Eng. Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Darrab tors and for developing specific procedures for dealing with the provision of services and promotional offers. CITC also Governor 15 Annual Report 2012 1. Executive Summary This Report highlights the major activities and achievements of CITC during fiscal year 2012. It reviews the development of the ICT sector and the regulatory environment (Chapter 2), the Members of the Board of Directors (Chapter 3), the vision and mission of CITC (Chapter 4) and the current situation (Chapter 5).