Article 39 of the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Law

This article brings together the provisions on three important technical resources:

1- Saudi domain names and technical identifiers: The Authority regulates, registers and operates them, sets the fee for registration services, decides disputes relating to them, and coordinates with the relevant international organizations. Technical identifiers, under Article 1, are any technical means that uniquely identify resources, services or content on the internet.

2- Numbering: The Authority sets the national numbering plan and handles its structuring, management and amendment, and determines the conditions for allocating and using numbering resources and their fees.

3- Delegation: The Board may agree with any government or private body to delegate to it the Authority's tasks in this article.

4- Number portability: Service providers must do two things:

• make number portability available in their networks; and
• port the user's number according to the user's requirements.

The Implementing Regulations set the procedures and conditions for number portability, so the text does not show, for example, how long porting takes or what must be paid before it.

The last paragraph matters to every subscriber: it makes number portability an obligation on service providers, according to the user's requirements and under the procedures and conditions the Implementing Regulations set. After it comes Article 40, which regulates issuing the Implementing Regulations. Anyone with a dispute over a Saudi domain name can approach the Authority or consult a lawyer specializing in communications and information technology law.