National Day: "Es'hail 1" the Most Prominent Achievement in 2013

Doha, December 06 (QNA) - The successful launching of Qatar's first satellite "Es'hail 1" into space on August 29, 2013 was a major regional and international event reflecting the huge steps made by the State of Qatar in the world of communication. Recent statistics show that the contribution of the Information and Communication Technology sector in gross domestic product (GDP) has increased by 1.6% for the period 2008-2012 compare to 1.2% while the volume of expenditure in this sector reached about QR 10.8 billion in 2012. The seize of investments continued to double in public and private sectors in the information technology sector, including investments in major global companies, according to an official report . The Minister of Communications and Information Technology, HE Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber, has earlier confirmed that the launch of "Es'hail 1" has put the State of Qatar in record time in the ranks of developed countries and based on our continuous aspiration towards a better future. She said that the successful launch of Eshail 1 will address the persistent needs for broadcast independence in the region as well as other for infrastructure requirements, economic diversification, and long term commercial viability. "Eshail 1 is the first step in our strategy to develop Qatar into a regional center of excellence of a sustainable national satellite industry. We have already taken additional steps including the recent acquisition of more frequencies rights at the same leading broadcast neighborhood to further our vision," Dr. Al-Jaber said. EshailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, has selected Arianespace to launch their Eshail 1 satellite inon board an Ariane 5 launcher from French Guiana. Based on the SSL 1300 platform, the satellite is designed to provide television broadcasting, telecommunications and government services in the Middle East and North Africa via a Ku-band payload. In addition, it has Ka-band capability to open business opportunities for both organizations. The satellite will provide service from 25.5 degrees East longitude and is designed to provide service for 15 years or more. The year 2012 witnessed great efforts being exerted towards creating a strong and advanced ICT sector as crucial to an innovative, knowledge-based and diversified economy and in order to make Qatar a regional hub for information technology. The telecommunications sector in Qatar achieved a remarkable growth at an annual rate of 17% during the period 2006 - 2011, and has also increased by 21% from QR12.8 billion to QR 15.5 during the period 2010 - 2011. The mobile phone market grew by 12% during 2012, while revenues grew by 10%, bringing the total to USD 1.5 billion, according to the latest report issued by the Arab Advisors Group. The number of mobile broadband internet users has increased by 50% during the period 2010-2012 from 818.000 to 1.3 million subscribers. Qatar has become over the years one of the most well-connected information countries in the world thanks to its advanced telecommunications infrastructure, which has swiftly expanded and evolved, with the continued growth of next-generation access networks, and through fostering a legal and regulatory environment to encourage growth and investment. The strong commitment to advancing ICT is aligned with Qatar's National Vision 2030. Qatar ranked above all other Arab nations on the International. Telecommunication Union's (ITU) 2012 ICT Development Index (IDI), which measures access, use, and ICT capability and skills in order to compare overall ICT advances across countries, with its standing improving to 30 out of 151 nations, overall. Qatar also ranked 23rd out of 144 countries in the 2013 Networked Readiness Index, compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF) measuring the preparedness of an economy to use ICT to boost competitiveness and well-being. Qatar leads the Arab world, jumping three places, to rank 11th out of 144 economies on the World Economic Forum (WEF)'s 2013 Global Competitiveness Index. ictQATAR has developed Qatar’s National ICT Plan 2015 with a total estimated investment of QAR 6.2 billion over the next five years. The five-year plan aims to double the ICT sectors contribution to GDP to USD 3 billion and the ICT workforce to 40,000 and achieve ubiquitous high-speed broadband access for households and businesses by 95% and mass ICT and Internet adoption by all segments of society by 90% and wide accessibility and effectiveness of all key government services (160 online services). To meet those goals, a comprehensive, strategic framework has been developed. It is organized into five strategic thrusts the critical components needed to create a sustainable digital future, which are: improving connectivity by ensuring the deployment of an advanced, secure infrastructure; boosting capacity through enhancing digital literacy and developing the skills to enable innovation; fostering economic development by creating an environment for an innovative and vibrant ICT industry; enhancing public service delivery by ensuring the use of innovative applications to improve delivery of public services and advancing societal benefits. Established in 2011, Qatar National Broadband Network (Qnbn) is a private company owned by the government of Qatar and charged with the responsibility to roll out passive fibre infrastructure across the country. Given the Qatar’s ambitious digital plans, which are summarized under the Qatar ICT Strategy 2015 and further articulated through the Qatar National Vision 2030, Qnbn is playing a critical and pioneering role with respect to public-private partnership ICT infrastructure investments in the Gulf. It aims to achieve maximum coverage of high-speed fiber optics broadband (100+ Mbit/s) across Qatar and achieve maximum coverage to reach all urban and rural areas. Qatar's ICT landscape 2013 shows that Today, on average, a household in Qatar owns three mobile phones, two computers, and one smartphone, and people are using these technologies to access the Internet in ever-greater numbers. In fact, between 2008 and 2012, computer penetration among individuals more than doubled, while Internet use soared to 69.3%, up from 38%, over the same four-year period. Qatari citizens between the ages of 15 and 24 have the highest ICT penetration rates of any age group, across the board, including for computers (97 %), the Internet (98 %), and mobile services (approximately 100 %). The landscape also reflected some concerns for certain demographic groups, including women, senior citizens, and especially the large populations of laborers, who have lower ICT penetration and usage rates. The challenge in the future will be to insure that rising computer and Internet penetration and usage rates are matched with enhanced, advanced ICT education and training, resulting in the sort of high-level, integrated, creative deployment of technology that is necessary to truly expand and diversify the digitally literate workforce, as well as for maximum personal and social enrichment, it said. (QNA)