One third of Saudi internet users utilize WiFi hotspots

Details: Category: Consumer Ecosystems; 20 December 2007; 7908 views

A new major survey of the Internet users in Saudi Arabia reports that 34.3% of Saudi internet users use WiFi hotspots... A new major survey of the Internet users in Saudi Arabia reports that 34.3% of Saudi internet users use WiFi hotspots. The report, entitled Saudi Arabia Internet users and e-commerce survey provides the results of a major comprehensive online survey and is due to be published by Arab Advisors by the end of 2007.

According to the survey results, 46.4% of Internet users in Saudi have Internet access at work, while 36.6% use Internet cafes and 34.3% use WiFi hot spots. A full 23.7% only access the Internet from home. Naturally, access methods overlapped.

While the survey covered Internet users, it also probed the reasons behind why other members of the same households surveyed do not use the Internet. Based on the feedback of Internet users, computer illiteracy, lack of interest, lack of a perceived need to use the Internet and being too young to use the Internet are the main reasons for keeping non-Internet users in Saudi from using the Internet.

The survey also reveals that the vast majority of Internet users in Saudi use Hotmail, Yahoo! mail and Gmail for their personal email service. Regional Arabic-focused email providers have less than a 10% share of the Internet users in Saudi Arabia. There is also plenty of service provider overlap, when users use more than one email service.

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