UAE’s TCCM score of 261.4% availed the country the first rank in the Arab World. Qatar followed at 255.6%, followed by Bahrain (233.9%), Saudi Arabia (173.5%), Kuwait (161.8%), Oman (137.5%), Libya (131.3%), Jordan (130.3%), Lebanon (113.1%), Algeria (110.4%), Tunisia (110%), Syria (106.4%), Egypt (92.7%), Palestine (74.5%), Morocco (73.2%), Iraq (64.2%), Yemen (42.9%), Mauritania (41%) and Sudan (21.7%).

The TCCM shows the extent of connectivity of individuals in a certain country whether via fixed lines, cellular lines and/or Internet. Off course, there will be an overlap since many individuals will be using these three communications technologies at the same time. However, the measure still yields an accurate and informative picture on the level of ICT services penetration in each country: For example, if a country has a TCCM measure of 60%, this means that at least 40% of the population are not users of any of the three services constituting the measure. While a TCCM score of more than 100% is very positive, it nonetheless, does not mean that all the population uses the services due to overlap of usage.

The main driver in the increasing TCCM scores by end of 2006 was cellular subscriber growth with Internet services contributing a much lower portion of the increase. The Arab World still lags behind developed countries in the penetration and use of broadband Internet –and Internet access at large. Bahrain leads the Arab World with a 5.79% Internet broadband penetration. This is much lower than Denmark’s 32%, South Korea’s 29% or the United States’ 20%.

Commenting on these figures Arab Advisors Group’s Founder and General Manager Jawad Jalal Abbassi said “While unleashing the cellular boom was relatively easy, effecting a similar boom in the Arab Internet markets –a prerequisite for any knowledge-based economy- will require coordinated and intensive policies and initiatives.