Increasing Broadband Internet Penetration
In the OIC Member Countries
120
The third trend occurs towards the end of 2015, when adoption decreases for both
technologies. The drivers for the fixed broadband decline differ from those affecting mobile.
The reduction in fixed broadband subscriptions is primarily the result of the substitution effect
referred above. On the other hand, the decline in mobile broadband subscriptions is explained
by an initiative driven by CITC, the regulator, aimed at disconnecting unregistered mobile
subscribers who failed to submit their fingerprints in line with the new security measures
introduced in September 201564. In terms of broadband consumption, the average mobile
broadband device in Saudi Arabia generated 673 MB per month, while the average fixed
broadband connection consumed 50.7 GB65 .
Most common purposes of Internet use Statistics indicate that 70.4 % of the population of Saudi Arabia accesses the Internet on a
regular fashion (see table 58).
Table 58: Saudi Arabia: Population accessing the internet (2004-2016)
2004 2006 2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2Q2016 Users (‘000) 978 1,829 3,137 7,775 9,492 10,183 11,176 13,187 15,275 21,048
Percentage Pop. 10.23 19.46 36.0 41.0 47.5 54.1 55.1 63.7 68.5 70.38
Sources: International Telecommunications Union; CITC; Telecom Advisory Services analysisAccording to research conducted by the CITC, approximately 87% of Saudi Internet users
spend two or more hours daily on the Internet66, while 40% are connected for at least 5 hours
per day67 . That being said, Internet usage patterns vary between fixed and mobile broadband
access (see table 59).
Table 59: Saudi Arabia: Primary internet use (2015)
Activity Fixed broadband (%) Mobile broadband (%) Web browsing 90.01 66.00
Social Networking 85.15 82.23
Get information on goods and services 61.73 37.00
Sending / receiving e-mail 53.30 46.00
Playing videogames or downloading movies 49.64 - -
Reading news 43.13 29.73
Education and learning 26.05 15.22
Posting information or instant messaging 23.15 - -
Internet banking 17.62 20.00
Electronic commerce 15.52 9.69
Video-conferencing 6.47 4.30
Source: Com unications and Information Technology Commission. Individuals Report ICT Survey Results, 2015, p. 40,
and p. 50.
64 The CITC said the fingerprint registration is meant to protect personal information of SIM cardholders and prevent buyers
from obtaining mobile phones using fake or stolen identification cards. All unregistered users had a grace period of two
weeks to submit their details before the service was cut. The regulator said in its report for the first quarter of 2016 that it
expected a continued decline in the number of mobile subscriptions in the coming periods as a direct result of the new
registration program.
65 Source: Cisco Visual Networking Index. The fixed network consumption was calculated by dividing total fixed traffic, as
reported by Cisco, from the total number of fixed broadband connections.
66 Communications and Information Technology Commission. Individuals Report ICT Survey Results, 2015, p. 34.
67 Source: Google Consumer Barometer.