Computing and Internet Diffusion
Number of websites registered as .jo: 933 (7)
Web hosts: 1 and that is www.nic.gov.jo
The following data is taken from Reach 3.0 report (3)
Diffusion of Internet: 2.6%
ISP's: 9
Current Internet Subscribers: 50,000
Estimated Number of Jordanians who use the Internet: 100,000
Cost of Internet (Low Speed, Unlimited): $14 (Global One)
Cost of Internet (High Speed, Dedicated Line): $4,000 to $5,000/64kps and $27,000/T1
Cost of Internet (High Speed, Dedicated Line) in Israel, Ireland, Jamaica: $1,500-2000
Percentage of Jordanian Families who own PC's: 9.8%
The Internet Diffusion rate is very low for a country that is trying to appear on the IT scene in the region. The diffusion rate is low because until recently the cost of Internet was at around $111 in 2000. The rate dramatically decreased to $14 in 2003. The fact still remains that the user still will have to pay telephone charges on the Internet connection of roughly 7 cents per minute. The local monopoly for landline telephones in Jordan Telecom will lose "preferred" status in 2004 which will open room for new companies to come in and compete. The Jordanian government owns 60% of its shares while French Telecom owns 40% (8). The reason why the cost of Internet dramatically decreased is because the cost of a two megabyte leased line for ISP's decreased from $120,000 in 2000 to $9,000 in 2002. The majority of Jordanians who own PC's do not have Internet connection. With the decrease in the Internet costs, the number of subscribers increased from 30,000 to 50,000 a 56% increase from 2001 to 2002 (3).
According to H.E Bassem Awadallah, Minister of Planning, the current Jordanian
situation is that of “relatively low per capital income, economic and therefore
digital divide between urban and rural areas, PC penetration rates, and
Internet access.” The great disparity in per capita income in