Mobile penetration rate reaches 116 %

Mobile subscribers in the country rose to 7.169 million by the end of June, with the ICT Association of Jordan -­ int@j, attributing the increase to "fluctuating" competition among operators and the holding of multiple mobile numbers by individual users. The mobile penetration rate reached 116 per cent, according to Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) figures, a percentage that is expected to further rise in light of price competition among operators, according to Abed Shamlawi, CEO of int@j. "In Jordan, many mobile users hold two or three mobile numbers. Some for luxury and others because they need them," he told The Jordan Times over the phone on Wednesday, noting that people are "indirectly forced" to subscribe to more than one operator. "Offers by mobile operators change constantly. One company introduces an offer for cheap calls and a few days later another comes up with a cheaper offer, so subscribers keep shifting between operators," Shamlawi said. "For instance, subscribers of a certain company can call numbers on the same network for low charges, but if they call a number on another network the prices are much higher, so they subscribe to it," he noted. Meanwhile, the TRC figures showed that 2.607 million Internet users were registered by the end of June, with a 42 per cent penetration rate, but Internet subscription reached only 8 per cent with 496,375 subscribers. "Although the number of Internet subscribers is modest, nowadays the parameter for the spread of Internet in Jordan is the number of users," Shamlawi noted. "Wi-Fi and free Internet connection are available in restaurants, cafés and other places. In addition, students can access the Internet in school, therefore, there are more users than subscribers," he said. The TRC figures also indicated that 190,725 of the total number of Internet subscribers used ADSL, followed by mobile broadband with 175,022 users, Wi-Max with 108,062 and dial-up with 19,652. Shamlawi said he expects ADSL to maintain its lead because of its competitive prices, but anticipates mobile broadband to boom if it becomes cheaper. The cost of one gigabyte through Wi-Max or ADSL ranges from JD1 to JD2, while the cost of one gigabyte though 3G and broadband ranges between JD4 and JD5, he noted.