IDC research confirms information divide between rural and urban MENA population

Inmarsat will make the study available to delegates at the Arab Telecom and Internet Forum taking place in Beirut on 28th May. Samer Halawi, regional director for Inmarsat said: "We will also present to participants from the region the viability of technology driven pilot projects in addressing rural information poverty challenges."

According to Halawi, the IDC research showed that, although much of the Arab MENA region's Internet access markets are poised for rapid growth over the next several years, the expected growth is biased towards the more developed markets of the Gulf States and the urban-based population in other countries. He explains: "what this means is that our rural population, which constitutes 42% of the region, continues to lag behind urban centers in its access to knowledge and information. This, we believe, is one form of poverty and one that has direct implications on the social and economic growth of these communities."

The IDC study showed that access to physical and social infrastructure (telecommunications included) tends to be biased towards urban areas in the Arab MENA countries, perhaps contributing further to the high incidence of poverty and illiteracy in the rural communities of the region. The study finds that while urban telephony penetration was 14% in 2002, access to the same services in rural Arabia was only 2.3%. The study also identifies links between the Middle East and North African literacy rates and their respective levels of urban versus rural access to telephony, mobile and Internet services.

Halawi explains: "There is no doubt of the tremendous efforts that governments as well as the private sector have been putting in bridging the information divide between our world and the west; however, the dynamics of investments and revenues in the telecommunication market presents tremendous challenges in extending the same level of services to rural areas."

The IDC study finds that some of the reasons behind the lower Internet penetration among rural communities are attributed to the lack of appropriate telecommunications infrastructure in most rural communities on the one hand, and that private sector service providers do not consider the market to be economically viable due to low income and high illiteracy.

Halawi ends saying: "We believe in the role of the technology private sector as a complementary and necessary one to those of governments. We hope to demonstrate the viability of pilot projects run by the technology private sector, in delivering solutions that have the potential of helping deliver information as knowledge to those deprived from it."