Arab Advisors’ Total Country Connectivity Measure (TCCM) 2002 for the Arab World. The Gulf countries lead the pack!

Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and UAE lead the Arab countries on the total connectivity front. The fact that three of these countries are monopoly markets is, somewhat, inexplicable!

September 22, 2003 -

The Arab Advisors Group calculates its Total Country Connectivity Measure (TCCM) by adding the household mainlines penetration, GSM penetration, and Internet users penetration rates in each country. The household mainlines penetration is measured by dividing the residential mainlines by the number of households in each country. The TCCM shows the extent of connectivity of individuals in a certain country whether via fixed lines, GSM lines and/or Internet. Off course, there will be an overlap since many individuals will be using these three communications technologies at the same time. However, the measure still yields an accurate and informative picture on the level of ICT services penetration in each country: For example, if a country has a TCCM measure of 60%, this means that at least 40% of the population are not users of any of the three services constituting the measure. While a TCCM score of more than 100% is very positive, it nonetheless, does not mean that all the population uses the services due to overlap of usage.

A new report, “Arab Advisors’ Total Country Connectivity Measure (TCCM) 2002 for the Arab World” was released by the Arab Advisors Group’s (www.arabadvisors.com) on September 21st, 2003. The report calculates and analyzes the results of 13 major Arab markets. This report can be purchased from Arab Advisors Group for only US$ 100. Any investment in this report will count towards a Strategic Research Service subscription should the service be acquired within three months from purchasing the report. The investment will also count towards fees for the Arab Advisors Group’s Media and Telecommunications Convergence Conference in June 2004 in Amman.

“The TCCM for 2002 results revealed that Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and UAE lead the Arab countries in terms of total connectivity followed by Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Oman. Syria, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria scored the lowest on the total connectivity measure.” Sami Sunna’, Arab Advisors Group Senior Research Analyst wrote in the report. “When looking at the contribution of each of the communication technologies in the overall connectivity measure, the Arab Advisors Group found that the contribution of Internet had a significant effect in propelling the TCCM in Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, and Lebanon. However, Qatar that had the highest total connectivity actually had a low Internet share compensated with a very high household mainlines penetration of more than 143%.”

Qatar was the leader in the TCCM 2002 scores with a 194% mark, followed by Bahrain (184%), Kuwait (174%), the UAE (171%) and Lebanon (107%). At 97% Saudi Arabia came tantalizingly close to 100% (a mark that the country has certainly exceeded in 2003). Jordan followed with 79%, followed by Oman (78%). Syria had a low score of 54%, with Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria scoring even lower at 48%, 46%, 44% and 35% respectively. The Arab Advisors Group will be releasing an annual update on the TCCM measure.

The Arab Advisors Group’s team of analysts in the region has already produced more than 180 reports on the Arab World’s communications and media markets. The reports can be purchased individually or received through an annual subscription to Arab Advisors Group’s (www.arabadvisors.com) Strategic Research Services (Media and Telecom). To date, Arab Advisors Group has served more than 100 global and regional companies by providing reliable research analysis and forecasts of Arab communications markets to these clients.