ALKHOBAR, 1 May 2007 — Internet cafe owners watched with dismay the recent debates in the Shoura Council over the operating hours of Saudi businesses. Internet cafes are already forced to close at midnight or even earlier in many locations, a regulation which the cafe operators view as unreasonable, but one which local police insist enhances public safety.
“For years I have been hoping that eventually we could remain open round the clock as the Internet functions 24/7, but I don’t think that will happen now,” said Monsour Mohammed Al-Qahtani, the owner of Tajeh Internet Cafes. Al-Qahtani operates five Internet Cafes in the Eastern Province and is increasingly frustrated with what he sees as ever-growing government interference in his business operations.
“Since the beginning it has been our Internet service provider, AwalNet, which kept us up and running. Not one government entity enabled us. AwalNet helped not only with the many issues concerning connectivity in Saudi Arabia, but they also assisted us with equipment and training. Government agencies have only been interested in putting more and more restrictions on the operations of the Internet cafes. The restrictions make it difficult for us to achieve profitability. This is despite the fact that we provide a very important service to the community,” Al-Qahtani said.
Even with the increase in PC penetration in Saudi Arabia, there is still a need for Internet cafes. The majority of Internet users in the Kingdom are on dial-up as broadband connections are high priced. Most families have just one computer at home that must be shared and there are many people who are computer illiterate. Internet cafes overcome all these issues.
“When licenses were first issued for Internet cafes in 1998, the officials at the Ministry of Commerce didn’t know what to write down on the licenses because they didn’t understand what an Internet cafe was! That was less than a decade ago,” Al-Qahtani said. “These days people are more informed but there are many men who come to Tajeh for the first time and don’t know how to use a computer. We teach them all the basics, things such as how to use a search engine and how to use e-mail. Last year we were showing many people how to trade online and now we are helping people use the new e-government services.”
Internet cafes welcome users across all social classes and demographics, not just young single men, as is often thought.
“We have many different types of customers at Tajeh. We serve fathers who come in at night to finish their work, send e-mail or even do online banking. Some fathers explain that the children have taken over the PC. Others just need some peace and quiet to get a few tasks done. We also have people come in during holidays who are visiting the area and need to check their e-mail. There are also many expatriates who use our services. Our Internet cafes are a good recreation venue for young men too,” said Al-Qahtani. “You can see that we are an important resource for the community and everyone understands that, except the government agencies who keep increasing the regulatory burden on us.”
Tajeh is not allowed to offer services to women so this immediately halves its customer base. The midnight closing time also limits profitability. Patrons’ IDs have to be checked and cameras had to be installed to monitor activity in the cafe. A SR3,000 monthly fee for content filters is additional overhead. “For all the misery caused by the government’s Internet filters, they are actually inadequate,” said Al-Qahtani. “We have to be very careful, especially when it comes to blocking pornography because if people were found viewing undesirable content in the cafe, our operations would be shuttered.”
These days many Internet cafes in the Eastern Province are closing down. Some of these businesses can’t make ends meet and in other cases the owners are tired of dealing with the hassle of running these operations. In many other developing countries it is the government that pays for facilities that offer public Internet access and computer training. In Saudi Arabia it is the Internet cafes that the public turns to for such services. While the government is within its rights to regulate local Internet cafes, it seems that as we are still struggling to overcome the digital divide in the Kingdom, a more positive attitude toward these businesses is needed.
