The least that can be said of the Kingdom’s present Internet infrastructure is that it is pathetic. Owned and operated by the Saudi Telecom Company, the Internet infrastructure has been plagued by many failures and obstacles which continue to undermine the quality of the country’s Internet service.
The most obvious of these problems is the continued use of a kind of cable that is no longer used in developed countries. STC uses cables that fall far below the standards of the optical fiber technology now available in countries with weaker economies and fewer technical capabilities than the Kingdom.
The optical fiber cables technology has revolutionized telecommunications, boosting the Internet, long-distance phone calls and cable TV services. It is a cool technology with unmatched advantages compared to conventional metal wire (copper wire). Optical fibers are less expensive, thinner and have greater carrying capacity and thus allow more phone lines or more television channels to be carried on the same cable.
In short, optical fibers are ideally suited for carrying digital information, which is especially useful for computer networks.
Another problem with STC’s service is that the DSL (digital subscriber line), the method for moving data over regular phone lines, is available in some city neighborhoods and unavailable in many others.
Although a DSL circuit is much faster than a regular phone connection, its speed is limited in the areas where it is available and further, the service is repeatedly interrupted.
This has led to many Internet users using satellite dishes which are much faster and more efficient than the present local network.
Mention the word “Internet” and you find yourself entering a world of modern business and economy.
One of the most important innovations of our time, the impact of the Internet is only now being measured and vaguely understood. Several studies have been done on the relationship between information technology and aggregate productivity, with some finding the Internet’s impact on the economy to be greater than previously imagined.
If this is the case, how then can our dream of developing e-commerce and e-government come true since our Internet infrastructure is so poor?
The telecom company is to blame for all this, but there has also been no interference on the part of the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) which has allowed the status quo to continue. We have been made promise after promise telling us that measures would be taken to improve the Internet service. As usual, they have all come to naught and there is no sign that the Kingdom is moving to the digital network.
