- stc group and Huawei have successfully deployed Saudi Arabia’s first Full Duplex microwave solution in the Riyadh district, delivering up to 50 Gbps of transmission capacity for critical infrastructure.
- The solution improves spectrum efficiency by up to 200%, enabling high-capacity, protected 5G connectivity across suburban and emerging coverage areas.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, July 2026: stc group, Saudi Arabia’s leading digital enabler, and Huawei have announced the successful deployment of an innovative Full Duplex solution in the Riyadh district, marking another milestone in the two companies’ partnership and the first deployment of its kind in Saudi Arabia.
The Full Duplex solution, a technology that allows a single connection to send and receive data simultaneously on the same frequency, delivers up to 50 Gbps of transmission capacity, enabling highly reliable, protected connectivity for critical social and livelihood infrastructure. The solution improves spectrum efficiency by up to 200%, supporting large-bandwidth 5G transport particularly in suburban and emerging coverage areas.
As a global pioneer in 5G development, Saudi Arabia launched nationwide 5G services in 2019. A significant share of the country’s 5G network relies on microwave links – the wireless connections that carry data between mobile towers and the broader network. Traditionally, microwave transmission requires two separate frequency channels to send and receive data, which limits capacity expansion where spectrum is scarce and presents challenges to deliver reliable, high-capacity connectivity to critical infrastructure.
To address this, stc and Huawei jointly developed the Full Duplex solution. By operating on a single frequency channel, it reduces spectrum consumption, simplifies network architecture, and maintains ultra-high capacity with built-in protection, providing a more efficient and resilient connectivity option.
This deployment reflects the strong partnership between stc and Huawei and a shared commitment to advancing next-generation 5G transport technologies. It supports the expansion of high-capacity 5G networks beyond urban centers, providing a valuable foundation for future applications and contributing to Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation.
