ICT

Brunei Darussalam’s information and communication technology (ICT) sector is winning international recognition and moving closer to meeting the government’s objective of making the Sultanate a knowledge-based economy. However, the acceptance of ICT in daily life is by no means even throughout the country.

Saudi Arabia’s telecommunications sector is to get a major shake up this year, with up to three new operators entering the mobile phone segment, though the route they will be taking will be very different from that followed by the three existing service providers.

With the federal government targeting broadband penetration rates of 75% by the end of 2015, much work remains to be done in Sabah, which, at 33%, has the lowest penetration rate of all Malaysia’s states. Some progress has been seen in this regard recently, however, with several telecoms companies moving to boost their investments in Eastern Malaysia.

In what comes as no surprise for a country that used Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones to help overturn a political regime, a recent report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) stated that Egypt “is poised to emerge as a major player in the information economy”.

With the highly competitive Kuwaiti telecoms market becoming increasingly saturated, the country’s three mobile operators are jostling for position. Central to all of their strategies is a greater focus on mobile data services.

Mongolia’s government has marked this year’s 90th anniversary of its telecommunications sector by pledging new ICT services in health, the transport system and emergency management.