The Jordan Telecom Group (Orange Jordan) will be investing JD50m ($70m) in its infrastructure in 2012, with a focus on mobile broadband.

The operator was the first to launch third-generation (3G) services in March 2010. It now has close to 500,000 subscribers.

“The subscriber base is growing very fast. The market in Jordan is about 7 million, we have 2.5 million subscribers, so half a million mobile broadband subscribers is a good number,” says Nayla Khawwam, chief executive officer of Orange Jordan.

The internet market is booming in Jordan, buoyed by the effects of the Arab uprisings. The operator is due to meet Du’s Anayou team in January to discuss the possibility of teaming up with the social platform for the Arab world.

“There is potential in the region, it is important to sit down and aggregate all the data and potentials,” says Khawwam.

“In 2010, we said that 2011 would be the year of broadband, but 2012 will be a disruptive year for the telecoms operators. We have to move our business model; it is not just about excellence of service and monitoring costs and growing revenue. Globally, there is a need to focus on some area and data is the main point,” says Khawwam.

Orange Jordan is planning to launch mobile banking and cloud computing services in 2012 to boost its mobile broadband capabilities.