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Saudi Arabia to Double Radio Spectrum 10-Fold by 2025

Saudi Arabia's hosting of the webinar reflects its global position in the communications and information technology sector. (Saleh al-Ghannam)
Saudi Arabia's hosting of the webinar reflects its global position in the communications and information technology sector. (Saleh al-Ghannam)
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Saudi Arabia to Double Radio Spectrum 10-Fold by 2025

Saudi Arabia's hosting of the webinar reflects its global position in the communications and information technology sector. (Saleh al-Ghannam)
Saudi Arabia's hosting of the webinar reflects its global position in the communications and information technology sector. (Saleh al-Ghannam)

Saudi Arabia said Tuesday it will double the radio spectrum by more than 10 times in the next five years, noting that it is currently working on preparing a future roadmap for these uses.

The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) will provide more than 10 gigahertz (GHz) to improve the commercial and innovative use of the Kingdom’s radio spectrum by 2025, according CITC Governor Mohammed al-Tamimi.

“The Saudi telecom regulator is working on setting up a new outlook for commercial and innovative use of radio spectrum,” Tamimi added on the sidelines of the three-day webinar on “Radio Spectrum for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-2020 and beyond: Fostering Commercial and Innovative Use.”

The event, which kicked off on Tuesday, was organized by the CITC in cooperation with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah al-Swaha stressed the need for a global standard in spectrum management.

“It is so critical for us to come together as the world’s greatest thinkers and doers in the spectrum field,” he said.

“Digital infrastructure was the backbone for our resilient economies to succeed in a post-COVID world and spectrum is the lifeline,” noted Swah, who is also CITC CEO.

The webinar brought together more than 70 participants representing more than 20 world countries. Speeches were given by senior government officials, companies and international organizations in the field of information technology, including Mario Maniewicz, director of the ITU Radiocommunications Bureau, and Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Ajit Pai.

ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao hailed in his opening speech the role played by the CITC in organizing the event, noting that the ITU recognizes the CITC as one of the most developed regulators in the world and Saudi Arabia as one of the Middle East’s largest ICT markets.

CITC Deputy Governor of Radio Spectrum Mohammed Alotaibi told Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the event that the Kingdom taken steps in recent years to improve radio spectrum management and enable its commercial and innovative use.

These steps aim at benefiting companies providing these services, so that they can improve the speeds and services, especially mobile networks.

He stressed that the radio spectrum is used by various networks and has various uses in several sectors.

The webinar hosted by the Kingdom reflects the significance of its status in the communications and information technology sector.

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Saudi Arabia Makes History with Adoption of Riyadh Treaty on Design Law

Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Makes History with Adoption of Riyadh Treaty on Design Law

Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia has made history by uniting the 193 member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to adopt the Riyadh Treaty on Design Law. This landmark achievement, realized after two decades of deliberation, underscores the Kingdom’s leadership in enhancing the global intellectual property system.

The announcement came at the conclusion of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty, a rare event for WIPO, which has not held a diplomatic conference outside Geneva for more than a decade. It was also the first such event hosted in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, representing the final stage of negotiations to establish an agreement aimed at simplifying and standardizing design protection procedures across member states.

Over the past two weeks, intensive discussions and negotiations among member states culminated in the adoption of the Riyadh Treaty, which commits signatory nations to a unified set of requirements for registering designs, ensuring consistent and streamlined procedures worldwide. The agreement is expected to have a significant positive impact on designers, enabling them to protect their creations more effectively and uniformly across international markets.

At a press conference held on Friday to mark the event’s conclusion, CEO of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property Abdulaziz Al-Suwailem highlighted the economic potential of the new protocol.

Responding to a question from Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Suwailem noted the substantial contributions of young Saudi men and women in creative design. He explained that the agreement will enable their designs to be formally protected, allowing them to enter markets as valuable, tradable assets.

He also emphasized the symbolic importance of naming the convention the Riyadh Treaty, stating that it reflects Saudi Arabia’s growing influence as a bridge between cultures and a global center for innovative initiatives.

The treaty lays critical legal foundations to support designers and drive innovation worldwide, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s vision of promoting international collaboration in the creative industries and underscoring its leadership in building a sustainable future for innovators.

The agreement also advances global efforts to enhance creativity, protect intellectual property, and stimulate innovation on a broader scale.

This achievement further strengthens Saudi Arabia’s position as a global hub for groundbreaking initiatives, demonstrating its commitment to nurturing creativity, safeguarding designers’ rights, and driving the development of creative industries on an international scale.

The Riyadh Diplomatic Conference, held from November 11 to 22, was hosted by the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property and attracted high-ranking officials and decision-makers from WIPO member states.