Broadband penetration among households in Qaar continues to rise, from 41% in 2008 to 80% in 2010 to a high of 85% in 2012

 

The Qatar National Broadband Plan launched yesterday has laid out a 10-year plan with four ambitious targets for 2016 that will help ensure that the opportunities offered by broadband technology are realised and maximised.

“The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology has designed this strategy to boost and enhance the development of the high-speed broadband Internet,” HE the Minister Dr Hessa Sultan al-Jaber said in her keynote opening speech.

This can only be achieved through providing high-quality, high-speed, affordable services for all in line with the developmental goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030, she explained.

The first of the four goals for 2016 stipulates that all residents of Qatar shall have the ability to choose between a minimum of two broadband retail providers, whether they live in the largest city or the tiniest, most far-flung rural community.

The second target is that 95% of households shall have the ability to access affordable and high-quality broadband service of at least 100 Mbps for downloads and 50 Mbps for uploads.

Under the third goal, all businesses, schools, hospitals and government institutions shall have high-quality access to at least 1 Gbps effective symmetrical speeds.

The fourth target is to expand digital literacy to all of the mainstream population, in conjunction with guarantees of users’ digital privacy, protection of personal data and freedom of opinion and expression.

“It was nearly a decade ago that Qatar’s leadership made the decision to invest heavily in building a world-class ICT infrastructure with the capacity and speeds to set the country apart in the region, and around the world,” HE Dr al-Jaber recalled.

In Qatar, broadband penetration among households continues to rise, from 41% in 2008 to 80% in 2010 to a high of 85% in 2012.

“Our extensive, citizen-centric e-gov offerings have earned acclaim, with Qatar placing 27 out of 190 countries on the United Nations E-Government Survey 2012,” the minister said.

The UN survey also placed Qatar at number nine on the e-participation index, which assesses how well a government engages citizens in public policymaking through the use of e-government programmes.

“Thanks to continuous infrastructure improvements and growing ownership of smartphones, 18% of mainstream individuals now use mobile broadband services, up from 15% in 2010, with even higher penetration rates among Qatari citizens,” HE Dr al-Jaber pointed out.

Looking ahead, demand for broadband access is only expected to boom, with the continuous evolution of communication and storage technologies, increasing device sophistication.

“Unfortunately, service providers around the world are struggling to respond to the rising demand for faster and more secure broadband networks. The speed and affordability of both fixed and mobile broadband remain major issues,” the minister said.

For example, research has shown that most broadband users in Qatar subscribe to lower-speed packages, due to the high cost of faster services and a lack of awareness of the benefits associated with higher speeds. 

“We must continue to address these challenges and to improve and expand broadband infrastructure and connectivity if we expect to be able to harness the true power of ICT to enrich people’s lives and secure a bright future for Qatar,” she added.