Arab Advisors Group has analyzed recently the ADSL rates in nineteen Arab countries. Iraq and Mauritania have the highest ADSL fees, while Egypt and Algeria have the lowest fees. When rates are analyzed in relation to GDP per capita in each country, the GCC countries and Libya lead the pack.

ADSL remains the prevailing Internet broadband technology in the Arab World. Uptake is strong in many countries especially as ISPs launch promotions and reduce their rates. The Arab Advisors Group has analyzed the ADSL service provision and rates in the following Arab countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen.

The analysis from the Arab Advisors Group reveals valuable insights into the ADSL rates and total cost in the Arab world.

The new report, “ADSL Rates in the Arab World: A Regional Comparison” was released to the Arab Advisors Group’s Telecoms Strategic Research Service subscribers on December 21, 2008. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the ADSL rates offered by the main ISPs in the Arab countries during October 2008. Moreover, the report details the availability of download speeds in each country of the aforementioned nineteen countries that offered the ADSL service.

For the 512 Kbps download stream, the total annual cost of residential ADSL services in the Arab region ranges from a minimum of US$ 194.4 per year in Egypt to a maximum of US$ 2,100 per year in Iraq. The average ADSL annual cost is US$ 709.1 per year, with a median of US$ 615.5.
The report compared rates for the speeds of 256, 512 and 1024 Kbps. Moreover, the report analyzed the availability of different download speeds in the 19 Arab countries.

“When including the GDP per capita in the analysis, the Arab Advisors Group concluded with the ADSL Affordability Measure (AAM). Basically, the total annual cost of ADSL in a country was calculated as a % of that country’s GDP per capita, whereby the higher the ratio the less affordable the service is in that country.” Mr. Hussam Barhoush, Arab Advisors Sr. Analyst explained.

For the 256 Kbps speed, this calculation indicates that Mauritania has the most expensive service relative to GDP (annual cost is 92.5% of GDP per capita), followed by Iraq (58.8%), Palestine (35.9%), Sudan (33.0%), Syria (31.7%),Yemen (24.0%), Jordan (13.5%), Morocco (8.7%), Tunisia (7.2%), Algeria (4.8%), Saudi Arabia (4.2%), Libya (2.7%), Bahrain (2.3%), Kuwait (1.8%), and the UAE (1.3%). The analysis does not feature the countries where the 256 kbps speed is not offered, or offered, but does fulfill the comparison conditions set by the Arab Advisors Group.

The ADSL Affordability Measure (AAM) for the 512 Kbps download speed, calculation indicates that Mauritania has the most expensive service relative to GDP (annual cost is 157.3% of GDP per capita), followed by Iraq (68.6%), Sudan (49.5%), Syria (47.8%), Palestine (42.7%), Yemen (36.0%), Jordan (17.2%), Egypt (11.9%), Morocco (11.6%), Tunisia (10.4%), Algeria (8.0%), Bahrain (5.4%), Saudi Arabia (5.2%), Oman (3.7%), Kuwait (2.6%), the UAE (1.6%) and Qatar (1.4%).

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