Arabic.com Blog

A month ago I came back from a month long visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  The purpose of my visit was to study the "booming" Information & Communication Technology market.

I have to say that my experience was a very positive one.  I had a bsuy schedule.  I held meetings with people in government, academia and private sector.  I met with the commercial mission at the US embassy. 

This was an exploratory trip and at the end there is what I took away:

 There exists tremendous opportunity for IT professionals and IT firms to tap into this growing market.  Given my background as an ISP operator in the Southeast of the USA, I could identify three immediate areas of interest:

1- The government finally decided that telecommunication de-regulation is a good thing and has issued a RFA (Request for Application) for a fixed line operator to compete with the incumbent Saudi Telecom (STC).  Applications are due by January 27th (Unless an extension is granted).  Announcement of the winner(s) will follow shortly after.

2- The boom in telecommunication and the anticipated improvement that this will bring about in the area of Data lines certainly will create some interesting "new business" opportunities.  I think there will be a need (and an opportunity) for Data center operators, Managed Service Providers, System Integrators, etc.

3- Also, the anticipated increase in Internet penetration will create a huge need for "Web Content" that is relevant and localized.  

The trip certainly piqued my interest in the region and I am hoping to continue studying the market and will report later.