CAIRO: Lebanon and Iraq have the highest ADSL fees in the Arab world, a report published by the Arab Advisors Group said. According to the analysis of 19 countries, Morocco and Egypt have the lowest fees. The United Arab Emirates was the fourth most expensive Internet country in the Arab world, the report said. Morooc was lowest, followed by Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine, Kuwait, Oman, Mauritania, Syria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Bahrain, the UAE, Sudan and Lebanon, while Iraq surprisingly offers the highest rate. “It is noteworthy that Morocco's total annual cost for 1024 Kbps speed is lower than Egypt's 512 Kbps annual cost. Accordingly, Morocco has the lowest ADSL rates for the common speeds this report tackled although the 512 kbps speed is not offered in Morocco,” Alaa Numair, Research Analyst at Arab Advisors stated in the report. The rates are based on the relation of fees to GDP per capita in each country. “The countries that led ADSL Affordability Measure (AAM) were the GCC countries. Although they do not have the lowest rates, but they do have the highest GDP per capita, this is one reason why operators there do not reduce rates drastically as demand is guaranteed even at relatively higher rates,” Zeena Al Borgan, Arab Advisors' Senior Research Analyst added. ADSL, or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, remains the prevailing Internet broadband technology in the Arab World. Uptake is strong in most countries especially as ISPs launch promotions and reduce their rates. Arab Advisors' analysis revealed that the 1024 Kbps speed is the most common speed offered in the Arab region. The average total annual cost for the 1024 Kbps residential ADSL service in the Arab region stands at $736.4 per year. Libya was not included in the study because it does not offer 1024 Kbps Internet. BM
