Mobile Internet cost in UAE among world’s cheapest: ITU

The UAE jumped 12 spots in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) report in Measuring the Information Society (MIS) 2013, landing at No. 33 out of 157 global economies. The UAE featured at No. 45 in last year’s ranking, and this year’s surge is the most by any country.
“The United Arab Emirates records the highest increase in rank, shooting up 12 places to 33rd,” sates the recently published report.

The annual report features key ICT data and benchmarking tools to measure the information society, including the 2012 ICT Development Index (IDI), which captures the level of ICT developments in 157 economies worldwide and compares progress made during the last year.

Highlighting the UAE’s achievements, the report states that the country’s “value increases in the access and use sub-indices are both considerably above the global average. All indicators included in the access sub-index showed improvement from 2011 to 2012. Mobile-cellular telephone penetration in particular rose by more than 14 per cent, to 170 per cent in 2012.”

The MIS also presents the first comprehensive mobile-broadband price data set for almost 130 economies.

“In the use sub-index, UAE registered great progress in the number of wireless-broadband subscriptions. By end 2012, penetration had reached 51 per cent, as against 22 per cent the previous year. Furthermore, services are relatively cheap: the UAE ranks among the most affordable countries for prepaid mobile-broadband services, which cost less than 1 per cent of GNI per capita,” the report highlights.

On the affordability versus gross income parameter, the UAE ranks at No. 12 in the world out of 126 countries analysed in the ITU’s ‘Mobile-broadband prepaid handset-based prices (500 MB), 2012’ rankings.

The MIS features a new model and data to measure the world’s digital native population – those young people who were born into the digital age – and a quantitative overview of digital TV broadcasting trends.

“A household survey conducted by the UAE’s Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA, 2012) confirms that virtually all residents use a mobile phone and that 85 per cent of the population use the Internet regularly, and for the most part through a high-speed connection,” the report maintains.

Commenting on the MIS 2013, Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director-General of UAE’s TRA, said: “The significant achievements of the UAE in the report proves that the TRA is well on the way to securing its vision of providing an optimal enabling environment in which the UAE’s ICT sector will emerge as a leader in the global market place.”

The MIS 2013 shows that the UAE is well above the global average in terms of ICT take-up. “With 85 per cent of individuals in the UAE using the Internet, the UAE is significantly above the world average of 36 per cent. This is a testament to the penetration and quality of services provided by UAE’s licensees,” added Al Ghanim.