Masmak Fortress in Riyadh

Thanks to my friend Peichen for turning me on to an iPhone app that makes your photo into a Van Gough painting.
This fortress was taken in a surprise attack by King Abdulaziz in 1902 on his path to unifying the country.

STC prepaid phone text message and direct call codes

The STC prone network has a bizarre set of mostly unpublished / undocumented text codes that customers must either send as text messages, or in some cases, special system phone numbers that customers must call, to order services or get information.  I looked for but could not find any place on STC’s website where these codes were systematically described. So I decided to put together my own list, which follows. Some of this was found on various STC web pages, and more was found on individual customer web posts.  This is more complete than anything I could find elsewhere. (But warning: some of these codes appear to be for time limited promotions, and may not work in the future; and some could be just plain wrong).

STC prepaid subscriber codes

Prepaid calling plans - text code to 902 to subscribe:

7007 - 79SR, 1 month - 500 min to STC + 1 GB data

7002 - 29SR, 1 week - unlimited calls + messages to STC + 1 GB data

7001 - 7SR, 1 day - unlimited calls + messages to STC + 100 MB data

7004 - 89SR, 1 month - unlimited calls to STC, no data

7005 - 20SR, 1 week - 200SR credit for calls to STC

8005 - 12SR, 1 month - unlimited messages to STC numbers, 11pm to 9am only

8004 - learn more about the unlimited messaging plan

8006 - cancel subscription to unlimited messaging plan

Volume-based data plans - text code to 902:

2102 - 10SR - 30MB

2103 - 30SR - 120MB

2104 - 50SR - 250MB

2105 - 70SR - 500MB

2111 - 100SR, 1 month (?) - 2GB data only

2115 - 200SR, 1 month (?) - 5GB data only

Time-based data plans - text code to 902:

2191 - 24SR - 1 day unlimited

2199 - 350SR - 1 month unlimited

others up to 1 year available online - aljawal.net.sa

Prepaid international roaming plans:

text 1 to 811188 - worldwide package 100SR, 1 month - 30 min outgoing, 30 min incoming, 30 SMS

text 1 to 811166 - GCC package 50SR, 1 month - 30 min outgoing, 30 min incoming, 30 SMS

International data roaming - send code to 902:

6350 - show country and operator list for service

2220 - show package status

6319 - 24SR, 1 day - 100MB

6320 - 99SR, 1 week - 1GB

6321 - 250SR, 1 month - 2 GB

Direct calls:

*166#  -  show account balance

*166*4# - know your offer

*166*5# - show status of your offer

*166*6# - show all promotion balances

*166*9#  - show promotion balance

*166*88# - show balance for international roaming package

*166*66# - show balance for GCC roaming package

*200# - register for or check balance for Qitaf program

Qitaf program - send code to 902:

201 - program registration

202 - show the number of collected points

203 - exchange 100 points for 35SR credit

204 - exchange 100 points for 140 local SMS

205 - exchange 100 points for 80 international SMS

206 - exchange 100 points for 60 MMS

Transaction history - send code to 902:

6060 - to know the service short codes

60601 - for Last 5 charged calls & sums

60602 - for Last 5 balance transfer transactions

60603 - for Last 5 recharge transactions

60604 - for Last 5 Qitaf redemptions transactions

60605 - for Last 5 Charged Transactions in 24 hrs.

Change language to English: text 1390 to 902

It is a lot of trouble to change phone companies and keep your number in Saudi Arabia

It's like the bad old days in the US but worse. The day I arrived in Saudi Arabia, I signed up with Mobily mobile phone service (prepaid no contract, which is at least better than the prepaid offerings in the US). Trouble was, I had zero signal inside my office so everybody said I should switch to STC. When I went to do that, I had to try 3 stores before I found one with a SIM card. When that was accomplished they asked me for the phone number and my Iqama (expat ID card) and just said to wait a few days. Then a couple of days later I got a message saying "sorry we could not complete your request because your ID doesn't match." I had used my passport rather than Iqama when I signed up with Mobily. After another 1 hour visit to the STC store I finally had to go to the Mobily store and give them my Iqama. They tried to resist updating the record to keep me from switching. I finally got it done but it took 6 trips to STC and 1 to Mobily. Hope I never have to visit the store again.

With my coworkers Abdullah and Mohammed

This is at our test site in Rumah, about 70 miles from Riyadh.

It's the real thing