Barriers to Internet penetration in the Arab Region International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) Arab Region Internet and Telecom Summit Muscat, Oman, May

Content 1.Internet in the Arab World : looking at the facts 2. Barriers to Internet penetration: quantitative versus qualitative factors 3. Conclusions: how to increase Internet penetration

Internet penetration around the world Source: ITU, data for 2000

Internet user growth Source: ITU

Comparing Internet penetration Internet users as % of population in 2000

Barriers to Internet usage Quantitative factors GDP per capita Infrastructure Access prices Qualitative factors Language Literacy Content

GDP per capita and Internet use Source: ITU, Worldbank, 2000 GDP per capita, US$ Internet use (%)

Quantitative factors Country Telephone subscribers Mobile subscribers (000s ) 2000 Internet subscribers (000s), 2000 Mobile / Internet ratio (000s) 2000 Connected to Internet Bahrain % Egypt % Jordan6205.2% Kuwait % Lebanon % Morocco % Oman % Qatar1606.5% Saudi Arabia % Tunisia9004.1% UAE % TOTAL/ AVERAGE % Source: ITU

Comparing access prices Thirty hours of dial-up Internet usage per month, US$ Source: ITU adapted from ISP and PTO data, 2001

Qualitative factors Region Internet penetration Adult literacy rate (%) Female adult literacy rate (%) School enrolment (%) Developing countries Arab States East Asia South Asia Latin America Sub- Saharan Africa Source: UNDP-HDI 200 and ITU (Internet penetration).

Language %20% 4% 5% 1% 2% 0% 6% 2% 54% Mandarin Spanish English Bengali Hindi Arabic Portuguese Russian Japanese German % 20% 4%5%1%2%0%6%2%54% Population (in million) % Online Source: ITU adapted from and

Content

Conclusion ISPs should be allowed to provide their own international gateways in order to lower costs and increase speed The region needs more local content, adapted to the users needs as well as computerized online governments Internet friendly tariffs Governments should provide public Internet access All schools should be connected to the Internet and IT courses should be part of the curriculum The visibility and benefits of the Internet need to be raised

Thank you