Policy record, national
Saudi Arabia CST Data Center Services Regulations and data centre registration
CST Data Center Services Regulations entered into force on 1 January 2024 and apply to wholesale or retail providers offering data centre services to others in the Kingdom. Each data centre must be registered separately according to its classification and development stage. CST lists a Qualifying category for data centres under development. The regulation text, as reproduced by a legal database, also defines Limited (existing sites only), Standard (Tier II certified, carrier neutral) and Advanced (Tier III or above, carrier neutral) categories, with energy management and sustainability plans required for Standard and Advanced, three year validity and no registration fee.
Current status
In force 1 January 2024 per CST. Category details beyond the Qualifying category were checked against a secondary legal database because the CST regulation PDF was not retrievable during this review.
Who it applies to
Providers offering data centre services to others in Saudi Arabia, at all development stages. Registration per data centre.
Exceptions: Self-use (captive) data centres not offering services to others appear outside scope (inferred from scope wording, not separately confirmed). Cloud services are regulated separately.
What it means for cooling and power
Colocation developers need CST registration from the development stage, and Standard or Advanced categories need certified Tier construction and sustainability plans. That makes Tier certification evidence and energy-management documentation part of supplier deliverables for Saudi colocation projects.
Editorial: business implications, not legal advice.
History
- 1 Jan 2024: Effective date
Markets
Lifecycle
- Proposed or announced1 Jan 2024
- Consultationdate not recorded
- Adopteddate not recorded
- In effect1 Jan 2024
In force 1 January 2024 per CST. Category details beyond the Qualifying category were checked against a secondary legal database because the CST regulation PDF was not retrievable during this review.
Sources (3), last checked 18 Oct 2026
- CST announces that the Data Center Services Regulations document has entered into force (opens in a new tab), Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), published 1 Jan 2024, accessed 18 Oct 2026
- Data Center (registration categories) (opens in a new tab), Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), accessed 18 Oct 2026
- Data Centers Services Regulation (text) (opens in a new tab), Qanoniah (legal database reproducing CST text), accessed 18 Oct 2026
Last checked 18 Oct 2026 by CoolPower Index research (automated, sourced). Report a correction.
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