Saudi Arabia

Local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are expected to the main beneficiaries of a reduction in charges to be introduced retroactively by King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST), the body charged with supervising net usage. KACST is to reduce charges to ISPs by 45 per cent, bringing the cost of international bandwidth rental down from SR 112,000 ($29,870) for 512 kbit/minute to SR 64,740 ($17,500). The cost reduction will be backdated to 1 January.

'The move will encourage people to subscribe with local ISPs rather than their international counterparts,' says a director of a Riyadh-based ISP. 'It will also encourage people to subscribe to quality oriented ISPs and reduce the number of subscribers accessing satellite-based services.'

Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) reduced its bandwidth charges to KACST from 1 January and KACST is now passing on the reductions to subscribers. In a related move, STC is expected to announce a reduction in dial-up charges for end-users, cutting the current hourly rate of SR 4.50 ($1.2) to SR 3 ($0.80).

STC is also to boost the number of ports available to subscribers, setting a target of 35,000. Current port availability from ISPs is estimated at around 15,000.

Fact file

Saudi Arabia has an estimated 150,000 Internet subscribers

Around 30 ISPs operate in Saudi Arabia

Arab National Bank is so far the only local institution to offer full Internet banking services