Saudi Arabia: Over 320m calls made in Mecca, Medina in 1st half of Ramadan

Cairo: Residents and visitors of the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina, home to Islam’s two holiest mosque, made more than 320 million phone calls during the first half of the current Muslim month of Ramadan, according to a government report.

The Saudi Communications, Space and Technology Commission said the calls included 184 million local calls and 21 million international calls in Mecca.

Meanwhile, 107 million local calls and 10 million international calls were made in Medina.

The overwhelming numbers of the calls reflect significant pressure on and efficient performance of the networks in serving pilgrims and visitors to both cities, the commission noted.

The report showed that the daily data consumption surged to surpass the global averages during the cited period.

In Mecca, the average per capita consumption reached 1,190 megabytes per day.

In Medina, it reached 1,495 MB supported by mobile Internet speeds of 210 Megabits per second (Mbps) in Mecca and 278 Mbps in Medina.

The month of Ramadan, expected to end on March 29, usually marks the peak season of the Umrah or minor pilgrimage in the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

Larger numbers of the faithful from inside and outside Saudi Arabia flock to the mosque to perform the Umrah rites and devote themselves to worshipping particularly in the final 10 days of the month.

Many worshippers also head to the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina to pray and visit other Islamic landmarks in the city.