Saudi Arabia: SIP providers and connecting a number to your PBX

We do not issue phone numbers: the venue buys a Saudi number from a carrier or an international provider and connects it to its own PBX as a trunk. Everything that is the same in every country — trunk modes, form fields, network requirements and connectivity checks — is covered in the overview “Connecting a provider's number to your PBX”. This page covers only the Saudi part: where to get a number, what to enter in the admin panel and what people trip over in this country.

The data was collected on 9–10 September 2026 from the providers' own documentation and materials published by the regulator, CST; links are in the “Sources” section.

In brief#

• The key local fact: a Saudi carrier's trunk does not arrive over the internet. Every licensed carrier we checked delivers the service over a dedicated data circuit with private addressing: in its own manual stc gives the SIP servers 10.154.15.49, 10.154.15.1 and 10.154.15.25 and requires a static route to the 10.154.15.0/24 subnet via the stc gateway; Mobily describes the hand-off as a “Layer 3 data connectivity circuit with private IP VLAN”, GO Telecom as “Configured over L3VPN data connectivity circuit”. A cloud PBX simply cannot reach a 10.x address, and no setting fixes that.
• What actually works today is a toll-free +966 800 number from an international provider. Twilio, Plivo and DIDWW offer only that number type for Saudi Arabia — but the owner's address, per Twilio's rules, “may be anywhere in the world”, and the trunk is an ordinary one that connects to the PBX without a local contract.
• Geographic +966 numbers are advertised by international resellers, yet no Saudi source confirms this is allowed. AstraQom claims numbers for Riyadh (011), Jeddah and Mecca (012), Dammam and the Eastern Province (013), activated in 1–3 business days. Before paying, ask in writing whether the number may be terminated on a PBX outside the Kingdom, and request a test number.
• stc is the only carrier in the country that publishes its trunk parameters: UDP, port 5060, domain fmc.stc.com.sa, IP authentication without registration, G.711. The setup works — but only if the PBX sits on premises served by an stc circuit.
• A local number from a carrier requires a Saudi legal entity. Mobily's document set: Commercial Registration (CR), the company's Unified National Number (700 ID), the VAT registration number, the company's national address and a certified letter of authorisation — and the fingerprint of the authorised person, who must be a Saudi national, “as per CST regulations”.
• Numbers are ten digits long, while the PBX matches a line by the last seven digits — the area code never reaches the comparison. 011-3456789 (Riyadh) and 012-3456789 (Jeddah) in the same location collapse into a single line: check the tails in advance.

Numbers in Saudi Arabia#

The country code is +966, the international dialling prefix is 00, and the national prefix is a leading 0. Both fixed and mobile numbers are exactly 10 digits long: the CST numbering plan works through the examples 0113456789 and 0551234567.

• There is no 015 area code in the CST list — if such a number is offered to you, that is a reason to ask again.
• Short codes (3–5 digits) are issued only after regulatory approval: Mobily states plainly that a short code requires a separate clearance.
• Emergency and service numbers, from the CST numbering plan: 911 (single emergency number), 999 (police), 998 (civil defence), 997 (Red Crescent), 937 (Ministry of Health), plus 1955, 19991 and 116111. Emergency calls do not work through a number bought from an international provider — keep a mobile phone on shift.
• The format an incoming call arrives in. Only one variant is documented: E.164 with a plus sign. stc requires +966 plus the area code plus 7 digits both inbound and outbound, and builds the address as sip:+966112108670@fmc.stc.com.sa;user=phone. What Mobily, Zain, Salam and GO send is not published — ask at activation.
• Codecs. The native Saudi set is G.711: stc specifies “G.711 A-law as first priority with ptime 20, G.711 U-law as second”. Our PBX speaks G.711 and G.722, so no transcoding is needed; none of the checked providers in the country insists on G.729.

Who sells a number with a SIP trunk#

Below is the card for the one provider whose parameters are published, plus a walk-through of the rest. Local carriers disclose the server address, port and mode after the contract is signed; what exactly to ask is listed in “What to ask your provider”.

stc — the only carrier with published parameters#

The country's incumbent. The product is called “Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Trunk” (also “SIP extension”) and supports up to 100,000 extensions per location; the price list shows SAR 2,300 activation and SAR 1,150 per month including VAT for 10 extensions, with 800 and 9200 numbers sold on top. stc publishes its trunk parameters in its own SIP Customer Configuration Manual — the only public PBX-connection guide in the entire country.

⚠️ “Through the internet” on the stc storefront is marketing, not a description of the hand-off. The manual itself hands the customer a pair of circuit addresses (CUSTOMER IP and stc GW IP with a 255.255.255.252 mask) and requires a static route to the SIP server subnet 10.154.15.0/24 via the stc gateway. That is a dedicated circuit: a cloud PBX cannot reach such addresses, so the table below is useful only if your PBX sits on premises served by an stc circuit.

What to enter in the admin panel (Telephony → “Trunks and connections” → “Add provider”):

What to set up on the provider's side: order the SIP Trunk from stc sales or via 909 → receive the pair of circuit addresses and configure the static route to the SIP server subnet → agree the list of numbers (DIDs) on the trunk → confirm the number format +966 plus area code plus 7 digits, both inbound and outbound → when troubleshooting, stc asks for an end-to-end trace to be captured and shared with the 909 team.

Pitfalls ⚠️

• Private addressing is the main blocker: without the carrier's circuit or an L3VPN to the premises the trunk is unreachable.
• The trunk “registers” by answering service requests: stc sends OPTIONS itself and your side must answer 200 OK, while you should not send OPTIONS of your own — the manual says so explicitly. Our PBX probes trunk state with service requests roughly once a minute, so this requirement has to be discussed with stc engineers separately.
• The P-Asserted-Identity and P-Preferred-Identity headers are not required (“not required PAI nor PPI headers”) — our PBX does not send them either, so there is no conflict here.
• Outbound calls carry only numbers from your contract, in the form sip:+966…@fmc.stc.com.sa;user=phone. Fill the “Display as” field with agreed numbers only.
• Asymmetry at launch. Integrators report that inbound calls on an stc trunk work immediately, while outbound calls need a separate session with the carrier's engineers: number format and caller ID are agreed manually.

Source: stc, SIP Customer Configuration Manual (PDF) · product page — 09.09.2026.

Mobily, Zain, Salam and GO Telecom — trunk by contract#

All four offer a SIP trunk, but none publishes the parameters: host, port, authentication mode and codecs arrive in the provisioning document. There is deliberately no “what to enter” table here — plugging “typical” values into the form is pointless, wait for the carrier's sheet. The full list of questions for the account manager is in “What to ask your provider”, and the local one to ask first is: is the trunk delivered over the public internet, or only over your circuit?

• Mobily (Etihad Etisalat) — “a fixed link associated with unlimited landline numbers”: up to 100,000 channels and 300,000 numbers, DID/DOD, port-in from any operator, self-service in the corporate portal (credit limits, destination blocking, adding channels), an optional backup circuit and an SLA. Pricing starts at a 3-channel / 5-number package — SAR 747.5 activation and SAR 598 per month including VAT. ⚠️ The hand-off is described as a “Layer 3 data connectivity circuit with private IP VLAN”, i.e. the same dedicated circuit as at stc. To order: call 901 or write to DigitalSalesB2B@Mobily.com.sa.
• Zain KSA — “an IP based voice solution utilizing the SIP standard”, with geographic numbering across the Kingdom (011, 012, 013 and so on), 9200 and 800 numbers, DID/DOD and 24/7 support. ⚠️ The product page carries no host, port or codecs: the product card and price list are separate files, and the delivery method of the trunk is not described at all — ask directly.
• Salam (Etihad Salam Telecom, formerly ITC) — a carrier with a strong enterprise and wholesale portfolio; its wholesale section lists “Business — SIP Trunk”, addressed to companies that already run an IP or legacy PBX. ⚠️ The portfolio is built around Ethernet and IP-VPN, which makes the public-internet question especially relevant here.
• GO Telecom (Etihad Atheeb Telecom) — the second licensed fixed-line carrier: “works with different type of PBX or SIP devices”, with 800 and 9200 numbers on top. ⚠️ The hand-off is described as “Configured over L3VPN data connectivity circuit”, and the entry threshold is corporate: the minimum package is 30 lines, SAR 7,200 activation and SAR 1,900 per month excluding VAT (300 lines — SAR 10,000 per month). For a café or a salon that is plainly the wrong scale.

Sources: Mobily SIP Trunk · Zain SIP Trunk · Salam Wholesale · GO SIP Trunking — 09.09.2026.

ECOLOR Technologies — a trunk "over the internet"#

A Saudi integrator and 3CX partner (also Fanvil and Yealink). In a market where carriers deliver trunks over their own circuits, ECOLOR sells exactly what is missing: “a SIP Trunk service to connect your PBX to the phone network over the internet”, “works with 3CX and most PBX systems”, with 9200 and 800 numbers, direct DIDs, a flexible number of concurrent channels, routing and line monitoring included.

There is no “what to enter” table here either: ECOLOR does not publish its parameters — neither on the product page nor in its own 3CX connection guide, which only describes the general order of “get the SIP address, username and password from the provider and enter them in the PBX”. Wait for the activation email.

What to ask before paying: the server address, port and transport → the authentication mode (registration or IP allow-list) → whether the number may be terminated on a PBX outside the Kingdom — this is the key question, because ECOLOR resells a licensed carrier's service and the limits are set by that carrier → whether G.711 A-law/µ-law is enabled → the format of the number in an incoming call → the number of concurrent channels in the plan. Contact: 9200 33987 and the form on the website.

Source: ECOLOR, “SIP Trunk for 3CX & PBX” — 09.09.2026.

Who sells numbers but no trunk to your own PBX#

International providers with Saudi numbers#

This is the fastest route to a Saudi number in your PBX — and the only one that does not require a local legal entity. Such providers use the same trunk parameters in every country: cards for Twilio and others are already in the catalogue when you add a provider, so the server address and mode fill in automatically. The Saudi specifics are all about which number types are sold at all.

• Twilio — its regulatory guidelines for Saudi Arabia list toll-free +966 800 numbers only. In exchange, the address of both a business and an individual “may be anywhere in the world”, and the paperwork is an ID or passport, or a company registration document. This is the only way we found to obtain a Saudi number without a Saudi legal entity.
• Plivo — its Saudi price list likewise contains only Toll-Free with Voice and SIP Trunking, at USD 115.00 per month.
• DIDWW — its coverage for Saudi Arabia includes only the toll-free 966-800 range, and the country page states plainly that local SIP trunking is not available; only international trunking is.
• Telnyx — a Saudi virtual-number storefront and porting of Saudi numbers are advertised, but the number types and regulatory requirements are not spelled out on the page: check in the portal before ordering.
• AstraQom — claims geographic +966 numbers: Riyadh (011), Jeddah and Mecca (012), Dammam and the Eastern Province (013), national and international numbers on the same trunk, support for Asterisk, FreePBX, 3CX, Avaya and Cisco, and configuration done by its own engineers. Country pricing: Starter USD 55 per month (1 line, 100 minutes), Corporate USD 79, Deluxe USD 102; activation USD 51; an extra number USD 63.90 per month. Activation takes 1–3 business days, and “numbers needing local KYC can take a little longer”.
• United World Telecom and Global Call Forwarding (one owner, two brands) — “our SIP trunking service can be connected to your existing PBX system”, a local number plus channels. Prices are served by an interactive block on their pages, so rely on the quote from the account manager.
• ⚠️ A shared caveat about geographic +966 numbers from resellers. No Saudi primary source confirms that a fixed number of the Kingdom may be terminated on a PBX outside it (see “Rules and paperwork”). Ask for written confirmation and a test number before paying, and do not advertise a fixed number for the venue until it actually rings.
• Common to all international providers: only your own number goes out on outbound calls, and emergency calls through such a number do not work.

Number porting#

• Number portability has been in place since 2006. CST issued the portability policy and guidelines and set up the Number Portability Clearinghouse — a single database of ported numbers with an electronic process shared between operators.
• Carriers do accept fixed numbers and DIDs for porting: Mobily explicitly advertises “port-in numbers from any operator”, and AstraQom states that “numbers stay yours and port with you”. Timelines and document sets are not published — request them from the receiving carrier.
• A number held by an individual will not do for a venue: the line is tied to the company's commercial registration and national address, and the authorised person's biometrics are a mandatory part of issuance. Record what happens to the number in the premises lease.
• Porting does not change the local hand-off. Even after moving to another Saudi carrier the number arrives on the same kind of trunk — over the carrier's circuit, not from the internet. Ask the receiving side the public-internet question as well.
• ⚠️ Changing the PBX public address breaks an IP-authenticated trunk. When the dedicated machine is rebuilt, give the provider the new address in advance, otherwise the trunk dies silently.

Rules and paperwork#

If it does not work#

1. The trunk is delivered over the carrier's circuit while the PBX is in the cloud. The most common local cause, and settings will not fix it: the stc SIP servers live on private addresses in 10.154.15.0/24, Mobily hands off a “private IP VLAN”, GO uses L3VPN. Such addresses are unreachable from the cloud. Insist on a “SIP trunk over the public internet” before signing, or put the PBX on premises served by the carrier's circuit.
2. stc: the trunk “does not register”. It is not supposed to. stc has no registration: the carrier sends OPTIONS service requests itself and your side answers 200 OK — that is what counts as a trunk being up. Clear the registration checkbox and give the carrier the static IP of the PBX from the “Server” tab. Separately, agree that our PBX probes the trunk with service requests roughly once a minute: stc asks that these not be sent.
3. Inbound calls work, outbound do not. A standard symptom on an stc trunk: the number format and the caller ID presented are agreed with the carrier's engineers separately. Check that +966 plus area code plus 7 digits goes out and that it is a number from your contract, then write to 909 rather than reshuffling settings.
4. A call to the second number is handled by the first number's scenario. Lines are matched by the last seven digits, and the subscriber part of a Saudi number is exactly 7 digits: the area code never reaches the comparison. 011-3456789 and 012-3456789 merge into one line — separate them with routing rules or keep them in different locations.
5. Registration is green but there is no audio. Check the codecs: the PBX speaks G.711 and G.722. That is the native set for Saudi carriers, but a reseller or an international provider may hand over a trunk with G.729 only — then signalling looks perfectly healthy while there is no audio in either direction.
6. The provider requires TLS. Our PBX works over UDP and TCP and has no encrypted transport, so such a combination will not work — plain SIP is needed.
7. A geographic +966 number from an international reseller has gone quiet. The cause may be regulatory rather than technical: terminating a number of the Kingdom outside it is not confirmed by Saudi primary sources. Ask the seller for written confirmation, and keep a fallback route while the matter is investigated.

Other common causes are in the general section of the overview; address and port checks are in “Check connectivity”.

Frequently asked questions#

Can a Saudi fixed number be connected to a cloud PBX?#

With local carriers, in practice no. Every licensed carrier we checked delivers the trunk over its own data circuit with private addressing: stc to 10.154.15.x addresses, Mobily via a “private IP VLAN”, GO Telecom over L3VPN. A cloud machine cannot reach such addresses, and that is a network limitation, not a configuration one. Today a fixed number in a cloud PBX is realistic only through an international reseller — and you need written confirmation from them that this is permitted.

What can be connected right now, then?#

A toll-free +966 800 number from an international provider: Twilio, Plivo and DIDWW all offer exactly that number type for Saudi Arabia, their trunk is an ordinary one, and no Saudi legal entity is required. The honest downside: 800 is not the “number on the sign”, the receiving side pays for the call, and emergency calls do not pass through it.

Does the venue need a Saudi legal entity?#

For a number from a local carrier, yes. Mobily lists the commercial registration, the company's Unified National Number (700 ID), the VAT number, the national address and a certified letter of authorisation, and the fingerprint of the authorised person is taken from a Saudi national. With an international provider none of this applies: Twilio allows the owner's address to be in any country in the world.

Why is there no host or port on the carriers' websites?#

Because there really is none: Mobily, Zain, Salam and GO Telecom do not publish parameters — they arrive in the provisioning sheet. The single exception in this market is stc with its SIP Customer Configuration Manual. Entering “typical” values into the form is pointless: the trunk will either reject the call or silently fail to come up.

Will emergency calls work through such a number?#

No. The Kingdom's emergency and service numbers — 911, 999, 998, 997, 937 — cannot be dialled through a number from an international provider, and we do not carry them. There must always be a mobile phone on shift.

Sources#

All links were checked on 09.09.2026.

Regulator and numbering

• CST — “Numbering” (numbering plan, zones, short and emergency numbers, portability): https://www.cst.gov.sa/en/about/Numbering
• CST — “Permit to provide virtual voice services (VVSP)” (service definition, fee, requirements): https://www.cst.gov.sa/en/business/services/Permit-to-provide-virtual-voice-services-VVSP
• CST — “Regulations of the Provision of the Virtual Voice Services” (RS29, decision 484/1443 of 20.04.2022): https://www.cst.gov.sa/en/regulations-and-licenses/regulations/Document-507
• CST — update of the national numbering plan, decision 523/1445 of 08.02.2024: https://www.cst.gov.sa/en/regulations-and-licenses/decisions/Regulation-1503

Carriers and providers

• stc — SIP Customer Configuration Manual (PDF; servers, port, codecs, number format): https://www.stc.com.sa/content/dam/corporatesite/common/business/pdf/sip-configuration-document.pdf
• stc — “Session Initiation Protocol from stc” (service and pricing): https://www.stc.com.sa/content/stc/sa/en/business/connect/fixed-voice/sip-extension.html
• Mobily — “SIP Trunk” (L3 hand-off, pricing, paperwork and biometrics): https://www.mobily.com.sa/wps/portal/web/business/fixed/sip-trunk/details/sip-trunk-c
• Zain KSA — “SIP Trunk”: https://sa.zain.com/en/business/fixed-connectivity/sip-trunk
• Salam (Etihad Salam Telecom) — “Wholesale / Business SIP Trunk”: https://salam.sa/en/business/wholesale
• GO Telecom — “SIP Trunking” (L3VPN, packages from 30 lines): https://www.go.com.sa/en/sip-trunk
• ECOLOR Technologies — “SIP Trunk for 3CX & PBX”: https://ecolor.com.sa/en/sip-trunk/
• Bevatel — “الرقم الموحد 9200”: https://bevatel.com/ar/products/unified-numbers-9200 · هاتف (hatif.io) — pricing: https://www.hatif.io/pricing · Voxa: https://voxa.sa/

International providers

• Twilio — “Saudi Arabia regulatory guidelines” (toll-free +966 800 only, owner's address anywhere): https://www.twilio.com/en-us/guidelines/sa/regulatory
• Plivo — Saudi Arabia phone number pricing: https://www.plivo.com/virtual-phone-numbers/pricing/sa/
• DIDWW — “SIP Trunking in Saudi Arabia” (local trunking not available): https://www.didww.com/voice/global-sip-trunking/Saudi_Arabia
• Telnyx — Saudi Arabia virtual phone numbers: https://telnyx.com/phone-numbers/saudi-arabia
• AstraQom — “Saudi Arabia SIP Trunks” (area codes, pricing, timelines): https://www.astraqom.com/sa/saudi-arabia-sip-trunks/
• United World Telecom — “Saudi Arabia SIP Trunking”: https://www.unitedworldtelecom.com/services/sip-trunking/saudi-arabia-sip-trunking/ · Global Call Forwarding: https://www.globalcallforwarding.com/sip-trunking/saudi-arabia-sip-trunking/

Related pages#

• Connecting a provider's number to your PBX — general steps, trunk modes, network, connectivity checks.
• SIP phone setup — connecting desk phones, DECT and gateways to extensions.