TECHNOLOGY
Mobile is booming in Saudi Arabia . Indeed the entire Middle East is embracing the world of remote connectivity and arsenals of statistics can be used to portray how much of a powerhouse the region is becoming .
Take global smartphone penetration rates ; the UAE and Saudi Arabia make two of the top three with 73.6 percent and 72.8 percent respectively .
Drilling down further , mobile broadband networks account for 63 percent of total mobile connections in Israel , 59 percent in Turkey , 55 percent in the UAE and 54 percent Saudi Arabia . These are higher rates than many so-called developed markets – Western Europe averages around 50 percent .
Omar Alsaied , Middle East
Carriers Sales Director
Consumers in the region are becoming more demanding , with companies such as network specialists Ciena and service provider Mobily constantly evolving their offerings to keep pace with the upward industry curve .
Culture , demographics and economics The mobile market in Saudi Arabia shows no signs of letting up , especially given the average person owns two mobile phones . They are being used everywhere and for almost everything .
According to Google ’ s My Mobile Planet , 58 percent of Saudi smartphone owners use their devices to window-shop , 47 percent track job offers and applications and even 43 percent use their phone to search for new homes . A massive 95 percent watch videos on their mobile .
Ciena is modernising networks across Saudi Arabia and the rest of the region so they can adapt to the pressures attached to this proliferating trend . Omar Alsaied , Middle East Carriers Sales Director , pointed towards three key factors as to why Saudi Arabia is showing itself as a global mobile leader .
“ The region is very young , the
24 August 2014