Zain KSA stated that full industrial launch is deliberate for the cities of Riyadh and Jeddah by the final quarter of this yr
In sum – what to know:
5G-SA launch on 600 MHz band – Zain KSA begins deploying 5G Standalone utilizing low-band spectrum, beginning with Riyadh and Jeddah, to enhance nationwide protection and repair high quality.
Superior 5G capabilities enabled – The rollout helps next-gen options like Voice over New Radio (VoNR), RedCap machine compatibility and community slicing for each enterprise and client use.
Alignment with Imaginative and prescient 2030 Targets – By increasing dependable digital infrastructure, Zain KSA contributes to Saudi Arabia’s broader digital transformation and nationwide innovation technique.
Saudi telco Zain KSA has begun the preliminary section of its 5G Standalone (5G SA) community utilizing the 600 MHz low-band spectrum.
The complete industrial launch is deliberate for the cities of Riyadh and Jeddah by the final quarter of 2025, with additional enlargement throughout main and secondary cities, in addition to key roadways, in a future section.
The 600 MHzspectrum band will enable the Arab service to develop its present 5G protection extra extensively, significantly in areas of the nation the place higher-frequency alerts face limitations.
Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Al Nujaidi, Zain KSA’s chief know-how officer, stated: “Activating our 5G SA community on the low-band spectrum marks a serious leap ahead for Saudi Arabia’s digital ambitions. This deployment considerably extends our 5G protection, making certain our clients take pleasure in uninterrupted, high-performance connectivity.”
This rollout of 5G SA know-how by the Saudi operator is anticipated to enhance its service reliability and indoor protection. It can additionally assist next-generation companies similar to Voice over New Radio (VoNR), RedCap gadgets in addition to community slicing.
The brand new deployment within the 5G subject may even allow the availability of companies like HD video calling, cloud purposes and cellular gaming.
In November 2024, Zain KSA had introduced the acquisition of recent spectrum within the 600 MHz band with the purpose of boosting its 5G SA companies within the nation. The band had been awarded by the Communications, Area and Expertise Fee (CST) of Saudi Arabia.
The Arab telco famous that the 600 MHz spectrum allows extra complete protection throughout cities, villages, distant areas and highways throughout Saudi Arabia, thereby increasing service attain, bettering high quality and growing the capability of its 5G community.
In Might 2024, Zain KSA had introduced plans to take a position almost $430 million to develop its 5G community and digital companies ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. The operator stated it was contemplating increasing its present 5G community protection to 122 cities throughout the nation.
At the moment, the telco’s plan stipulated the enlargement of its 5G community websites within the nation to greater than 7,000, masking over 66% of Saudi Arabia’s populated space. The operator additionally stated that almost 45% of the brand new enlargement plan was anticipated to assist 5G-A applied sciences.
Zain KSA’s Engineering Govt Basic Supervisor Mohammed Abdulazis AlNujaidi beforehand stated that the telco goals to speed up the deployment of (5G-A) companies from 2024.
The telco initially launched 5G-A companies in 2023 within the capital of Riyadh, with the purpose of providing differentiated FWA 2.0 companies, the manager had stated throughout a presentation at MWC 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. He added that the service’s plans for 2024-2026 embrace the industrial launch of 5G-A companies in Saudi Arabia’s prime eight cities, whereas its 2027-2030 plans embrace the second section of its 5G-A program, by which the nation’s essential 18 cities will likely be lined with 5G-A know-how.