The deep pockets of one of the world’s largest companies, Saudi Aramco, give it the freedom to build any matter of digital assets, the most recent of which is a modest 450 MHz industrial network led by subsidiary Aramco Digital. However, elsewhere in Saudi Arabia, amidst a national diversification strategy away from oil, far more high-spec projects are taking off in the realm of AI. Starting with the tangible, Aramco Digital’s network, in the 450 MHz industrial spectrum band, is best suited for IoT applications that require universal coverage but low bandwidths, such as smart grid monitoring or smart metering – something largely of interest to utilities alone. Aramco Digital has been talking up the 450 MHz project for a…