Jordan has a highly developed communications infrastructure. Jordan's telecom infrastructure is growing at a very rapid pace and continually being updated and expanded. Jordan's telecom industry remains the most competitive in the Middle East. Communications in Jordan occur across many media, including telephone, radio, television, and internet.
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96% of households have at least one main line telephone. 103% of the population has a cell phone;[1] 15% have more than one.
In Mid 2004, XPress Telecom was launched as the country's digital radio trunking operator.
40% of Jordanian households have a PC. This is expected to double in the coming years when the government reduces the sales tax on PCs and internet service in an effort to make Jordan the high-tech capital of the Middle East. The Jordanian Government is also providing every university student with a laptop in partnership with the private sector. All Jordan's schools are connected with internet service and the Jordanian Government is heavily purchasing computers and smart technology to be equipped in Jordan's classrooms.
Internet penetration is 45%[2] (as of September 2011), a high figure for the region. Internet usage more than doubled from 2007 to 2009 with the rapid growth expected to continue. The government hopes to have internet penetration to reach 50% by 2011. Jordan has more internet start up companies than any other country in the Middle East. The Jordanian government has recently announced that the sales tax on computers and internet connection would be removed in order to further stimulate the ICT industry in Jordan.
When King Abdullah II ascended to the throne in 1999, he stated his intentions to turn Jordan into the high-tech capital of the Middle East and to create a Silicon Valley-like venture in Jordan. King Abdullah equipped all Jordanian schools with computers and internet connection and instituted an ICT curriculum into Jordan's education system. ICT faculties were established in Jordanian universities and these campuses have been churning out 15,000 ICT graduates every year. Information access centers were established across the Kingdom to allow rural areas access to the Internet.
Jordan will most likely surpass ICT giants like India and Israel if these reforms continue. The Jordanian Government has overwhelming supported these initiative and heavily invested in Jordan's ICT sector. The result is the most competitive ICT industry in the region. Jordan has one of the highest internet penetration rates in the region. All of these accomplishments have happened in the past few years.
By 2011, Jordan will have a 50% internet penetration rate, 35,000 employed in the ICT sector, and over $3 billion revenues.
The number of phone lines has decreased dramatically in the past three years to below 500K telephone lines, due to the introduction of WI-Max technology and 3G networks.
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