More than 15m use internet in Saudi Arabia by the end of 2012

An official report said today that the use of internet in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has widely spread in the recent years, surging from 5% in 2001 to 54.1% by the end of 2012.The estimates of the Saudi Commission for Telecommunications and Information Technology said 15.8 million users were navigating their browsers in the Kingdom by the end of last year.The expenditure on communications and information technology was estimated at nearly SR94 billion in 2012 compared to SR21 billion in 2002, a 14% annual growth average, the report added.According to the figures, the number of subscribers in mobile communication services reached 53 milion by the end of 2012 while the pre-paid subscriptions represented the majority by more than 86%, pushing the rate of mobile communication services spread in terms of population to about %181.6%.The report noted that due to linking the using facility of a SIM card with the identity number of its user, the subscription to this service reduced starting the third quarter of 2012 as several users cancelled their subscription and never updated their data.Fixed telephone lines amounted to 4.8 million lines by the end of 2012, including 3.4 million residential lines, representing 70% of the total operating lines. Hence, the rate of fixed telephone lines spread among population amounted to 16.4% and for residences to 67.6%, the figuers said.