1. Saudi Arabia >
2. Starting a Business >
3. Communications

Communications in Saudi Arabia

Post

Internal and international services available from the Central Post Office. Post is delivered to box numbers. Airmail to Europe and the United States takes up to one week.

Telephone

The country dialling code is 966. A sophisticated telecommunications network and satellite, microwave and cable systems span the country. Saudi Arabia has a good telephone service, run by the Saudi Telecom Company (STC).

Mobile

There are two mobile phone network providers including STC. A number of different price packages are on offer.

-->

Voice over Internet Protocol

VoIP is a new technology which allows users to verbally communicate through their computer. Essentially a telephone call made using the internet, VoIP is becoming increasingly more common in the business world due to its low costs, and easy set-up and maintenance.

Forget installation engineers and phone number changes, as long as you have a broadband connection, you can use VoIP any time, any where.

For businesses, this software is sure to eventually phase out the traditional phonecall. For as low as 4p for local and national calls, the economical potential is vast. With international calls often even less than that, VoIP is perfect if you are prone to long-distance telecommunication, or have offices, clients, partners, etc, overseas. What's more, calls made between VoIP users are typically free all you pay for is the standard internet service.

Internet

There is great interest in the potential of e-commerce, although its use is still limited.

Both the internet and e-mail are increasingly used, however the current telecommunications infrastructure is insufficient for the demands. There are internet cafes in all major cities.

Most business to business correspondence is done by fax rather than phone or e-mail.

Click here to Ask an Expert about Communications in Saudi Arabia