Saudi Telecom Company (STC) plans to deploy high-speed broadband across Saudi Arabia by 2020.

The company, which is bidding for a contract to operate the third mobile licence in Oman, has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s top telecoms and IT regulators, the Communications and Information Technology Ministry and the Communications and Information Technology Commission, to deploy a fibre-optic network that wil connect 1.3 million homes across the country within four years.

The project is expected to cost SR7.3bn ($1.95n), the company said in a filing with the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) on 7 May.

It is understood that STC needs further approvals from various government authorities before it could proceed with the project.

According to STC, upgrading its national data network is in line with the objectives of the National Transformation Plan (NTP) 2020, and contribute to the Kingdom 2030 economic vision.

In March, Zain Saudi Arabia has announced that it has been awarded a licence to deploy high-speed mobile broadband network in the kingdom. The first phase of the project is understood to include rolling out the infrastructure in 13 provinces.