25 May 2011, Doha, Qatar
Economic Aspects of Broadband
Dr. Rainer SchnepfleitnerManager Policy and Economic Affairs - ictQATAR
The views presented are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of ictQATAR
ictTrends
2
Broadband = Enabler
ICT and broadband are not a means in itself.
Ubiquitous Broadband availability is an enabler for the WHOLE Qatari economy.
Development of downstream sectors of the ICT industry and society
data centers knowledge industry e-education, e-literacy, e-
health,e-government
Costs of goods & services
Speed of delivery
International competitiveness
PAYTOLL
Diversification of the economy
Strategic goals for 2030Qatar still has a high dependency on (oil and) gas
2005
GDP QAR 463.9bio TC revenue QAR 6.2bio
GDP QAR 154.9 bio TC revenue QAR 2.8 bio
2010
Prices for broadband
Morocco - 512 / 1024
Algeria - 64 / 1024
Tunisia - 512 / 1024
Qatar - 128 / 1024
Oman - 128 / 1024
UAE - 256 / 1024
Jordan - 256 / 1024Saudi Arabia - 256 /
1024Egypt - 256 / 1024
Bahrain - 256 / 1024
Yemen - 0 / 1024
Lebanon - 256 / 1024
Palestine - 192 / 1024
Syria - 256 / 1024
Sudan - 256 / 1024
Mauritania - 256 / 1024
Djibouti - 256 / 1024
Latvia - 256 / 1024
Malta - 512 / 4096
Europe simple average
Arab simple average
- 200.00 400.00 600.00 800.00 1,000.00 1,200.00
48.75
55.50
56.27
78.37
85.66
92.50
93.25
93.98
99.05
102.67
110.02
155.94
181.71
204.21
251.46
452.37
1,029.18
12.10
95.31
34.47
187.70
Actual prices in US$ / PPP per Month, VAT included
Lowest and highest price level in Europe
Red line = European low usage simple averageBlue line = Arab low usage simple average
European and Arab region averages
• Digital actions make a difference
• Broadband availability = economic growth
• Broadband development is an important step to create a whole business friendly ecosystem
• QATAR’s contribution to fast internet is Q.NBN development
• Broadband is a citizen right
• Currently high prices and low speeds
Open, fair and transparent competition on all levels is
required
