"Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat- The Saudi market is preparing to invest 150 million Saudi Riyals (US $40.2 billion) over the next few years into the shift towards “smart homes”, a widely used term to describe buildings distinguished by one central system that entails various internal networks that synchronize and communicate with each other in order to facilitate daily tasks.
Recent studies regarding the real estate market indicated that the Gulf countries in general and Saudi Arabia in particular are likely to be the most advanced with respect to [establishing] smart homes as a result of the level of constructional development in this region. Throughout the course of this year, steps will be taken in the kingdom and other Gulf countries towards this project. The United Arab Emirates last year announced that it would launch smart homes in Dubai.
In September 2007, Asharq Al-Awsat published a report in which Khaled Abdul Karim, executive manager of the Abdul Karim Holdings group and a member of the Saudi Chamber of Commerce in Sharqiya, Saudi Arabia, affirmed that his company had agreed to carry out an experimental phase in which buildings would be connected with optical fibre lines that would allow companies and houses to create an electronic environment and facilitate communication. The experimental stages were expected to begin during the first quarter of 2008 in selected parts of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. At that time, Abdul Karim stated that the experimental stage would last for one year in Riyadh and would be conducted in conjunction with the China-based Hawawi Company that signed a contract with the Saudi Telecommunications Company. These contracts are estimated at 1.5 billion Saudi Riyals (US $402,360 million) in the three regions and Abdul Karim stated that approximately 150 billion Saudi Riyals ($40.2 billion) is to be spent on smart homes."
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See full article in http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=7&id=11930
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