An Eye on the Middle East

The Middle East is increasingly developing the usage of Information and Communication Technology whilst consequently becoming one of the latest unexpected leading regions.  Topmost representatives of this massive growth are countries such as Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which within the last ten or fifteen years have managed to reach amazing rates of mobile phone penetration. Indeed, as the Africa and Middle East telecom-week journal reports, mobile penetration rates in these countries are respectively 334%, 239%, 210% and 185%.

Qatar and the UAE are therefore the leading countries in information and telecommunication development within the Middle East and therefore represent the forefront of technological growth not only around mobile communication, but also residential internet access. For instance, QTel - major Qatari Telecom Company - has launched FttH, the fibre that is currently connecting more than 16,000 households and which has been estimated to be covering the whole country by 2014.

This massive growth not only provides these countries with increasingly high revenues, but is also enabling their population to stay connected and share information globally. In Saudi Arabia, revenues coming from wireless broadband usage have augmented by 126% between 2010 and 2011, due to the recent set up of the 4G network that is providing high speed internet access in the main cities, coupled with a 3G network, which is currently covering about 92% of the country.

Latest ICT developments are certainly opening new opportunities for national and international development within the MENA region thanks to their potential to actively engaging communities through instant communication.