Gulf operators are financing 5G ahead of the revenue case
World-leading penetration is being paid for out of consumer revenue that has stayed flat, in the Gulf as everywhere. The enterprise and adjacent-services cases are what have to carry it.
Comprehensive coverage and updates on Digital Infrastructure across the MENA tech ecosystem.
World-leading penetration is being paid for out of consumer revenue that has stayed flat, in the Gulf as everywhere. The enterprise and adjacent-services cases are what have to carry it.
Ericsson forecasts 62 million 5G subscriptions in the GCC by the end of 2026 — around 73% of all mobile subscriptions, second only to North America.
The NEOM Green Hydrogen Company venture was reported at around 90% complete in late 2025, with 257 wind turbines — and it is the power supply the region's compute programmes depend on.
The industrial district has been reframed as a coastal zone with a port, and reporting through 2026 points at AI data centres. On the site's properties, the fit is strong.
Construction on NEOM's most visible sub-project was suspended in September 2025 pending a PIF strategic review. Reporting in June 2026 put the stoppage in place until at least 2030.
The PIF-owned AI company has broken ground on two data centres, in Riyadh and Dammam, each starting at up to 100MW. The roadmap says 1.9GW by 2030 and 6GW by 2034.
Threats to regional oil and gas assets are a named driver of a security market heading for $46bn. Protecting a refinery is a different discipline from protecting a database.
A domestic market valued at $578m today and $4.2bn by 2033, against a $100bn infrastructure programme. The arithmetic works when most of the demand comes from elsewhere.
GPU density made cooling a strategic layer rather than a facilities cost — and in a region with 50°C summers, the physics is less forgiving than elsewhere.
A gigawatt of compute needs a power station. The constraint on Gulf AI capacity has moved from chips to grid connections, transformers and cooling.