It was estimated in 2003 that in every 1000 Jordanians there were 19 Internet users. (1) Till 2001, Jordan had 3.28 computers for every 100 people, placing Jordan fifth in the number of computers per person amongst Arab Nations after the Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman. (2) Jordan is attempting to overcome its computer shortage through the governmental universities network project. This is part of a larger educational network project that aims to connect more than 1.5 million students by 2006 to a wider information and research network. Assuming that Jordan's population will be 7 million in 2006, this project will increase the number of the Internet and computer users to 210 for every 1000 people. (3)

     Jordan has been connected the Internet since 1996. Since then, a contradiction has developed between the government's rhetoric and practical reality.

     Though the government professes great zeal for teaching information science, providing schools with computers, and exporting technical equipment (which comprises 8% of the Jordan's total industrial exports), connectivity prices in Jordan remain high. (4) These prices, high in comparison with those in developed countries, practically render the Internet unreachable for most Jordanians. The average Internet user uses the Internet between 40 and 50 hours per month; the total cost for this ranges from 15 to 20 dinars, a prohibitive amount given Jordanians' economic condition. Internet use in Jordan is available only to those who can afford it. (5)

     According to information provided by the Arab Club for Media and Information Technologies, the number of Internet users in Jordan is about half a million people of whom half are female. (6) This is considered a large number of internet users when compared with other Arab states, with the exception of the states of the Cooperation Council of the Gulf States, but with reform of the pricing structures the number of Jordanians with access to the Internet could be far larger.

      Jordan intends to include the Internet in an upcoming law regulating audio and visual broadcasting. In accordance to this draft law, a student posting a poem or song on the Internet without first receiving permission would be considered a criminal. Such a law would stifle the creativity of both Jordanian students and the larger society.

      Recently, the Jordanian authorities banned the Arab Times website. The manager of the site stated, "we have been told that the Jordanian Prime Minister, Ali Abu Ragheb, is the one who decided to block the website and to prevent Jordanian users from logging onto it. We also have been told that Abou Ragheb's decision came after the Arab Times published open letters from Togan Faisal to the Prime Minister and some other Jordanian ministers and officials." (7)

     On the other hand, the Jordanian government has approved decisions that will systematize the activities of net cafes and centers. These decisions will help create encouraging conditions for investment in the information realm and allow people over 13 to enter a net café without family permission. Previously, this age was 16. The new decisions also ease the regulations concerning location and size that net cafes have to meet. (8)

      Despite the obvious contradiction in its communication sector, Jordan can be included amongst the more promising states in the Arab world as well as an exception from and an example to the other states.



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Footnotes
1- Al-Rai, 11/04/04, accessed on 06/05/04
http://www.alrai.batelco.jo/11-04-2004/finance/04-2004/Article-20040410-d5f28bb5-c000-00a8-01a0-b94dcdd0b8cb/story.html
2- Rahad Moustafa Awad, "Information in the Arab World, Reality," Arab Magazine for Information and Science, 1 June 2003.
3- Ibid.,
4- Al-Rai. 02/03/04, accessed on 06/05/04.
http://www.alrai.batelco.jo/02-03-2004/finance/03-2004/Article-20040301-08509fbc-c000-00a8-0125-d92c975c8f17/story.html
5- Arab Club for Media and Information Technologies websites, 13/11/2002, accessed on 05/04/04
http://www.ac4mit.org/_jordan.asp?FileName=20021113180418
6- Daoud Kuttab website, 20/01/04, accessed on 06/05/04
http://www.daoudkuttab.com/arabic/jan2004/20.htm
7- Arab Times, accessed on 21/03/04
http://www.arabtimes.com/togan/T8.htm
8- On Line Computer Magazine, 01/02/02