Page 18 - U4SSC Factsheet, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 2020

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure

Category KPI Result Performance to Benchmark 4 SDG

Fixed Broadband 89.76 %
Subscriptions

Wireless Broadband
Subscriptions 91 905.27
(per 100 000
inhabitants)

Household Internet
Access 73.00 %

Wireless Broadband
Coverage – 3G 98.97 %

Wireless Broadband
Coverage – 4G 90.00 %

Availability of WiFi in Not Reported No Benchmark Available
Public Areas

The reporting of Riyadh's economy starts with its connectivity and ICT infrastructure KPIs.

While the city performs well overall in this category, there is some room for improvement when it comes
to internet penetration within households. However, mobile internet access and usage are prevalent
in Riyadh, which offsets the lower number for the former.

It is recommended that Riyadh collects data on, and reports, the number of publicly available WiFi
spots in the city. Public WIFI can be a great opportunity for governments to connect entire cities. Smart
cities deploying free WIFI empower their communities with better services. Municipal services such
as smart waste management, smart security and smart lighting can be facilitated through cloud WiFi
infrastructures. Equipping public transportation with free WiFi access is another example of how public
WiFi positively affects residents and travellers by allowing them to enjoy a better travel experience
and the ability get real-time information for route planning. Prevalence of free WiFi hotspots would
be advantageous for tourists, who would enjoy internet connection without roaming charges, and for
the local economy, which would benefit from increased levels of tourism.

Optimizing smart, sustainable ICT infrastructure: To capture the ICT usage state at that time and to
conduct even deeper analysis, Riyadh could utilize related ITU-T standards, such as Recommendation
ITU-T Y4901/L.1601: ‘KPIs related to the use of ICT in smart sustainable cities’ and Recommendation
ITU-T Y.4902/L.1602: ‘KPIs related to the sustainability impacts of ICT in smart sustainable cities’.
Also useful are ITU-T L.1400: ‘Overview and general principles of methodologies for assessing the

12 U4SSC Factsheet | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | June 2020