Page 142 - SAMENA Trends - June-July 2025

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Saudi Arabia wins an award and 3 certificates of excellence at the to focus on delivering impact rather than operational challenges,
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum, organized and helping them scale services to achieve sustainable change.
by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) partnering – the International AI Olympiad, submitted by SDAIA, this global
with a number of UN regulators, which is being held in Geneva, competition was organized in collaboration with international
Switzerland. The Kingdom's innovative projects were recognized centers and under the auspices of UNESCO in Slovenia. It featured
for their excellence after competing with over (194) countries. The 90 students from 25 countries, with 36 students winning medals.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the Ministry of Education, – The AI Platform for Animal Health, submitted by the Ministry of
has won the grand prize in the field of e-learning for its national Environment, Water and Agriculture, this platform uses AI to analyze
platform "Madrasati." The platform, a comprehensive digital veterinary disease data across the Kingdom, helping forecast
learning management system for general education, is designed future outbreaks and enabling clinics and the ministry to take
to enable all forms of digital education, enhance educational preventive action while also raising awareness among farmers.
quality, and enrich learning experiences. Serving more than 6 These achievements reflect the advancement of Saudi Arabia’s
million students and approximately 500,000 teachers across the digital infrastructure in the communications and technology sector,
Kingdom, "Madrasati" stands as a key pillar in Saudi Arabia’s efforts the enablement of national talent, and the Kingdom’s ability to keep
to advance digital transformation in education. Saudi Arabia also pace with rapid global developments across key sectors including
earned three certificates of excellence for the following projects: government services, healthcare, education, and entertainment, all
- The Technical Enablement program for non-profit organizations, with the unlimited support of the Kingdom’s leadership.
submitted by STC which aims to digitally empower the third (July 7, 2025) www.cst.gov.sa
sector through advanced free solutions, enabling organizations

Sri Lanka

Ookla Research published a study of in-flight Wi-Fi. It found that earned both titles, reaffirming its commitment to exceptional
Hawaiian Airlines and Qatar Airways far outperformed other air customer experiences and innovation. The recognition is based on
carriers in their in-flight download and upload speeds. It is by no an independent study by PepperCube Consultants commissioned
coincidence, Ookla says, that both Hawaiian and Qatar use SpaceX by LMD, where 400 readers from diverse provinces across Sri
Starlink as their flight connectivity service provider. The report also Lanka voted on brands that inspire trust, loyalty, and emotional
found that Starlink far outperforms other providers with speeds connection. Lasantha Theverapperuma, Group Chief Marketing
roughly double those of its next-fastest competitors. Officer at Dialog Axiata, expressed pride in the achievement,
(July 1, 2025) www.fierce-network.com highlighting the company’s dedication to inclusive, future-ready
connectivity and digital services that enrich millions of lives
Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s leading connectivity provider, has nationwide. Dialog thanked its customers and LMD readers for
been honored as the Most Loved Service Brand and the Most their ongoing support and pledged to continue leading Sri Lanka’s
Loved Telecommunication Brand in Sri Lanka for 2025 by LMD digital transformation with excellence and innovation.
magazine. This marks the second consecutive year Dialog has (June 24, 2025) www.meatechwatch.com

Turkey

Turkey is set to release the long-anticipated tender for 5G network the national telecom regulator. (July 3, 2025) www.meatechwatch.com
services in August as part of its efforts to modernize digital
infrastructure. Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir The Transport and Infrastructure Minister said that the country was
Uraloğlu announced that 5G services are expected to become hoping to hold a tender for 5G network services in August 2025
operational by 2026. The initial rollout will prioritize densely adding that the mobile communication service was expected to
populated provinces, following a similar phased approach used start next year. I think we will hold this tender in August if there are
during the 4.5G network expansion. The government has engaged no issues," Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu told reporters in Istanbul
extensively with telecom operators and public institutions to during a briefing. Instead of covering the entire country in the first
coordinate the transition, conducting both individual and group stage, I think we will cover the densely populated provinces (first)
discussions with operators. The tender’s launch was delayed from and roll out this process gradually within the framework of the
earlier planned dates in 2023 and 2024 due to unfavorable market program, this was the case in 4.5G as well," he added.
conditions. Turkey’s mobile subscriber base currently stands at (June 22, 2025) www.indiatimes.com
94.3 million, with a penetration rate exceeding 110%, according to
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