supporting units
Technology Unit
The Technology Unit is a cornerstone of stc, dedicated to managing and optimizing technological infrastructure to empower and enhance business operations. This Unit plays a pivotal role in driving innovation, elevating operational efficiency and ensuring stc remains at the forefront of industry leadership and competitiveness.
Strategic focus and alignment with DARE 2.0 strategy
stc’s Technology strategy is aimed at accelerating and enabling stc’s growth and success by ensuring both effectiveness and efficiency to sustain its leadership in technology, in full alignment with DARE 2.0 and the Kingdom’s broader vision and ambitions.
Kingdom's vision 2030
KSA ICT
Strategy 2023
D
Digitize stc
A
Accelerate performance
R
Reinvent experience
E
Expand scale and scope
Technology – RAQAMI strategy
Revolutionize
innovation
Advance data
analytics
Quicken and modernize infrastructure
Aspire efficiency increase
Mature cybersecurity and resiliency
Inspire towards digitalization
Technology domains
Mobile access
Fixed access
Core
Cloud
Data centers
Transport
Apps
Data analytics
5G expansion vision: stc remains committed to maintaining its leadership in 5G coverage and speed across the nation, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Therefore, stc plans to:
Continue network cloudification and enhance automation to drive efficiency and agility.
Expand 5G deployment by targeting additional cities, focusing on the N78 band to increase coverage.
Implement 5G on the N40 and N77 bands to boost speed and capacity in major urban centers.
Utilize the N71 band for 5G deployment to improve indoor coverage and services.
Deploy 5G small cells using mm wave technology for hotspot areas, contingent on spectrum availability after the auction.
Establish private 5G networks using the existing C-band.
N71 enablement of 5GSA and advanced use cases.
Open RAN deployment in a commercial PoC as an important milestone towards a wider transformation of RAN architecture.
The Technology Unit is accelerating infrastructure modernization and simplification to adapt to a rapidly evolving market and emerging technology trends. These efforts have significantly enhanced customer experience, achieving 54.70% 5G coverage across the Kingdom and 98% 4G coverage as of year-end 2024.
5G Population coverage (KSA)
4G Population coverage (KSA)
stc made significant strides in infrastructure development and modernization throughout 2024, achieving notable milestones that enhanced connectivity and customer experience. A total of 191,859 households were connected to fiber through FTTH projects, bringing the cumulative FTTH connections to over 3.58 million.
In the 5G domain, stc commissioned 661 new 5G sites, reaching an accumulated total of 8,993 sites. Additionally, over 2,028 integrated 5G second-layer sites (N40) were implemented, bringing the cumulative site-asset inventory to 10,888. To support these advancements, 8,035 fiber backhaul connections for 5G sites were successfully established.
households 2024
Human Resources
In 2024, the HR Unit continued its efforts to enhance employee productivity across stc and opened new growth opportunities within stc, most notably through the Talent Mobility program, which fosters collaboration among its subsidiaries. This program has empowered employees to explore and expand their career horizons, contributing to improved performance, higher efficiency and a more collaborative and integrated work environment across all sectors. This is grounded in the belief that employees are the cornerstone of stc’s ongoing success and innovation.
This year, stc achieved significant milestones in employee experience initiatives, forming the foundation for a unified and effective experience for its employees. Through these efforts, stc maintains its agility and adaptability in the face of rapid change, seizing emerging opportunities for sustained growth and value creation.
The HR Unit at stc has proactively led these strategic initiatives, reinforcing its commitment to going beyond traditional human capital management. It has positioned itself as a central force driving stc’s strategic objectives while balancing stakeholder needs with the evolving business environment.
The HR Unit also aims to embed and promote stc’s targeted culture and organizational values, which form the cornerstone of enhancing stakeholder experiences and workforce cohesion. To this end, the HR Unit has continued to develop its approach by adopting the latest digital tools and methodologies, fostering a culture of shared values and strengthening unity within stc and its subsidiaries.
2024 by the Numbers
924
Employees hired
97
Fresh graduates hired
89.3%
Saudization rate for stc KSA and its local subsidiaries
221
COOP trainees
2,787
Female employees
66
People with disabilities employees
2,141
Early retirement program beneficiaries
43
Employees in scholarship programs offered by local and international universities
Shared Services
stc’s Shared Services Unit represents a transformational business model designed to unify and integrate support functions, providing comprehensive, high-quality and easily accessible services. By optimizing the use of strategic resources, expanding the service product portfolio and integrating core systems, Shared Services aim to increase spending efficiency, boost productivity and improve transparency. This approach strengthens the strategic alignment of stc and contributes significantly to its overall effectiveness.
The Shared Services Unit plays a critical role in achieving stc’s strategic objectives by driving organizational growth and enhancing business efficiency. It delivers a diverse range of essential services, including Human Resources, Training, Supply Chain, Procurement, Facility Management, Safety and Security, Business Partnering, Office Automation, and Local Content. These integrated offerings enable stc to operate more cohesively and effectively, fostering a streamlined and agile organization prepared to meet evolving business needs.
HR Services
Employee services
stc’s Human Resources department remained focused throughout 2024 on delivering essential HR services with efficiency and effectiveness, playing a critical role in ensuring uninterrupted business operations. The Group prioritized the digitization of HR services, the enhancement of employee well-being programs and strict compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Academy from stc
“Academy from stc” is the educational and strategic enabler for stc and its subsidiaries, offering a wide range of services for all employee segments, from fresh graduates to senior executives. Programs span critical areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data science, modern technologies, management, finance, communication and leadership. With centers located in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Medina, Qassim and Abha, more than 600 trainees benefit from its programs daily. The academy also provides e-learning solutions and resources to ensure continuous development.
Rawafed Program
Rawafed is a key strategic initiative designed to enhance and develop local content within the ICT sector in Saudi Arabia. As part of stc’s commitment to fostering the growth and enrichment of this vital industry, Rawafed plays a pivotal role in aligning with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. In 2024, Rawafed continued its pioneering efforts by driving a variety of impactful initiatives and activities. These endeavors have contributed significantly to supporting the national economy, strengthening local output, and reinforcing stc’s position as a leader in advancing local content development within the Kingdom.
Rawafed vision
Pioneers of local content, Rawafed builds, develops and grows the ICT sector to increase stc’s contribution to the national digital economy.
Strategic focus
Rawafed is an integral part of stc’s efforts and strategy to enrich local content, based on the strategic pillars of the program and its operational model.
Strategic pillars
Localize spending
Attract investment
Foster innovation
Enrich capabilities
Rawafed’s strategy focuses on maximizing local spending by increasing direct expenditures with local partners and raising the share of spending on small and medium-sized enterprises.
It also aims to attract investments to localize the operations of partners and transfer manufacturing and technological expertise to the Kingdom, creating new local supply and production chains and enabling promising investment opportunities.
To strengthen the culture of innovation, the strategy focuses on fostering new digital businesses as one of its core pillars. It also emphasizes adopting local innovations and supporting research to create new ideas and diversify job opportunities.
All of these efforts rely on the contributions of national capabilities and competencies, as Rawafed strives to enrich local talent by increasing their participation in the sector and enhancing their knowledge capabilities, positively impacting the growth of local content.
Operational model
Through its operating model, Rawafed program presents a sustainable institutional work that focuses on the continuity of the creation and development of local content across stc.
discover
identify and prioritize Local Content opportunities based on strategic pillars and define Local Content targets
deliver
execute Local Content targets, monitor performance and submit periodic reports
digest
show Local Content growth and improve performance continually
Rawafed program performance in 2024
Building on its leadership in the ICT sector and its commitment to advancing Local Content, stc has implemented comprehensive reviews and enhancements of its internal policies and procedures to support Local Content across operations and procurement. These efforts resulted in a significant increase in the Local Content ratio, which has risen by over 13% since 2021, reaching 44.32%. This achievement aligns with the standards set by the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, with total local spending exceeding & 16 billion.
stc also leads in workforce localization, maintaining an overall localization rate of 90%. stc’s annual spending on local labor wages has surpassed & 9 billion, complemented by an investment of more than & 59 million in workforce training programs, underscoring its dedication to empowering local talent.
Efforts to localize goods and services have been bolstered by expanding the network of local partners, which now includes 2,828 companies. Rawafed has played a crucial role in this achievement by supporting partners in obtaining Local Content certificates, issuing 1,025 certificates in 2024. This contributed to the localization of goods and services, which has increased to 33%.
Rawafed has further amplified awareness of local content through participation in national forums and hosting over 33 workshops. The initiative has also contributed to the preparation and publication of numerous reports and launched multiple media and awareness campaigns. As a result, an internal awareness survey revealed that 70.5% of participants have a comprehensive understanding of the importance of local content and how to support and develop it.
