Scoring low on ICT

Lebanon ranks 79th in ICT Development, 72nd in ICT Price Basket: ITU report says

Lebanon was identified among the few Arab countries which hadn’t implemented the third generation services (3G) by the end of 2010. According to ‘Measuring the Information Society’ report released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Lebanon stands next to Yemen, Comoros, Djibouti, and Algeria in terms of the absence of the 3G technologies.

On September 20, Lebanon will begin a one month testing phase of the 3G network.
The report featured two information and communication technology (ICT) indices. It provided a ranking for 165 countries across the globe based on their ICT Development Index and ICT Price Basket.

Lebanon ranked 7th regionally and 79th internationally in 2010, in terms of the development of information and communication technology. The country slipped two places from its global rank in 2008. The UAE ranked first among Arab states and 32nd on a global scale, followed by Qatar, which ranked 44th globally.

According to the report, almost all Arab states witnessed a decline in the number of fixed telephone lines in 2010, while half of these countries reported a mobile-broadband penetration rate of more than 100 percent.

Lebanon came in 8th regionally and 72nd internationally in terms of information and communication technology prices and affordability.

The ICT Price Basket is based on the price for fixed telephony, mobile-cellular telephony, and fixed-broadband internet services. It is computed as a percentage of average income levels. The report said that the global mobile cellular market saw a 22 percent contraction in prices over the 2008-2010 period.

The UAE also ranked first in terms of the price basket value and 5th globally, followed by Bahrain, which ranked 2nd regionally and 18th internationally.