ICT

With a move to become one of the first countries to offer non-Latin language scripts in domain names, Qatar is pushing forward with efforts to help accelerate the development of e-services and e-commerce environments throughout the Arabic-speaking world. In February, the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) announced that its website had became the first to use a Qatar-specific domain name in Arabic, with more Arabic domains set to be available for government entities and registered trademark holders starting in March.

Le taux de pénétration de la téléphonie mobile approche rapidement de la barre de 100%, ce qui en fait le segment le plus dynamique du marché marocain d’appels vocaux. En comparaison, le taux de pénétration du fixe a dépéri à moins de 12% en septembre 2010.

Saudi Arabia is looking to further open up its IT sector as part of a broader strategy to develop a knowledge-based society and economy. However, the rapid inroads being made by new technologies may require the state to step up investment in digital infrastructure and hasten its regulatory processes.

Telecommunications providers in the UAE are re-aligning their strategies and upgrading their networks amid greater competition, high mobile saturation and shifting revenue patterns.

Nigeria’s access to the internet has long been hampered by a shortage of bandwidth, but a trio of new undersea cables is set to greatly improve the country’s connectivity. The first of these went active in July, promising cheaper and more reliable access for the Nigerian market.

Rivalry in Malaysia's crowded telecommunications sector is expected to become more heated in 2011 as wireless service providers roll out widely anticipated fourth-generation (4G) mobile broadband technology.