Zain KSA signs exclusive agreement during construction phase with The Red Sea Development Company aiming for nationwide digital

Zain KSA has announced sealing an exclusive agreement with The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), offering telecommunications and internet services on the Red Sea’s sites during construction phase. Under this agreement, Zain KSA will ensure the coverage of these sites via its telecommunications and data network over a period of five years. With that, The Red Sea Project becomes the first construction zone to have 5G coverage in the Middle East.

In this respect, Zain KSA’s CEO Eng. Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Deghaither has indicated that “The Red Sea Project is one of the greatest and most significant luxury tourism investment projects and the most ambitious in the world. For that, we, at Zain KSA, take pride in supporting and enabling the project with our 5G network coverage, doubling down on our commitment to Saudi Vision 2030’s approach in achieving nationwide digital transformation for a digitally advanced and more prosperous society. Further, with this agreement, we add another strategic project to the list of major national projects and initiatives which the Company was a main enabler for their success, from the NEOM Airport and the launch of the “Welcome to the world” project for the Ministry of Tourism to launch tourist visas electronically, to our recent partnership with the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON) providing coverage for Dammam’s 2nd industrial city through Zain KSA’s 5G network.”

Eng. Al Deghaither added, “Zain KSA continues to utilize all its investments, technical capabilities and human power, to contribute to the nationwide digital transformation development in the Kingdom, elevating its quality of life and accomplishing a quantum leap in all the productive and service sectors. This unfolds before our eyes through practical measures, such as the continuous geographical expansion of the 5G network which currently covers more than 50 cities through 4700 towers, with high quality and top speed.”

In his statement, The Red Sea Development Company’s CEO Mr. John Pagano declared that: “The Red Sea Project covers a vast area, almost the size of Belgium, and is based along Saudi Arabia’s pristine, yet remote west coast. Fast and reliable communication services are therefore vital for us to ensure our workforce can contact colleagues on site quickly, as well as stay in touch with family and friends. On opening in 2022, telecommunications and internet will also play a key role in delivering a first-class experience for each of our guests. We’re proud to be working with a local partner like Zain KSA who shares our vision in opening up the Kingdom to the rest of the world.”  

Phase one of the project includes 16 hotels across five islands and two inland resorts, and will complete in 2023, along with the destination’s international airport. TRSDC has hit significant milestones since launching the flagship project and remains on track to welcome the first guests by the end of 2022.

It is worth mentioning that Opensignal, the independent global standard for analysing consumer mobile experience, has recently granted Zain KSA three awards: “Best 5G Availability”; “Best Download Speed Experience - 5G Users”; and “Best 5G Download Speed.” Similarly, Zain KSA won the SpeedTest award for the “fastest fixed network” in the Kingdom from globally acclaimed Ookla for the year 2020. Zain KSA also ranked first in the "Meqyas" report issued by the Communications and Information Technology Commission for the 4th quarter of 2020, as the fastest fixed internet in the Kingdom, and the largest 5G network coverage across the Kingdom.