Saudi Telecom Company (STC) (شركة الاتصالات السعودية) is a telecommunications company operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was established in 1998, originally as a state-owned entity under the name Saudi Telecom Company. The company provides a range of services including landline, mobile, internet services and computer networks. In 2002, the Saudi Arabian government reduced its ownership to 70%, making room for public shareholders. STC KSA is a subsidiary of the Saudi Telecom Company, the leading national provider of telecommunication services in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian government still retains majority ownership of the parent company, while the remaining shares are publicly traded on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).
3G Network
The company began operating 2G GSM mobile services in 1996, and 3G UMTS services over B1 (2100 MHz) in June 2006 under the brand Al Jawal. 3G services were upgraded to HSPA+ in September 2009 and again to DC-HSPA+ in December 2010. B8 (900 MHz) was implemented in 2011.
3G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Status |
|---|---|
|
Shut Down
|
|
|
Shut Down
|
3G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 3G Network
|
Launch
|
4G Network
4G LTE was first implemented in September 2011 over B40 (2300 MHz) and later introducing B3 (1800 MHz) in February 2013. The network was upgraded to LTE-Advanced in February 2014 with the commercial activation of TDD CA_40C using two 20 MHz B40 channels. FDD-TDD aggregation was achieved in December 2014 (CA_3A-40A).
In December 2015 STC confirmed successful testing of LTE-A Pro achieving peak data rates of 1.59 Gbps. STC and Nokia tested MulteFire technology (LTE-U) in May 2016. LTE-A Pro was commercially activated October 2016, leveraging carrier aggregation technology (assumed to be 3C CA_3A-40C).
STC announced the intention to deploy an NB-IoT network in partnership with Ericsson in March 2018. The deployment leverages B28 (700 MHz) spectrum acquired earlier the same year.
Following the 3G shutdown, the company later enhanced the network with the addition of B1, B8 carriers.
4G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status | Known EARFCNs |
|---|---|---|---|
|
20
|
Active
|
500
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
1450,
1279
|
|
|
10
|
Active
|
3700
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
9310,
9454
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
38948
|
4G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 4G Network
|
Launch
|
5G Network
STC has been a regional leader in development of 5G since early 2017 and has become one of the first to deploy a functional 5G NR network. In May 2018 STC implemented n78 (3500 MHz) 5G using a 100 MHz channel. In March 2019 STC and Huawei demonstrated indoor n78 (3500 MHz) 5G performance, clocking 1.3 Gbps.
5G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
100
|
Active
|
5G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 5G Network
|
Launch
|