More mobiles than people..!
BAHRAIN has more mobile phones than people, according to a survey conducted by Dubai-based Madar Research.
It found the country had the highest mobile phone penetration rate and second highest Internet user penetration rate in the Arab world at the end of last year.
There were 771,000 mobile phone subscriptions in Bahrain at the end of December compared to 724,645 people, according to researchers.
That means the country had a mobile penetration rate of 107 per cent, well above the average of just 28pc across all Arab countries at the end of last year.
However, the pan-Arab mobile penetration rate did increase from 17pc in 2004.
Meanwhile, the same organisation found that Bahrain had the second highest Internet penetration last year.
It said the country had an estimated 228,000 Internet users, which was equivalent to an Internet penetration rate of 31.67pc – much higher than the pan-Arab average of 8.5pc and well above the world average estimated at 14pc.
The study showed there had been a massive increase in the number of Internet users across the entire Arab region, which saw Internet subscribers rise by more than nine million last year alone to reach 26.3m.
“Madar Research expects growth in the Arab Internet population to continue increasing over the next few years before it stabilises at moderate levels,” the company said in a statement.
Experts predict that around 200 million mobile phone subscribers will be added to the existing users in the Middle East and Africa by 2008.
They are expected to constitute 20pc of mobile phone subscriber growth in emerging markets, which in turn will account for 80pc of growth in the global market.
There are a number of factors that have helped Bahrain become one of the most telecom-savvy countries in the Arab world, said Madar Research president and research director Abdul Kader Kamli.
“This includes a very low illiteracy rate, coupled by a high rate of people with academic of professional training,” he said.
“A free economy that encourages private ventures and foreign investment, along with an environment that is among the most liberal in the region, also contributes to high levels of Internet adoption in Bahrain.”
The UAE achieved the second highest mobile penetration rate in the Arab world at 96pc, but remained the leader in terms of Internet penetration rates, followed by Bahrain in second and Qatar in third.
However, he warned said there was a huge gap in terms of Internet penetration between the GCC and other Arab countries.
There was only one Internet user in every 15 people in the 12 non-GCC Arab countries included in the study.
The Madar Research Internet survey covered 18 Arab countries.
Source- http://www.gulf-daily-news.com
