Riyadh, July [11], 2022: The Governor of Saudi Arabia’s digital regulator, the Communications & Information Technology Commission (CITC), Dr. Mohammed Al-Tamimi, congratulated the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defense, on the conclusion of another successful Hajj season. 

Speaking on behalf of all CITC employees, Al-Tamimi also extended his congratulations to the Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Chairman of CITC’s Board of Directors, His Excellency Abdullah bin Amer Al-Swaha, whose efforts were key to ensuring this year’s pilgrims had the best ICT support and services available. 

“There is no way we could have achieved such a feat of communications without the robust cooperation of various levels of government and the private sector,” Al-Tamimi said. “Hundreds of the Kingdom’s most dedicated individuals and experts spent months ensuring this would go off smoothly, and our high expectations have not been disappointed.” 

CITC has ensured the smooth functioning of more than 5,900 towers and more than 11,000 Wifi access points in the Two Holy Cities. It has also overseen a 41% increase in 5G towers to reach more than 2,600 5G towers. 

With a larger number of pilgrims than any time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the total voice calls reaching more than 159 million local and international calls, with a total success rate exceeding 99%, CITC reported.

During the Hajj season, pilgrims have consumed 36.19 K TB via telecom networks in Makkah City; this is the equivalent of watching 14.83 M hours of 1080p HD video clips, were the average daily consumption was 851.13 MB/user, exceeding 3 times the world’s average consumption of around 200 MB/user.

CITC has confirmed that the download speeds of mobile internet reached 251.06 Mbit/s., which is 44% higher than last year. While upload speeds of mobile internet reached 32.9 Mbit/s, 27% higher than last year in Makkah and Holy Sites.

“It’s not merely the scores of dedicated IT professionals and government ministers that made this huge increase in communication possible,” said CITC’s Governor. “It’s the pilgrims themselves. I want to congratulate them, too, for making this historic journey. May they return safely to their loved ones after partaking in this life-changing event.”