CST Grants TLS Landing Station Permit in Saudi Arabia

The Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) has granted Technical Links Services (TLS) a permit to establish and operate international cable landing stations and provide international cable capacities in Saudi Arabia. The company's anticipated investment for the landing station and related services is approximately SAR 100 million (about USD 26.67 million).

The permit falls under CST's service for providing landing stations and international cable services, classified within the Telecom sector. It covers the construction and operation of landing stations for international submarine or terrestrial cables inside the Kingdom, and the selling of international capacities locally through cables linked to those stations. It also includes related facilities that connect a site inside the Kingdom to another location abroad and link to local utilities and telecommunications infrastructure.

How the permit works

Companies apply through the CST Business Portal, logging in via the national unified access service (Nafath) using the company's digital ID. After login, applicants select "Start Service", complete the electronic request form with the required company and technical details, and submit it. The published processing time is 15 days, with a one-time official service fee of SAR 100,000.

Why it matters: international landing stations are a core part of the infrastructure that carries data in and out of the Kingdom. Expanding this capacity supports faster, more resilient connectivity for residents and businesses, and strengthens Saudi Arabia's role as a regional hub for data traffic linking continents.

The public service description sets out the processing time and fee but does not publish a fixed validity duration for the landing station permit; the detailed license term is defined in the individual permit document issued to each operator, including TLS.

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