Saudi now has 15.8 million Internet subscribers and the average user watches three times as many online videos per day as counterparts in the United States, according to YouTube.Ĭonventional international calls and texts are a lucrative earner for telecom operators in Saudi Arabia, which hosts around nine million expatriates. Mobile penetration was 188 percent by the end of 2012, CITC data shows. However, in a separate interview with Reuters he argued against imposing stricter controls. Local media reported at the time that Saudi Arabia's three main operators Saudi Telecom Co, Etihad Etisalat(Mobily) and Zain Saudi had been asked to tell CITC if they were able to monitor or block such applications.ĬITC did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday orwhen the earlier announcement was made in March.Įarlier this year, the Interior Ministry's spokesman complained that Islamist militants were taking advantage of social media to foment unrest. The regulator issued a vaguely worded directive in March warning that such tools as Viber, Whatsapp and Skype broke local laws, without specifying how. A message on the Viber website explained the service had been banned in Saudi Arabia. CITC did not explain what regulatory requirements and rules it breached, but the kingdom appears to be pushing for greater control over cyberspace as Internet and smart phone usage soars.Īttempts to use Viber on two different smartphones and to download it onto a computer in Saudi Arabia failed to work on Wednesday. Viber allows subscribers to make free calls, send instant messages and share files over the internet. and the(regulator) affirms it will take appropriate action against any other applications or services if they fail to comply with regulatory requirements and rules in force in the kingdom,” the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said in a statement on its website. “The Viber application has been suspended. Saudi Arabia's telecom regulator has banned use of the web-based communication application Viber, which is hard for the state to monitor and deprives licensed telecom companies of revenue from international calls and texts.
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