Riyadh eSIM
In Riyadh you connect to STC or Mobily, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The typical speed across the country is 83 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- STC and Mobily
- Typical speed in Saudi Arabia
- 83 Mbps typical, 24 Mbps at busy times
- 5G
- yes, standalone and non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Riyadh
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $8.89 | $8.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $5.63 | $16.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $4.78 | $23.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $3.39 | $33.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $2.64 | $52.89 |
How Saudi Arabia compares across Middle East
- Regional typical speed
- 72 Mbps
- Upstream networks
- 2, STC, Mobily
- 5G
- Yes, standalone and non standalone
- Next fastest nearby
- Kuwait, 86 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- Bahrain, 78 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 3: Riyadh, Jeddah, AlUla
Landing at King Khalid International Airport (RUH)
- Airport
- RUH / OERK
- Distance
- 35 km from the centre of Riyadh
Getting into Riyadh
- Riyadh Metro Line 4 (Yellow Line), with stations at Airport T1-2, Airport T3-4 and Airport T5 (RUH)
Underground and on the metro
Riyadh Metro runs 6 lines. It opened in 2024. The operator does not publish whether the tunnels carry a mobile signal, so we do not claim either way.
Worth knowing about Riyadh
- King Khalid International Airport got a metro connection only on 1 December 2024, when Riyadh Metro Line 4 opened with three separate airport terminal stations.
- The Riyadh Metro is 176 km long and is recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's longest fully automated driverless metro.
- The network mixes elevated and underground sections across its 85 stations.
- The airport is 35 km north of Riyadh and has five passenger terminals, the newest opened in 2016.
- Saudi Arabia's regulator CST says an eSIM can be activated by scanning a QR code on an operator voucher, through the operator's own app, or by entering the details manually, with no branch visit.
- CST, with the Ministry of Interior and licensed operators, lets international pilgrims request and activate an eSIM through an operator app, with identity verified biometrically in the Absher application.
- CST requires operators to get a user's permission before switching roaming on, and to send an SMS setting out call, SMS and internet fees and any restrictions.
- CST notes that while roaming internet fees are subject to a credit limit, call and SMS fees are not, so voice and text can run up unchecked.
- The airport line, Line 4, runs 29.6 km with nine stations from King Khalid International Airport to the King Abdullah Financial District, four of them interchanges.
- The network did not open at once: lines 1, 4 and 6 started on 1 December 2024, lines 2 and 5 on 15 December 2024, and line 3 only on 5 January 2025.
- Riyadh Metro carried 1.9 million passengers in its first week, with trains running 3 to 7 minutes apart.
- King Salman International Airport is being built around the existing King Khalid airport, with six runways and six passenger terminals plus an iconic terminal, aiming at 100 million passengers a year by 2030.