Internet penetration rises to 76 per cent in Q1

AMMAN — The number of Internet users in Jordan reached almost 6 million by the end of the first quarter of this year and is expected to grow significantly with the launch of Fourth Generation (4G) services.

By the end of March this year, Internet penetration stood at 76 per cent, with some 5.9 million users, compared to 75 per cent at the end of 2014, according to a report by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC).

The report showed that there were 1.9 million Internet subscribers in Jordan by the end of March — an Internet subscription penetration rate of about 25 per cent. 

Of the total Internet subscribers, some 1.5 million were mobile broadband subscribers, followed by ADSL (218,459 subscribers) and WiMax (121,754 subscribers), the TRC report said.

“The introduction of 4G services will increase competition and drive more data consumption. Demand on the Internet is also rising due to the increased adoption of smart devices,” Jawad Abbassi, founder and general manager of the Arab Advisers Group, told The Jordan Times over the phone.

Zain Jordan and Orange Jordan have already launched 4G services, while Umniah, the Kingdom’s third telecom operator, has recently acquired the licence to provide the service and is expected to do so before the end of this year.

“Jordanian users are tech savvy and now Internet is being used everywhere at home, work, school. With the Internet of Things, we will see more usage as well,” Abbassi noted.

The TRC report indicated that mobile penetration reached 147 per cent at the end of March with 11.5 million active mobile subscriptions, 10.6 million of them prepaid 

According to the TRC there were 376,400 land-line subscribers in Jordan by the end of March — a 5 per cent penetration rate.