5G Saudi Arabia eSIM | STC, Mobily & Zain Coverage
Roami
Roami is a global eSIM carrier focused on travel connectivity. This guide is compiled from network data, official carrier and manufacturer documentation, and traveler inquiries.
📑 Table of Contents
Saudi Arabia is two connectivity markets at once: a business hub running among the fastest mobile internet anywhere, and a pilgrimage destination whose networks bend under seasonal crowds. Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index placed the kingdom 8th in the world for median mobile download in August 2026 at 224.54 Mbps, while Cable.co.uk prices a gigabyte of local data at about USD 1.49. The catch is regulatory: under the Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST), every locally issued Saudi Arabia eSIM and SIM card is registered against your passport and your entry record. Which carrier is best therefore turns on your visa, your route, and whether you actually need a Saudi number. The Saudi Arabia questions below are the ones support answers every week — collected here in the words travelers actually use.
Quick answer: Go with STC if coverage matters more than price, Mobily if you are staying around the main urban centres. Before buying anything, make sure your device is eSIM-ready via the eSIM compatibility list.
Device support varies, and a first profile install is unfamiliar territory for most travelers. Both gaps are covered elsewhere — the device compatibility list and the activation explainer — so this page can stay on the networks.
The 30-second version: STC has the widest coverage and the fastest 5G, and it is the network to want the moment you leave the cities. Mobily sells the cheapest data per gigabyte and is a strong performer in Makkah and Madinah. Zain KSA runs 600 MHz standalone 5G in parts of Riyadh. All three require an in-store visit with your original passport and border number before a local eSIM activates. If you want data the moment you land — or you are arriving during Hajj, Umrah or Riyadh Season — a travel eSIM skips the counter entirely. Roami’s Saudi Arabia eSIM rides the local networks, and a free data trial lets you test the waters at no cost.
Saudi Arabia eSIM rules start with your visa
Saudi Arabia runs mandatory real-name registration for every mobile line activated on a local network, and the CST enforces it through live database checks across all licensed operators. There are no anonymous SIMs in the kingdom. For a visitor, buying a local line means producing your original passport — photocopies are usually refused — plus your Saudi border number, the identifier immigration assigns when your passport is stamped at entry.
The counter process itself is short, typically five to ten minutes, and at operator kiosks it often includes a biometric fingerprint check. The line you walk away with is tied to your visa status: tourist SIMs are visitor packages whose validity is bounded by your stay, and an unregistered or improperly registered line can be deactivated within days of first use. CST rules also cap registrations — visitors can generally hold only one or two SIMs per passport, expatriate residents two per Iqama, and Saudi citizens up to ten.
One consequence matters more than any other: the three big carriers sell eSIMs, but a local eSIM still requires the same in-person registration as a plastic card. You visit a store, the staff verify your passport and border number, and only then do you receive a QR code to scan. A travel Saudi Arabia eSIM purchased before departure is issued abroad and roams onto the Saudi networks, so it falls outside the CST registration mandate — which is exactly why it is the default recommendation for short stays and peak-season arrivals.
Which Saudi visa can register a local eSIM?
Eligibility is not one rule but five, because the document in your passport decides what the counter can sell you and which identifier the registry matches.
| Your status on entry | Local Saudi Arabia eSIM at a counter | Identity the registry needs | Practical note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tourist eVisa (single or multiple entry) | Yes — Sawa Visitor, Mobily or Zain visitor packs | Original passport plus the border number from your entry stamp | The standard case; the eVisa itself grants Umrah outside Hajj season |
| Umrah or Hajj visa | Yes — visitor packs, sometimes badged as Umrah bundles | Original passport, border number, and often a biometric scan | Peak-season counters queue badly; a pre-installed travel eSIM covers the gap |
| Business or work visit visa | Yes — visitor packs, plus longer stay options | Original passport and border number; sponsorship details if asked | A Saudi Arabia eSIM with a local number simplifies driver and hotel calls |
| GCC resident (valid GCC residence) | Yes — visitor packs on the same terms | Original passport; GCC national ID accepted for GCC citizens | Residents of other GCC states are eVisa-eligible in most cases |
| Air transit or cruise arrival | Yes, if you clear immigration | Original passport and the border number issued at the port | Short windows make a pre-purchased travel eSIM the lower-risk choice |
Saudi eSIM rules: cruise, transit and GCC-resident arrivals
Three of those rows deserve a second look. Air passengers who hold qualifying Saudia or Flynas tickets can be issued a 48-hour transit sightseeing visa, and that entry record is enough for a visitor line at the airport. Cruise passengers and land arrivals follow the same registry logic once they clear immigration, though kiosk hours at smaller ports are less predictable than at Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah airports. GCC citizens, who need no visa at all, register a line on a GCC national ID instead of a passport.
Whichever row you fall into, the underlying constraint is identical: the registry matches your name as spelled on the passport, so a mismatch between your booking, your visa and your passport is the most common reason a freshly bought Saudi Arabia eSIM shows no service. Note the border number at immigration and keep it in a notes app.
The Saudi Arabia eSIM carriers: STC, Mobily and Zain KSA
Three national operators hold the market, all licensed and regulated by the CST. Their visitor products look similar on paper, so the differences that matter are network strengths and paperwork.
| stc | Mobily | Zain KSA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visitor eSIM route | Sawa Visitor packages, activated at a branch via the mySTC app | Visitor packages, activated in store or at kiosks | Visitor packages, activated at kiosks and stores |
| Cheapest advertised entry | About SAR 40 for 5 GB / 2 weeks | About SAR 34.50 for 5 GB / 14 days | About SAR 40 for 7 GB / 2 weeks |
| Network strength (late 2025 awards) | Fastest network overall; widest coverage | Best video experience, consistency and reliability | Fastest-rising 5G; 600 MHz standalone in Riyadh |
| Watch out for | Must visit a branch to activate | Allowances vary between sources — confirm at purchase | Fewer award wins; confirm package price at counter |
Budget MVNO brands on the big three Saudi networks
Below the big three sits a fringe of budget brands: Lebara KSA, Virgin Mobile KSA, FRiNDi and Salam Mobile all resell capacity on the host networks, and Salam publishes its own small visitor line-up. They can be cheaper for light use, but eSIM support and airport availability vary, and their coverage is exactly the host network’s coverage. Note also that Zain here means Zain KSA — the same group operates Zain Jordan, which is a completely different network and is covered in our separate Jordan guide.
Buy a Saudi eSIM from a carrier, or arrive on a travel eSIM?
The economics favor the carriers once you are willing to stand in line; the convenience clearly favors the travel eSIM. Anchor numbers: STC’s Sawa Visitor entry tier costs about SAR 40 (roughly USD 11) for 5 GB, Mobily’s 55 GB month costs about SAR 103.50, and a typical foreign travel eSIM prices a 5 GB Saudi Arabia eSIM at roughly USD 13–15.
| Direct from stc, Mobily or Zain KSA | Travel eSIM on a Saudi network | |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Original passport, border number, biometric check at the counter | None — profile issued abroad |
| Time to online | 5–10 minutes in store, plus queues in season | Minutes, before you even fly |
| Typical cost | From about SAR 34–40 for 5 GB | From about USD 13–15 for 5 GB |
| What you get | A Saudi number, voice minutes, local calling rates | Data only, in most cases |
| Best for | Stays of two weeks or more, pilgrims, business travelers who need a local number | Short trips, Hajj and Umrah arrivals, anyone who wants signal at the gate |
Two details decide it. First, price per gigabyte: Mobily’s large visitor packages work out near SAR 2 per GB, which no international travel eSIM matches. Second, seasonality: during Hajj and peak Umrah weeks the arrivals-hall counters at Jeddah and Madinah run long queues, and a profile installed at home is the only route that is immune to them.
Should you start on a travel eSIM and switch to a local line?
The middle path is to buy the travel eSIM for landing week and register a local line in the city if your stay extends. That combination beats either option alone, and it removes the risk that your first hour in the kingdom is spent hunting a working counter instead of a taxi.
Is your phone compatible with a Saudi Arabia eSIM?
The good news is that Saudi networks are among the most standards-friendly in the region. 5G runs on n41 (2.5 GHz) and n78 (3.5 GHz), both common on international flagships, and 4G LTE coverage is effectively universal where people actually live. A phone that works on LTE in Europe or Asia will work in Riyadh.
Three checks before you pay for a Saudi Arabia eSIM
First, eSIM support: dial *#06# and look for an EID, or run your exact model through the eSIM compatibility quiz — model number, not marketing name. Second, carrier lock: a phone bought on a contract abroad may refuse any third-party profile until its original carrier unlocks it; Settings → General → About → Carrier Lock should read “No SIM restrictions”. Third, dual-SIM behavior: most visitors keep their home SIM active for SMS verification codes and point mobile data at the Saudi Arabia eSIM.
Hotspot sharing works on the carrier visitor packages; some travel eSIMs cap tethering, so check the terms if you plan to work off a laptop.
Pre-flight checklist for a Saudi Arabia eSIM
- Dial
*#06#and confirm an EID appears - Check that Carrier Lock reads “No SIM restrictions”
- Install the profile on home Wi-Fi, not airport Wi-Fi
- Screenshot the QR code and any activation code
- Set the eSIM as the line used for mobile data
- Enable data roaming for that line
- Save your border number as soon as immigration issues it
- Download offline maps for Makkah, Madinah and AlUla
- Note which operator app you will use for top-ups
How much does a Saudi Arabia eSIM cost per gigabyte?
Every route ends at the same counter with the same documents, but the packages behind those counters differ widely in price per gigabyte. Here is each one, step by step.
The STC Sawa Visitor eSIM, tier by tier
STC’s visitor product is the Sawa Visitor line, sold at stc branches and airport kiosks with prices including 15% VAT. Current advertised tiers:
| Package | Data | Calls | Validity | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sawa Visitor 35 | 5 GB | 1 hour Flex | 2 weeks | SAR 40.25 |
| Sawa Visitor 60 | 22 GB | 2 hours Flex | 2 weeks | SAR 70 |
| Sawa Visitor 73 | 30 GB | 3 hours Flex | 3 weeks | SAR 85 |
| Sawa Visitor 104 | 60 GB | 5 hours Flex | 4 weeks | about SAR 115 |
| Sawa Visitor 165 | 100 GB | 10 hours Flex | 4 weeks | SAR 190 |
“Flex” minutes work for both local Saudi calls and international calls to a listed set of countries. Two stc-specific quirks: the number is reserved for 30 days and must be activated at a branch after arrival — stc says so explicitly — and management afterwards happens in the mySTC app. That branch requirement is the main friction; the price per gigabyte is the reward.
Mobily visitor packages and prices
Mobily consistently prices at or near the bottom of the market. The widely reported 2026 visitor line-up includes 5 GB for 14 days at SAR 34.50, a 30-day package with about 55 GB for SAR 103.50, and four-week tiers with unlimited calls at SAR 150–220. Recharges run through the Mobily app or the *1400# menu, and VAT is applied on top-ups. One caveat: round-ups disagree on a couple of tiers, so confirm the data figure at the counter before paying. For pilgrims based mainly in Makkah and Madinah, Mobily’s network is a solid local choice.
The Zain KSA visitor line at the airport
Zain KSA staffs kiosks in the arrivals halls of King Khalid International in Riyadh and King Abdulaziz International in Jeddah, and its visitor tiers are advertised around SAR 40 for 7 GB over two weeks, scaling to roughly 75 GB for SAR 160 in four weeks. The same passport-and-border-number registration applies, and staff can look up your border number if you did not note it. Treat published allowances as indicative and confirm the final package at the counter.
Saudi visitor SIM packages compared side by side
| Operator | Entry tier | Mid tier | Large tier | Price trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stc (Sawa Visitor) | 5 GB / 2 weeks / SAR 40.25 | 30 GB / 3 weeks / SAR 85 | 100 GB / 4 weeks / SAR 190 | Highest headline price, widest coverage |
| Mobily | 5 GB / 14 days / SAR 34.50 | 20 GB / 30 days / about SAR 57.50 | ~55 GB / 30 days / SAR 103.50 | Cheapest per gigabyte at the top |
| Zain KSA | 7 GB / 2 weeks / SAR 40 | 40 GB / 4 weeks / about SAR 90 | ~75 GB / 4 weeks / SAR 160 | Middle of the market; strong upload |
The pattern is consistent across sources even where individual allowances move: stc charges a premium for reach, Mobily undercuts on volume, and Zain sits between the two with the most aggressive 5G build-out. None of the three is a bad buy — they differ by single-digit riyals once you normalize the data.
Which Saudi Arabia eSIM wins for business travel?
A work trip weights the criteria differently from a holiday, and the answer shifts accordingly.
- Upload speed and latency for video calls point to stc, which swept Opensignal’s 2025 speed awards and posted 13 Mbps median upload in the February report
- Reliability between meetings points to Mobily, the October 2025 Reliability Experience winner
- A local number for drivers and hotel desks means registering a carrier line rather than a data-only profile
- Tethering matters if you work from a laptop, so confirm hotspot terms before you buy
Saudi SIM registration: what to have before the counter
- Original passport — the page is scanned or photographed for the CST registry
- Border number — printed on your entry stamp or retrievable by staff; save it in your notes app at immigration
- A few minutes for biometric verification at authorized kiosks
- Payment — airport counters generally accept international cards; city stores lean on mada debit cards and cash, so carry riyals as a backup
- Wi-Fi or an already-installed travel eSIM for the ride into town, because a local profile only goes live after registration
City-center stores in Riyadh Park Mall, Red Sea Mall and their equivalents often have shorter queues than the arrivals hall, and the packages are the same. If your stay is under a fortnight, weigh that against the fifteen minutes a travel Saudi Arabia eSIM takes to install before you fly.
Saudi Arabia eSIM coverage and speed, city by city and province by province
Start with the national picture, because it is genuinely strong. Figures below come from Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index for August 2026 and Cable.co.uk’s worldwide pricing survey.
| Metric | Saudi Arabia | Global median |
|---|---|---|
| Median mobile download | 224.54 Mbps (8th worldwide) | 109.05 Mbps |
| Median mobile latency | 23 ms | 24 ms |
| Median fixed download | 174.04 Mbps (47th worldwide) | 129.68 Mbps |
| Average cost of 1 GB | USD 1.49 (127th of 237) | USD 2.59 |
The market behind those numbers is mature: DataReportal counted 33.9 million internet users in Saudi Arabia at the start of 2025 — 99.0% of the population — against 48.1 million mobile connections. Combined 5G site counts across the three operators now exceed 25,000, and the CST’s November 2024 auction added 600 MHz, 700 MHz and 3800 MHz capacity to all three networks.
STC vs Mobily: which Saudi Arabia carrier is faster?
Award season 2025 delivered a split verdict, which is worth reading carefully rather than compressing into a single winner.
| Measure (2025) | stc | Mobily | Zain KSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ookla Speed Score, Q3–Q4 2025 | 73.77 (award winner) | 72.90 | 71.58 |
| Ookla median download, Q3–Q4 2025 | 219.91 Mbps | not published | not published |
| Ookla Speed Score, Q1–Q2 2025 | 74.02 | 73.69 | 72.83 |
| Ookla median download, Q1–Q2 2025 | 212.84 Mbps | 187.52 Mbps | 228.30 Mbps |
| Ookla median upload, Q1–Q2 2025 | 16.20 Mbps | 19.08 Mbps | 16.01 Mbps |
| Opensignal download speed experience, Feb 2025 | 55.2 Mbps | not published | not published |
| Opensignal 5G download speed, Feb 2025 | 252.4 Mbps | not published | not published |
| Opensignal coverage experience, Oct 2025 | 8.5 / 10 | runner-up | third |
The honest reading: stc wins the composite Speed Score and takes every Opensignal speed award in the October 2025 report, yet Zain posted the single highest median download in Ookla’s earlier 2025 window. Mobily’s wins are about experience rather than raw throughput — Opensignal named it Best Network for October 2025 on the strength of video experience, Consistent Quality and Reliability Experience (849 of 1000). If you are choosing a Saudi Arabia eSIM for video calls and streaming, Mobily’s consistency is the metric you feel; for reach beyond the cities, stc is the one.
City by city: where a Saudi Arabia eSIM holds up
| City or route | What to expect | Strongest pick | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riyadh | Dense 5G across the financial district and business corridors | stc | Conference and event weeks slow every network |
| Jeddah | Reliable through the Corniche and Al-Balad | stc | Northern beaches thin out beyond the city |
| Dammam–Khobar–Dhahran | Strong urban 5G across the Eastern Province triangle | stc | Rarely drops below 4G downtown |
| Makkah | Capacity engineered for extreme crowd density around the holy sites | Mobily | Peak-hour throughput is a shared constraint |
| Madinah | Consistent city coverage with seasonal reinforcement | Mobily | Congestion mirrors Makkah during Umrah peaks |
| Taif | Solid 4G and growing 5G through the mountain city | stc | Switchbacks on the Jeddah road shadow signal |
| Abha and the Asir highlands | Good urban coverage; terrain limits the valleys | stc or Mobily | Mountain valleys drop signal fast |
| Tabuk and the NEOM corridor | 5G in the developed zones; coverage follows the road | Zain KSA | Long empty stretches between towns |
| AlUla and Hegra | Signal at the Old Town and the heritage sites | stc | Canyons and desert tracks may not be covered |
| Riyadh–Dammam highway (Route 40) | Coverage along the corridor and the towns it links | stc | Hundreds of kilometres with nothing between stops |
| Al Hofuf and the Eastern oasis belt | Good 4G and widening 5G across the oasis towns | stc | Signal fades between the palms and the dunes |
| Buraydah and the Qassim region | Dependable urban coverage on the main north–south route | stc | Farmland between the towns thins out |
| Hail | Solid coverage in the city and on the Hail–Riyadh corridor | Mobily | Long stretches of the northern roads are empty |
| Yanbu and the industrial Red Sea coast | Strong 5G in the industrial city and around the port | stc | Coastal roads north of the city lose signal |
| Jazan and Najran in the far south | City coverage is good; mountain roads vary | stc | Terrain limits service away from the main routes |
Two pilgrimage-specific practical notes. Networks in Makkah and Madinah are engineered for extreme seasonal density, and every Saudi Arabia eSIM and plastic SIM keeps working through Hajj and Umrah — but data throughput at the mosque courtyards during peak hours is a real, shared constraint. If your itinerary is Riyadh Season rather than Umrah, the same logic applies at a smaller scale: arrive with connectivity already installed, because the venues and arrivals halls are busiest exactly when you land.
Planning to cross a border? The causeway runs to Bahrain — see our Bahrain eSIM guide. The UAE road link is covered in our United Arab Emirates eSIM guide.
Head north toward Kuwait and the Kuwait eSIM guide picks it up; travelers continuing east toward Muscat should read the Oman eSIM page. A Saudi-only profile goes dormant at each of those crossings.
How Hajj and peak seasons affect Saudi mobile networks
Saudi Arabia’s mobile demand is not flat across the year, and the peaks are predictable. Operators plan for them months ahead — stc, for instance, has built indoor coverage solutions across Makkah and donated seven communication towers, more than 18,600 antennas and over 800 small cells to the King Abdulaziz Endowment, covering about 1.5 million square metres around the Grand Mosque. That is capacity added for a few weeks of the year.
| Season | What happens to demand | Effect on your Saudi Arabia eSIM | Practical move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hajj weeks | Roughly 1.67 million pilgrims in 2025, about 1.51 million from abroad | Throughput drops around the holy sites; voice quality suffers most | Install offline maps; move uploads and video calls off-peak |
| Ramadan | Evening and pre-dawn traffic spikes; Umrah volumes rise | Slower data in Makkah and Madinah after sunset | Schedule heavy downloads for mid-morning |
| Umrah school-holiday peaks | Family travel clusters around school breaks | Airport counters and city stores both queue | Finish registration online before you fly |
| Riyadh Season (Oct–Mar) | Event nights concentrate demand in specific districts | Venue-adjacent cells slow on event evenings | Rely on your hotel Wi-Fi for anything large |
| Ordinary business weeks | Steady, capacity-rich | Close to the published medians | No special planning needed |
What peak season does to a Saudi Arabia eSIM
Congestion changes the shape of the problem, not its cause. Your line stays registered and your plan stays valid; what falls is the bitrate you actually receive, because one cell that serves a neighbourhood in ordinary weeks is serving a city’s worth of phones during Hajj. Switching to 4G manually can sometimes reattach you to a less loaded band, and data-saver modes help noticeably in the courtyards. Where you have a choice, pick the carrier with the deepest local capacity — Mobily’s consistency scores in Makkah and Madinah are why pilgrims based there often prefer it.
Paying for a Saudi Arabia eSIM: mada, cards and top-up channels
Money is the other half of the counter visit, and the card you carry matters here. mada is Saudi Arabia’s national debit network and accounts for the overwhelming majority of domestic point-of-sale transactions, so local staff reach for it first. International Visa, Mastercard and American Express work at most terminals, and Apple Pay works with a foreign card exactly as it does at home — but smaller outlets still lean on mada and cash.
| Payment route | Who it suits | Works for a visitor? |
|---|---|---|
| mada debit card | Saudi residents | No — you will not hold one |
| Visa / Mastercard / Amex | Almost all visitors | Yes, at airports and most city stores |
| Apple Pay / Google Pay on a foreign card | Contactless users | Yes, at most contactless terminals |
| Cash (riyals) | Backup for small outlets | Yes — keep some on hand |
| stc Bank / Mobily Pay wallet | Residents with a Saudi ID | Generally no, for short stays |
| Operator recharge card | Top-ups after purchase | Yes, from stores and supermarkets |
How to recharge a Saudi Arabia eSIM
| Channel | How it works | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| mySTC / Mobily / Zain app | Card payment or saved voucher | Accepts mada, Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Apple Pay on stc |
| USSD menu | Dial the operator code and follow prompts | stc voucher entry uses *155* with the code |
| Recharge voucher | Scratch card from stores, supermarkets, petrol stations | Minimum top-up on stc is SAR 5 |
| Self-service kiosk | Card at an operator machine | Available in Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah, Dammam, Khobar |
| Bank channel (SADAD) | Pay a bill through your bank | Practical mainly for residents |
One warning worth repeating: tourist wallets such as stc Bank and Mobily Pay are built for people with a Saudi ID, so do not plan on opening one during a two-week visit. Budget the top-up as a card payment and you will not be caught short.
What to bring to an STC counter to register a SIM
- Original passport, not a photocopy
- A debit or credit card that works abroad
- Some Saudi riyals in cash for smaller outlets
- A charged phone for the biometric verification step
- Your border number saved where you can read it without data
- A screenshot of any prepaid order in case the counter cannot find it
APN settings for STC, Mobily and Zain KSA eSIMs
If you bought directly from a carrier, these are the values; if you are on a travel eSIM, the profile configures its own APN and you should leave it alone.
| Carrier | APN | Username | Password |
|---|---|---|---|
| stc | jawalnet.com.sa |
blank | blank |
| Mobily | web2 |
blank | blank |
| Zain KSA | zain |
blank | blank |
stc can also push settings to you: text “JawalNet” to 2222 and install the configuration SMS that arrives.
When to enter Saudi APN values manually
Reach for these screens only when a locally registered Saudi line shows bars and no session; a travel Saudi Arabia eSIM configures its own APN and should be left exactly as it arrived. On iPhone the fields sit at Settings → Cellular → your eSIM → Cellular Data Network, on Android at Settings → Connections → Mobile Networks → Access Point Names. Restart after saving, and confirm the eSIM line is selected for mobile data before changing anything else.
How to activate a Saudi Arabia eSIM and fix common problems
The generic install sequence — add the profile, label the line, set it as your data line, enable data roaming — is in our activation walkthrough, and the wider error catalogue lives in our eSIM activation troubleshooting guide. Saudi Arabia adds four failure patterns of its own.
Four Saudi eSIM failure patterns
A. The line never activates after the counter visit. Registration is the bottleneck, not the profile. If your SIM or eSIM shows no service hours after purchase, the passport-to-border-number match may have failed at the registry. Return to any branch of the issuing carrier with your original passport; mismatches in name spelling are the most common cause.
B. The QR code was scanned once and then deleted. Carrier-issued eSIM QR codes are single-use. Delete the profile and the only fix is a new code, which in Saudi Arabia usually means another store visit with your passport — so screenshot the QR and keep the profile even if you swap plans mid-trip.
C. Signal bars, but no data. Work the APN table above: wrong or missing APN values account for most carrier-profile data failures. Confirm data roaming is on and that the eSIM line, not your home SIM, is the selected data line.
D. Everything connects, nothing loads. That is congestion, not configuration — Hajj in the holy cities, Riyadh Season downtown, Friday evenings on the highways. Switch to 4G manually to reattach to a less loaded band, download offline maps for Makkah and Madinah in advance, and schedule uploads for off-peak hours.
What Saudi eSIM support will ask for first
Saudi desks open from the CST registry entry rather than an order number, so the passport and the border number you registered with carry more weight than anything in your inbox.
| Item | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| Order or account number | Confirmation email or the carrier app |
| Passport and border number | The documents you registered with |
| EID | Dial *#06# |
| Screenshot of the error | Take it before the screen changes |
| Current APN values | Settings → Cellular Data Network |
| Steps already tried | Keep a short list |
Saudi Arabia eSIM FAQ: quick answers
Plenty more where these came from — the full FAQ library covers the rest.
Where to buy a Saudi Arabia eSIM
Zain KSA, stc and Mobily all staff counters in the arrivals hall, and eSIMs are sold on the spot. Bring your original passport and border number and allow for biometric verification. During Hajj and Umrah peaks the queues stretch badly — a travel eSIM installed before boarding is the workaround.
Do Saudi prepaid SIMs still work during Hajj season?
They do. No operator blocks visitor lines during Hajj, and networks in Makkah and Madinah are built for the surge. What changes is throughput: at peak hours around the holy sites, every network slows. Install offline maps, enable data-saver modes and expect delays on video calls.
How many SIMs can one passport register in Saudi Arabia?
Visitors are generally limited to one or two active lines per passport across all operators, residents to two per Iqama, and citizens to ten. The registry is centralized under the CST, so the cap counts every Saudi SIM you hold, not per carrier.
Does a Saudi tourist SIM stop working when my visa ends?
Effectively, yes. Visitor packages are tied to your visa validity, and tourist lines expire automatically after their validity window if not recharged. If your trip extends, recharge before expiry at the operator’s app or any recharge point.
STC vs Mobily: coverage compared
stc. It wins Opensignal’s Coverage Experience outright — 8.5 out of 10 in the October 2025 report — and multiple independent guides single it out for remote routes toward AlUla, Hail and the Empty Quarter. Off the highways, no carrier is dependable; download offline maps regardless.
Can I pay for a Saudi SIM with a foreign card?
Airport counters usually accept international credit cards, and contactless Apple Pay works with a foreign card. City stores favor mada debit cards and cash, so have Saudi riyals on hand as a fallback, and expect terminals to occasionally reject foreign cards at peak times.
Will a travel eSIM work in Makkah and Madinah?
Yes. Travel eSIMs roam onto the same local networks and require no CST registration. The same seasonal congestion applies around the holy sites, so a travel eSIM solves paperwork, not capacity. Keep your home SIM on for SMS codes and point data at the eSIM line.
Saudi Arabia APN reference
jawalnet.com.sa, with username and password left blank. Mobily uses web2 and Zain KSA uses zain. On most carrier-issued profiles the values arrive preloaded; only enter them manually if mobile data fails, then restart the phone.
Will my WhatsApp number change on a Saudi eSIM?
WhatsApp is tied to the number that receives the verification SMS, which stays your home number on a dual-SIM setup. A data-only travel eSIM changes nothing; a local Saudi line gives you a new number for calls but does not move your WhatsApp unless you re-verify.
Is 5G available everywhere in Saudi Arabia?
No. It is dense in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, present in secondary cities, and absent between towns. Saudi 5G uses n41 and n78 bands; phones without them fall back to fast LTE, which in cities is frequently quicker than 5G elsewhere in the region.
Do I need a Saudi Arabia eSIM if my hotel has Wi-Fi?
For browsing in your room, no. For the rest of the day — ride-hailing, maps, restaurant bookings and the Nusuk app for Umrah permits — yes, and it is the same reason a local number helps: drivers and bookings reach you directly instead of leaving you dependent on lobby Wi-Fi.
Sources behind our Saudi Arabia eSIM claims
- CST — Communications, Space & Technology Commission — the regulator’s English portal is where the licensing and spectrum framework governing every Saudi carrier is published, real-name registration rules included.
- Ookla Speedtest Global Index — the Saudi Arabia entry provides the national medians quoted above, refreshed monthly.
- Ookla Speedtest Awards — stc’s Q3–Q4 2025 Fastest Mobile Network result and the per-operator Speed Scores originate at Ookla’s awards coverage.
- Opensignal — the October 2025 Saudi Arabia report supplies the Best Network, coverage and reliability awards.
- Cable.co.uk — the worldwide data pricing survey produces the USD 1.49 per gigabyte figure.
Plan prices are the carriers’ published visitor tiers and shift with promotions; confirm current packages at purchase. All network measurements are third-party, and your own speeds will vary with handset, band and crowd density.
Get your Saudi Arabia eSIM sorted before you fly
Registration is the one thing you cannot do at 38,000 feet, so sort data before boarding. Roami’s Saudi Arabia eSIM delivers by QR code, connects to the local networks on landing, and needs no counter visit. Order at roamiapp.com and apply code WEB20 at checkout for 20% off your plan — or take proof first with a trial eSIM.
