The number of 3G subscribers in the Middle East is set to pass the four million mark in 2010, according to a report by market research firm RNCOS.
The growth in the 3G market has been put at 60 percent per year and “demand for the latest services is set to continue,” the report added.
In the UAE, which has the highest broadband traffic and smartphone usage in the Gulf, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has tracked new technology growth.
In August, research by TRA found that computer usage by private sector businesses in the UAE has hit 97 percent, while 82 percent currently have a company website.
The TRA study also found that 81 percent of employees in the private sector use a computer as part of their working day.
Online activity among the UAE business community is also growing, with 82 percent establishing a website, 26 percent securing sales online and 29 percent using the worldwide web to make purchases, the report said.
The six-month study also found that internet penetration among UAE households has reached 66 percent, with this rising to 83 percent among nationals.
Broadband is the most common internet connection type, with 95 percent of Emirati households using the faster connection to go online.
Nearly three quarters of households have at least one computer and 72 percent of young Arabs have used the internet in the last twelve months.
This high rate of penetration can be attributed to the high exposure in the educational sector, where 93 percent of schools have internet access and 99 percent have a computer laboratory and each school has, on average, 38 laboratory computers.
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