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Saudi Telecom Company Partners With Cubic Telecom To Deliver In-Car Services
Saudi Telecom Company (STC), the largest mobile network operator in Saudi Arabia, has recently announced a partnership with Irish company Cubic Telecom, a leading enabler of automotive connectivity. Together, the two companies will develop in-car services for Saudi drivers, making the country’s vision of a connected future a step closer to reality.
“Partnering with Cubic enables STC as a digital enabler to simplify the delivery and management of advanced in-car services and gives us a foundation for innovating and meeting the changing needs of customers as new services evolve,” commented Dr. Sultan bin Saeed, VP of Business Development at STC.
The suite of tools provided by Cubic, called Connected Car, includes a solution that makes it possible for drivers to remotely monitor and control their vehicles via a smartphone app. It also includes an emergency calling system capable of automatically notifying emergency services in the event of a car crash.
Currently, Cubic’s in-car connectivity solution can be found in more than five million vehicles across 100 countries. The solution is embedded into vehicles at the manufacturing stage, and it gives car manufacturers the ability to collect data on cars’ performance and issue remote software updates.
“Cubic’s connected software is driving performance for carmakers and providing in-car services in key markets. We are delighted to be working with STC to help car manufacturers activate new opportunities in a very significant market,” said Barry Napier, CEO of Cubic Telecom.
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Saudi Arabia has been making significant investments to improve its telecommunications infrastructure and prepare it for the era of the Internet of Things, enabled by 5G connectivity.
In the future, connected cars are expected to be part of a larger ecosystem consisting, among other things, of smart road infrastructure, such as intelligent traffic lights that are aware of real-time traffic conditions and are able to communicate with self-driving vehicles to help them safely reach their destinations.
News
Noon And Yango Switch On Robot Deliveries In Dubai
The rollout folds autonomous couriers into noon’s rapid-delivery network as the UAE tests everyday autonomy.
Noon and Yango Group have signed an agreement to put autonomous robot deliveries into commercial use in Dubai, turning Yango’s earlier pilots into a daily service for noon Minutes orders. The launch in Sobha Hartland is the first full integration of Yango Autonomy’s electric robots with a major e-commerce network in the region, with wider deployment planned across Dubai and, later, other GCC markets.
Residents can choose a robot at checkout, track it in the app and unlock its compartment once it arrives. The hardware runs on Yango’s AI navigation and routing stack, which plans paths, avoids obstacles and yields to pedestrians. The units had already covered more than 1,500 kilometers during previous Dubai pilots, a test bed that demonstrated their ability to operate in mixed pedestrian environments and dense residential streets.
The rollout adds a contactless option to noon’s last-mile network and is positioned as extra capacity during peak periods. “Partnering with Yango Group lets us bring a future-ready delivery option straight to our customers,” said Ali Kafil-Hussain, noon’s Chief Business Officer. Noon has used Minutes to set rapid-delivery expectations in UAE cities; autonomous units now slot into that same high-frequency model.
Regulatory clearance from Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority underpins the move. The RTA authorized Yango’s robots to operate on public walkways and in neighborhoods, smoothing the shift from controlled trials to commercial work. Dubai has framed autonomous mobility as part of its smart-city buildout, and the partners lean on that agenda to accelerate integration.
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For Yango, the partnership is an anchor for its autonomy platform in the Gulf. Islam Abdul Karim, Yango’s Middle East regional head, said the aim is to make autonomous delivery an “everyday, reliable service” for UAE communities. The company views operational data from early districts as the basis for scaling into more communities and, eventually, cross-border rollouts.
The move lands as Gulf retailers search for faster fulfilment and lower-emission logistics. Autonomous couriers remain a small share of last-mile delivery, but Dubai’s approvals and early usage data give the partners a clearer path to turn pilots into durable infrastructure.
