Saudi has three telecommunication companies you can purchase your sim card from. When you arrive at the airport you will see these three companies
STC, Mobily and Zain
All three are great options, in different areas of the country each has better coverage. So if you are visiting a friend ask them which one of the three they have. You cannot go wrong with any of these options.
How to get a sim card:
- Show the staff your e-visa, business visa or eqama. If you have an e-visa make sure to have it saved on your phone to show the airport phone booth staff.
- Choose how many GBs you want and pay. Most desks will take visa, mastercard and apple pay.
- Collect the sim card and place it in your phone
- Save what your Saudi phone number is
- Download the app from the phone company so you may pay for another month or get more GBs
Personally I have gone with STC, it has a great app where I can purchase more data and I am able to reload using apple pay. You can also always go with a plan from your home country allowing roaming. However having a Saudi number sometimes helps with reservations or being able to get onto mall wifi. A lot of places need a text confirmation so having a Saudi phone number is helpful.
Here are the links to each of the phone companies websites:
Click this link for STC:
Click this link for Mobily:
Click this link for Zain:
Enjoy your phone plans my chickpeas!
