Bahrain Completes Preparations to Launch 5G Network

A display of smartphones at last year's Mobile World Congress. AFP file photo
A display of smartphones at last year's Mobile World Congress. AFP file photo
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Bahrain Completes Preparations to Launch 5G Network

A display of smartphones at last year's Mobile World Congress. AFP file photo
A display of smartphones at last year's Mobile World Congress. AFP file photo

Bahrain announced that it has completed preparations to launch 5G mobile networks, putting it on track to be one of the first countries in providing commercial 5G services to consumers by the end of 2019 once devices are made available.

Transportation and Telecommunications Minister Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed has announced that the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) is scheduled to allocate licensing and spectrum by the first week of April.

Mobile operators in Bahrain have started rolling out the necessary network infrastructure, said the minister, adding that commercial services will become available by June.

The Minister admitted the project faced a lot of challenges, namely the method of ensuring spectrum's availability, but overcoming these obstacles was possible due to the efforts of “Team Bahrain” that includes elite representatives from both the public and private sectors.

This “demonstrates how Bahrain can make a swift progress … in partnership with technology pioneers in the world.”

With the new 5G technology, users will be able to transfer bigger volume of data at higher speeds, which in turn, enables the development and implementation of technologies required for autonomous driving vehicles that need up to 100Gb of data per second to operate, explained the Minister.

This places Bahrain among the world’s leading countries in adopting the 5G technology and makes the Kingdom more appealing for companies that use the next-generation technologies such as autonomous vehicles and VR.

In June 2018, Bahrain held several successful commercial trials for 5G technology and all licensed operators are preparing to provide commercial 5G services.

The products and services will allow Bahraini companies to tap into the global 5G services market, which is anticipated to grow from an estimated $60 billion in 2020 to an estimated $125 billion in 2025.

The Kingdom’s ranking is high in global ICT indices, being the first in the Arab region on the ICT Development Index (IDI) of UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and ranking 4th globally in the UN’s Telecommunications Infrastructure Index (TII) of the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) in 2018.



Saudi stc Group Records Highest Six-Month Net Profit

stc pavilion at the LEAP 24 International Conference in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
stc pavilion at the LEAP 24 International Conference in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
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Saudi stc Group Records Highest Six-Month Net Profit

stc pavilion at the LEAP 24 International Conference in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
stc pavilion at the LEAP 24 International Conference in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat) 

Saudi Arabia’s telecom company, stc Group, announced on Sunday its highest-ever six-month revenues, reaching 38.66 billion Saudi riyals ($10.3 billion).

Net profit for the six-month period increased by 13.38% compared to the same period last year, reaching 7.4 billion riyals ($1.99 billion).

In a statement on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul), stc said Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) also rose by 6.10% over the same period to 12.2 billion riyals ($3.28 billion).

Commenting on the results, CEO of stc Group Engineer Olayan Alwetaid said the group continued to deliver strong performance by adhering to its strategy and leveraging opportunities in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

He noted that financial discipline and efficient capital management were key drivers of business stability, adaptability, and confident expansion into future growth areas.

According to stc Group, “This was reflected in the group's financial performance, with a 2.1% increase in revenue and a 6.6% rise in gross profit during the first six months of the year compared to the same period last year.”
The group’s Cost Efficiency Program also contributed significantly to enhancing operational and financial performance, resulting in EBITDA growth of 6.1% and an increase in the EBITDA margin by 3.9 percentage points to 31.8%, which in turn led to a notable increase in net profit.

“This led to an increase in net profit for the six-month by 13.38% compared to the same period last year, reaching 7.5 billion riyals ($2 billion),” the group said.

Alwetaid said the rising demand for the group’s services as a testament to public trust in its digital solutions.

He said this was exemplified by STC Bank surpassing three million customers in a short period since its launch at the beginning of 2025, reflecting the growing adoption of digital banking services and stc’s expanding role in advancing the financial services sector.

In line with its commitment to maintaining leadership in telecommunications and IT, stc Group signed several strategic agreements in recent months. In the field of cloud computing, the group entered into a partnership with Oracle valued at over 2 billion Saudi riyals ($533 million) to accelerate digital transformation across the Kingdom.

The agreement aims to develop advanced AI-powered cloud infrastructure and provide sovereign cloud solutions via the Oracle Alloy platform, hosted at center3’s data centers.
Additionally, stc Group released its sixth Sustainability Report for 2024, highlighting progress in sustainability, environmental and social responsibility, and governance.

The report detailed the Group’s efforts to improve environmental performance, develop human capital through digital innovation, and uphold effective governance and ethical standards.

Reflecting these achievements, the Group’s ESG rating was upgraded from “BBB” to “A” in the latest MSCI ratings, affirming its commitment to the highest local and international sustainability standards.