Zain KSA Launches First 5G-Advanced in Riyadh

Zain KSA has launched the Kingdom's first commercial 5G-Advanced (5G+) service for individual consumers in July 2026, with the initial rollout focused on Riyadh and Jeddah. The move places the capital at the center of the next phase of the country's mobile network upgrade.

In Riyadh, the deployment is built on 5G Standalone (SA) architecture using 600 MHz low-band spectrum, supported by additional frequency bands to strengthen indoor coverage and extend signal reach across wider areas. The setup is designed to cut latency by around 50% at the cell edge and deliver up to 10 times faster uplink speeds for users on the outer edges of a cell — a boost aimed at AI-driven and real-time mobile applications.

The technology also opens the door to Fixed Wireless Access (FWA 2.0), offering "fiber-like" home and business broadband without laying physical fiber, alongside IoT-based CCTV and other smart-city services. Riyadh is a priority city in national plans to expand 5G-Advanced from the capital to the top eight cities by 2024–2026, with a second phase targeting 18 major cities by 2027–2030.

Infrastructure and trials

Elsewhere in Riyadh, stc group and Huawei have rolled out a Full Duplex transport solution for 5G networks delivering up to 50 Gbps transmission capacity and up to a 200% improvement in spectrum efficiency to support high-bandwidth connectivity and critical infrastructure. A five-year framework agreement signed in late 2025 commits stc group to accelerating 5G and 5G-Advanced expansion, with Riyadh identified as a central hub for advanced digital infrastructure.

Recent trials in the city have also demonstrated long-distance 5G-Advanced millimeter-wave links at 26 GHz over roughly 6 km, reaching close to 1 Gbps downlink using 200 MHz of bandwidth for enterprise-grade last-mile connectivity. Consumer plan details and exact pricing specific to Riyadh have not yet been publicly listed.

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