Saudi Shura Council calls for reducing communication and internet cost within the kingdom
On January 27th , it was reported that during a meeting with the Committee for Information Technology, Communications and Transport of the council, the Shura council called the Saudi carriers to reduce the cost of communications and Internet, on the grounds that these constitute a heavy burden on citizens, especially in light of the high profits of these companies.
Member of the board asked about the fines imposed in the past year by the Commission for Information Technology and Communications on telecommunication companies for various violations, including unplugging communication cables, supplying of illegal connections, selling pre-paid phone cards without registration of buyer’s identification numbers, giving illegal offers and giving out illegal licenses for phone services.
In its report the committee recommended that the Ministry of Culture and Information will urgently complete its national strategy on information security and will work with the Ministry of Economy to improve communication initiatives and funding of governmental agencies.
The issue of the sale of illegal SIM cards is challenging the kingdom for a long while; on March 2014 it was reported that this phenomenon led a police raid in the city of Jeddah on vendors selling these cards on the streets, and again on August 2015 while warning that illegal SIM cards traders will be accused of supporting terrorist activities.
