The Saudi Arabia Telecom market is dominated by three players holding unified licenses: Etihad Etisalat Company (Mobily), Saudi Telecom Company (STC), and Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) in 2021. All of them are SOEs. It is reported that although Saudi Arabia has undertaken a limited privatisation process for state-owned companies and assets since 2002, the process, which is open to domestic and foreign investors, has resulted only in the partial privatisation of SOEs in the telecommunication sector.

According to Saudi Arabia's Accounting Separation Regulatory Framework, accounting separation is applied and required by law for operators with significant market power. However, functional separation for operators with significant market power is not required by law.

Under the Implementing Regulations of the Telecommunication Act, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) is permitted to limit the number of licensees for type A Class Licences, which include: i) national and international voice call resale services; ii) very small aperture terminal (‘VSAT’) satellite services; iii) public pay telephone services; iv) radio paging services; v) temporary network services; vi) internet of Things-Mobile Virtual Network Operator (‘IoT-MVNO’) services.

Saudi Arabia has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

The Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) offers detailed information on the investment process, provides licenses and support services to foreign investors, and coordinates with government ministries to facilitate investment. According to MISA, it must grant or refuse a license within five days of receiving an application and supporting documentation from a prospective investor. Depending on the type of license issued, foreign firms may also require the approval of relevant competent authorities, such as the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Tourism.
MISA has established and posted its licensing guidelines online. Still, it is reported that many companies looking to invest in Saudi Arabia continue to work with local representation to navigate the bureaucratic licensing process.
The Implementing Regulations of the Foreign Investment Art. 11 further states that the rejection of the investment license application, amendment, or renewal by the relevant authority shall be reasoned, and the person concerned may file an objection to the rejection within sixty days from the date of his notification of the decision.

It is reported that the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

It is reported that foreign investors must comply with the Government's Saudization policy (Nitaqat), a long-term plan aimed at increasing the proportion of Saudi employees (including women) in the economy. The policy requires companies to employ a certain percentage of Saudi citizens, which ranges from 5% to 75%, based on the nature of the business, the work conditions, and the availability of Saudi employees in the field. Foreign investors must include their Saudization levels when submitting their investment plans for approval.

The National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) has developed and implemented the Essential Cybersecurity Controls (ECCs) with the objective of setting the minimum cybersecurity requirements for information and technology assets in organisations. The ECCs apply to all government organisations in the Kingdom and their companies and entities (i.e. semi-government entities), as well as private-sector organisations owning, operating, or hosting Critical National Infrastructures (CNIs). Section 4.2.3.3 of the ECCs, which deals with cloud computing and hosting cybersecurity, mandates that an applicable organisation's information hosting and storage must be inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is reported that the NCA strongly encourages all other organisations in the Kingdom to 'leverage these controls and implement best practices to improve and enhance their cybersecurity'.
On the other hand, the NCA issued its Cloud Cybersecurity Controls (CCC), which aim to enhance the reliability of cloud computing services by providing secure cloud computing services that help withstand various cyber threats. In particular, the NCA noted that the CCC applies to cloud service providers and cloud service tenants which constitute any government organisation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia inside or outside the Kingdom and its companies and entities, as well as private sector organisations owning, operating, or hosting CNIs that currently use or are planning to use any cloud service. The CCC framework requires operators to provide cloud computing services from within the country, including all systems, including storage, processing, monitoring, support, and disaster recovery centres (Sections 2-3-P-1-10 and 2-3-P-1-11). The requirement applies to all levels of data.

Art. 14 of the Patent Law requires foreign applicants to appoint a representative or a registered Saudi patent attorney for the patent process in Saudi Arabia. In addition, it was reported that the Saudi patent office, dispute committee, and courts only accept Arabic documents or their Arabic translation by a certified translator. This includes priority documents, power of attorney, and translation of certificates in other jurisdictions used as evidence.

Section 3-3-6 of the Cloud Computing Services Provisioning Regulations, as issued by the Communications, Space & Technology Commission, stipulates that cloud service providers and their subscribers (defined as individuals or entities with whom a cloud service provider agrees to deliver its services under a cloud computing contract or other commercial arrangement) must ensure that data pertaining to Saudi Arabia's public sector is stored within the country's national borders.
The Regulations represent the fourth iteration of this legislation. Since the inception of the first version, the legislation has incorporated certain restrictions. Section 3.3.8 of the initial version, referred to as the Cloud Computing Regulatory Framework, stipulated that no Level 3 data could be transferred outside Saudi Arabia unless explicitly authorised by the government. Level 3 data encompassed, among other categories, sensitive information held by public authorities.

While Saudi Arabia maintains strong patent enforcement laws, including clear sanctions and various remedial actions, it is reported that enforcement efforts are hindered by the absence of clear legal definitions, particularly in relation to online protections.

Art. 5.4 of the General Principles for Personal Data Protection in the Telecommunication, IT, and Postal Services requires that service providers of telecommunication, IT and postal services process customers’ personal data within Saudi Arabia and prohibits them from processing customers’ personal data out of Saudi Arabia without the authorisation of Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC).

Saudi Arabia is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Art. 3.4.3 of the Cyber Security Framework of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority mandates that financial institutions should use cloud services located in Saudi Arabia. If the cloud services are outside Saudi Arabia, financial services should obtain explicit approval from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. These apply to banks, insurance and/or reinsurance companies, financing companies and credit bureaus operating in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has a copyright regime under the Royal Decree No. M/11 on Copyright Law. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Art. 15 lists the exceptions, which include copying the work for personal use, quoting passages from the work in another work, and using the work by way of clarification for educational purposes, among others.