Spending on telecom and IT is poised to grow by more than 6 percent to SR108.7 billion in the current year, thanks to spending on telecom, compared to figures of 2013, which stood at SR102.6 billion, according to a financial report.

In the past 13 years (2001-2013), spending on telecom and IT in the Kingdom reached SR731.5 billion, an average of SR56.3 billion per year. It started by SR18 billion in 2001 and continued to grow to hit SR103 billion last year, the report, filed by Al-Eqtisadiah daily, said.

The report, based on a study carried out by IDC market research firm, said the continued growth in the telecom and IT sector is represented in growing number of IT services, which were made available to the public, notably in the areas of e-government, banking and health care services.

Within the last ten years, Saudi Arabian IT companies narrowed IT gap with the developed countries and as from 2005, they have injected huge investments in the IT infrastructure projects in a number of fields such as mobile, fixed-line networks, IT facilities and e-government, the study said.

As regards mobile networks, operators in the Kingdom were among the first global companies to introduce Long Term Evolution (LTE), or 4G, technology, the study said.

Concerning fixed-line networks, the rapid implementation of the ambitious fiber optic networks in buildings has remarkably increased the number of subscribers to broad-band services, the study said.

The activities of companies in the areas of advertisement, marketing and communication have raised awareness on IT and telecom, in general, and data center services, in particular.

In the last five years, e-government has experienced quality developments where the majority of ministries and government agencies have launched e-services to both citizens and residents and all banks were linked up with government departments to facilitate payment services, the study said.