Close to half a million Jordanians online by 2006: A boon for players targeting the potential.

Despite enjoying a liberalized Internet and data provisions market, Jordan is clearly still facing a number of obstacles that are impeding potential growth. A newly released report from the Arab Advisors Group fully analyzes the Jordanian Internet and Datacomm Landscape.

November 11, 2002 -

Jordan's Internet and datacomm market is in all the sense of the word, competitive. The market is served by nine Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Three of these operator's are further utilizing their Datacomm Class License by providing datacomm (PDN) services to the market.

A new report, "Jordan Internet & Datacomm Landscape Report 2002" was released to the Arab Advisors Group's (www.arabadvisors.com) Strategic Research Service subscribers on November 10, 2002. The report reveals that the number of Internet subscribers at 71,000 subscribers by yearend 2002, a penetration of 1.33%. Our definition of "subscribers" includes postpaid dialup accounts, ADSL accounts and regular prepaid dialup users.

"In 2001, there were 56,000 Internet accounts in Jordan - indicating a growth of 27% between 2001 and 2002. The Arab Advisors Group projects 178,000 Internet users in the country by yearend 2002, a penetration of 3.33%. The market had close to 140,000 Internet users in 2001, a penetration of 2.7%." Arab Advisors Group's analyst, Sarah Alalul wrote in the report.

"Despite its ability to provide faster and more reliable Internet connectivity, the ADSL service has not taken off as well as could be expected. Jordan Telecom brought down ADSL rates soon after launching the service in order to drive growth. Yet, with the lack of public-awareness of the service, not to mention the somewhat lengthy setup procedures, there are currently only 1,772 ADSL subscribers (September 2002) in the country, less than 2.5% of Internet accounts. " Miss Alalul added.

One of the foreseeable drivers for Internet growth over the coming few years includes e-government initiatives. The project hasn't kicked off in its entirety yet, but there are many developments underway to start providing citizens with online government services. Also, with e-learning initiatives underway (hoping to provide schools nationwide with Internet connectivity) Internet penetration should also pick up as major sectors of society become more Internet savvy. Banks and other institutions are becoming more Internet-savvy too, introducing not only basic information-based services on their websites, but also offering more advanced services such as mobile and Internet banking.

"With some ISPs subsidizing personal computers with Internet access subscriptions, Jordan's Internet market will continue to see growth. We project 465,000 Internet users by 2006, a penetration of 7.84%. Despite these developments in the Internet market, e-commerce is not doing as well as could be expected." Miss Alalul noted.

In regards to Internet Banking, the Jordan Kuwait Bank and Arab Bank are the most advanced so far, providing a number of online services. Not as extensive in electronic banking as Jordan Kuwait Bank and the Arab bank, Jordan National Bank and Philadelphia Bank offer WAP/Mobile services to customers. These online services are offered via various routes including basic telephone banking, leased line banking, Internet banking, and mobile banking (WAP and SMS).

The Arab Advisors Group's team of analysts in the region has already produced close to 130 reports on the Arab World's communications markets. The reports can be purchased individually or received through an annual subscription to Arab Advisors Group's (www.arabadvisors.com) Strategic Research Service. To date, Arab Advisors Group has served more than 60 global and regional companies by providing reliable research analysis and forecasts of Arab communications markets to these clients.