RIYADH, 11 March — A survey of Internet users in the Arab world has revealed a dramatic increase in the number which is expected to reach 12 million, or 4.28 percent  of the Arab population of 280 million, soon.

The survey of 15 Arab countries, conducted by the research unit of the Arab World Internet magazine, showed that there were 150 Internet users for every 1,000 population in the United Arab Emirates, followed by Qatar with 61, Lebanon (57), Kuwait (50), Oman (20), Jordan (19), Saudi Arabia (14), Tunisia (12) and Egypt (6.5).

The magazine said the demand for Internet would surge by 80 percent during the next two years. “This indicates that the demand on Internet will exceed the capabilities of the infrastructure and cause heavy load on the net.”

The survey notes that “in the year 2002, the number of Internet users will possibly decrease due to the slow development of infrastructure in most of the Arab countries compared with the huge demand for subscription to the net and telephone lines.”

Referring to the Gulf region, it said the number of Internet users reached 2.5 percent for each computer, whereas the number had noticeably increased in Egypt to reach four to eight users for each computer — the highest in the Arab world.

One of the problems facing Internet users in the Kingdom is the frequent disruption in Internet services. King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) blames it on the ISPs for overloading their lines by serving more customers than their capacity.

However, the ISPs point out that the disruption is due to heavy traffic which makes it difficult to log on to the net. As part of its effort to facilitate access to the Internet, KACST is offering a 20-40 percent discount to ISPs applying for eight megabyte lines. This offer, ISP sources say, is not feasible, since the highest bandwidth capacity currently stands at six megabytes.

The ISPs also refer to the high charges for Internet access in Saudi Arabia compared to no charges or much lower rates in other countries. For instance, the registration charge for Internet service in the Kingdom is $55 as against $30 for Oman, $25 for Lebanon and $14 for India.

A random survey of Internet users conducted last year showed that 58 percent of them were linked through Bahrain, 22 percent through the US, eight percent through the UAE and 11.6 percent through other sources. The solution, it is pointed out, lies in enhancing the bandwidth capacity and lowering Internet access charges.