Internet and broadband penetration rates remain low in many countries of the Middle East, access speeds are often relatively slow and tariffs are relatively high compared with other regions in the world. But the region is making a strong push toward higher broadband penetration, a new report on “Middle Eastern Digital Media, Broadband and Internet Market” released by researchandmarkets.com on Thursday said. The young population will be a driver for growth as they grow up with Internet use as the norm, it pointed out. In addition, liberalization and increased competition are producing a greater variety of services and mediums. While broadband growth has taken off in the and developed countries of the Gulf, wide income disparities across the Arab Middle East region as a whole are echoed by wide disparities in Internet and broadband penetration rates, the report said. Computer penetration levels are generally low. Qatar, Bahrain and UAE all have high household broadband penetration, particularly among nationals. The largest country in the region, Saudi Arabia, has low broadband penetration but it is rising quickly, it added. ADSL is the prevailing broadband Internet technology in the region. Much is being promised by WiMAX across the Middle East region, though. In Bahrain services from Zain Bahrain and Mena Telecom, both with country-wide networks, have rapidly gained over 30 percent market share. It is also having a significant impact in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. All the GCC and Turkish operators offer HSPA mobile broadband services. Saudi Arabia's second mobile operator, Mobily, has claimed a 70 percent share of the country's broadband market. Fiber to the Home (FttH) is likely to revolutionize the broadband market in the most advanced countries. The UAE will have nationwide fiber networks in the next two years. The report noted that one of the reasons for slow Internet and broadband subscriber growth in Arab Middle East countries has been a lack of sufficient content in Arabic for users to need a high-speed broadband connection in their daily lives. There has been too much emphasis on hardware and the latest must-have gizmo and not enough on creativity. “This is beginning to change with the increasing digital content produced by the flourishing Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite TV sector, including entertainment, educational programming, news and sports. At least 60-70 percent of homes across the Middle East have access to multi-channel TV, much of it free to air DTH satellite. Around 70 percent of the 400+ channels are privately owned,” the report stressed. A further impetus was gained from the sale of Jordan's Maktoob to Yahoo. This immediately prompted venture capital funds to take a greater interest in the sector. Advertising provides only a very small revenue for digital media companies. The UAE's advertisers allot a 3.5 percent share of their budgets to online advertising compared to a regional average of 1 percent.
