Four Saudi Internet Service Providers (ISPs)—TRInet, OgerTel, Dallah Telecom and Nournet—have signed a merger agreement this week. They will merge into a newly established holdings company, based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which operateS under the commercial name Cyberia.
The Cyberia holding company, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, also operates in Lebanon and Jordan. It is set to become one of the largest privately held ISP’s in the Arab world. This latest move is a continuation of a merger between Dallah Telecom and TRInet that took place three months ago.
“In what is an increasingly competitive market, the merger will allow Cyberia Saudi Arabia to combine bandwidth, hardware and software capabilities, hence moving ahead of the competition in Saudi Arabia,” a company press release stated.
“Cyberia’s vision is to build one of the largest networks of Internet access and online services in the Kingdom and the Arab World by leveraging the experience and the skills developed by all companies,” said Cyberia Vice Chairman Ali Kolaghassi. “
The total number of Internet subscribers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reached 690,000 in April 2001 and 900,000 in December of the same year, occupying the fourth position in the world in terms of Internet growth, with local growth figures reaching 276 percent.
Saudi Arabia, with a population of 19 million people, has the lowest Internet use rate in the Gulf and is 10th among Arab countries for percentage of Internet subscribers. There are over 20 private Internet service providers in the kingdom. Internet service in Saudi Arabia is closely monitored and sites deemed inappropriate by the government are blocked by a proxy server. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
