SASO 3114:2026 Replaces GEN-002 for Saudi ICT Devices

The Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) has withdrawn the specification referenced in Annex No. 1 of the Kingdom's Technical Regulation for Communications and Information Technology Devices SASO CITC GEN-002 and replaced it with a new Saudi standard, SASO 3114:2026, entitled "Requirements for Specific ICT Equipment."

The change was announced in a bilingual circular published to the SABER conformity platform. It carries a defined grace period and, unusually, a second deadline that invalidates certificates already in circulation. Manufacturers and importers with live SABER registrations for mobile devices, routers, customer premises equipment, or cellular IoT products should treat the March 2027 date as the operative one for their existing portfolio.

What SASO Has Actually Changed

The circular is an amendment to the standard referenced inside an existing technical regulation. It is not a new regulatory framework, and it does not alter the structure of the Saudi conformity regime. The Technical Regulation for Communications and Information Technology Devices remains in force; what has changed is the standard that Annex 1 points to.

That distinction matters for planning. Conformity assessment bodies, the SABER submission workflow, the Product Certificate of Conformity (PCoC) and Shipment Certificate of Conformity (SCoC) mechanics, and the general documentary burden all continue as before. The technical baseline against which conformity is judged is what has moved.

SASO confirms the new standard has been approved and published on the organisation's official website and through Wasif, the Saudi standards store.

Scope: More Than Smartphones

The replaced specification, GEN-002, originated as a technical specification of the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), now the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), issued under Article 84 of the Telecommunications Bylaw. It was subsequently adopted by reference into the SASO technical regulation as "SASO CITC GEN-002."

Its scope covered three distinct product families:

• Mobile phones, tablets and mobile computers

• Mobile routers and customer premises equipment (CPEs)

• Cellular IoT devices

  
  

SASO 3114:2026 carries forward the same title used by its predecessor "Requirements for Specific ICT Equipment" which indicates a comparably broad device scope rather than a handset only instrument. Suppliers who read this update as a smartphone matter risk overlooking router, CPE and cellular IoT lines that sit under the same annex reference.

Under GEN-002, the substantive requirements spanned technology minimums (LTE as the floor for handsets and CPEs, with 5G NR, eSIM and Wi-Fi 6/6E encouraged), mandatory LTE and 5G NR band lists, voice service obligations covering VoLTE and VoWiFi, emergency communications requirements including Cell Broadcast Service and Advanced Mobile Location, and CST e-label implementation. The specific technical deltas introduced by SASO 3114:2026 are set out in the standard itself, which is distributed through the Wasif store rather than published openly.

What This Means for Manufacturers

The practical burden here falls into three separate workstreams, and they do not run on the same clock.

First, the technical file. Any product family currently certified against GEN-002 needs its test evidence reviewed against SASO 3114:2026. Where the new standard introduces requirements not covered by existing reports, retesting will be required. Because the standard is only available through Wasif, procurement of the document is itself a gating step build that into the schedule rather than assuming immediate access.

Second, new certifications. Any PCoC issued from 1 November 2026 must demonstrate conformity to SASO 3114:2026. Certification bodies will not be able to issue against the withdrawn specification after that date. Products in the certification pipeline over the third quarter of 2026 should be assessed against the new standard now, not the old one, to avoid a certificate that is obsolete on issue.

Third and this is the item most likely to be missed the existing portfolio. Certificates of Conformity and Shipment Certificates already issued under GEN-002 do not run to their natural expiry. They are cancelled no later than 31 March 2027 regardless of their stated validity. A PCoC issued in, say, September 2026 with a twelve month validity will not survive to September 2027. Any importer relying on certificate validity dates for shipment planning into the second quarter of 2027 needs to recheck that assumption.

One further point of demarcation: this circular governs the SASO/SABER conformity route. CST type approval for radio equipment is a separate and parallel obligation, and nothing in this update removes or consolidates it. Suppliers must continue to satisfy both.

Certification Impact Summary

Area	Position under GEN-002	Position under SASO 3114:2026
Referenced standard	SASO CITC GEN-002 (Annex 1)	SASO 3114:2026 (Annex 1)
Governing regulation	Technical Regulation for Communications and IT Devices	Unchanged
Product scope	Mobile phones, tablets, mobile computers; mobile routers and CPEs; cellular IoT devices	"Requirements for Specific ICT Equipment" — carried forward
New PCoC issuance	Permitted until 31 Oct 2026	Mandatory from 1 Nov 2026
Existing PCoC / SCoC	Valid to stated expiry	Cancelled no later than 31 Mar 2027
Conformity platform	SABER	Unchanged
Assessment route	Product CoC + Shipment CoC	Unchanged
CST type approval	Separate parallel obligation	Unchanged — not superseded
Standard availability	Published by CITC/CST	SASO Wasif standards store

Timeline and Required Actions

Date	Status	Required action
Now – 31 Oct 2026	Grace period in force	Obtain SASO 3114:2026 from Wasif; gap-analyse existing test reports; book retesting where required
31 Oct 2026	Grace period ends	Final date on which a CoC may be issued against SASO CITC GEN-002
1 Nov 2026	New standard mandatory	Importers and local manufacturers must not issue any CoC for covered products unless requirements of SASO 3114:2026 are met
Nov 2026 – Mar 2027	Transition window	Re-certify existing portfolio; reissue PCoCs under the new standard; sequence shipments around certificate cancellation
31 Mar 2027	Hard cut-off	All CoCs and Shipment Certificates issued under SASO CITC GEN-002 are cancelled, irrespective of stated validity