Presentation to the ANZSOG Institute of Governance, University of Canberra, 1 December 2010.

1. Broadbanding the Nation
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Michael de PercyMichael de Percy
www.politicalscience.com.auwww.politicalscience.com.au

2. Overview
• Visited Jordan, Bahrain and Jerusalem
• Hosted by Princess Sumaya University for
Technology
• Built an open-source, bilingual eresearch portal
• Worked from Amman, Jerash, and Aqaba
• Taught a group of Bedouin divers how to market
their diving business using Facebook
• Method: Comparative, elite interviews, historical
institutionalism

3. About: Host University
Princess Sumaya University for Technology
• Non-profit private Jordanian university, owned by the
Royal Scientific Society
• Professor Abdullah Al-Zoubi, Dean
• King Abdullah I School for Graduate Studies and
Scientific Research

4. Model for teaching ESL@UCC

5. Jordan: Brief Overview
• Jordan borders Syria in the north, Israel in the
west, Iraq in the east, and Saudi Arabia in the
south east
• The capital, Amman, is the historical city of
Philadelphia, one of the oldest, continuously
inhabited cities in the world
• Home of Petra, the rose-red city of the
Nabateans and the site of Christ’s baptism
• Seaport: Aqaba on the Red Sea, adjacent to the
Sinai (Egypt) and the south of Israel

6. Jordan: Brief History (cont)
• Biblical land: kingdoms of Edom, Moab, and Jerusalem
form part of its early beginnings
• Occupied by Romans, Umayyads, Crusaders, Ottomans,
& in 20th
century, the British
• British influence brought about by Great War & the
Lawrence of Arabia in Wad-rum, Jordan
• British established Transjordan in 1920 with a population
of about 350,000
• In 1946, Transjordan became independent of Britain and
Abdullah was declared King of Transjordan
• Jordan involved in conflict with Israel and PLO until 1994
treaty

7. Jordan: Statistics

8. Jordan: Politics
Freedom House score:
• Political rights rating declined from 5 to 6
• Status from Partly Free to Not Free
• King Abdullah II dismissed parliament and announced
elections would not be held until end of 2010
• Also, security forces’ influence over political life
• Reasons for dismissal:
• “The delay would allow the government to rule by decree
for at least a year, and it was expected to enact a series
of unpopular market liberalization measures as well as a
new election law in the parliament’s absence” (Freedom
House 2010)

9. Jordan: Telecoms History
• Warring British & Ottoman empires brought first
electronic communications technologies to the region
• National infrastructure first appeared during early 1930
under supervision of the Post & Telegraph Department
• Cable & Wireless assisted in development of telecoms
services via international connections
• Under Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Ministry of Posts,
Telegraph & Telephone was established
• 1961: First automatic telephone services – 5,000 lines
• 1971: Formalisation of Telecommunications Corporation
(TCC) as Government-controlled entity

10. Jordan: Telecoms History (cont)
• 1973-85: System expanded under three successive government
investment plans in response to demand
• 1987-92: Recession affected Government funding to meet demand,
demand increased with Jordanian expatriates returning during 1991
Gulf War
• 1993: Government initiated National Telecoms Program to increase
penetration from 7.8 to 12 lines per 100, private sector allowed to
invest in telecommunications projects
• 1994: Fastlink granted first mobile cellular license in Jordan
• 1995: Telecoms Law No. 13 provided legal basis for reform and the
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) established
• 1997: Telecoms Corporation (TCC) corporatised as 1st
step towards
privatisation, renamed Jordan Telecommunications Company (JTC)

11. Jordan: Telecoms History (cont)
• 1999: Duopoly: MobileCom provides mobile cellular services
• 2000: Jordan joins WTO – obliged to liberalise industry by 2004
• 2000: 40% of JTC shares sold to consortium led by France Telecom and
Arab Bank, 8% to Social Security Corporation, 1% to Jordan Telecom
Company employees
• 2002: Ministry of Post and Communications renamed "Ministry of
Information and Communications Technology (MoICT)“
• 2002: Independence of TRC to regulate telecoms & ICT services
• 2002: 10.49% of Jordan Telecom shares sold in a public offering
• 2003: Government policy to end duopoly of mobile phone providers
• 2004: Public consultations on telecoms liberalisation
• 2005: Fixed market open to competition
• 2008: Government shares in JTC sold & TRC announces 3G plans
• 2009: JTG granted 3G licence and service launched in March 2010

12. Jordan: Telecoms History (cont)
Jordan: Telecoms Today

13. Jordan: Telecoms Today
• Major players include: Orange (France
Telecom), Batelco, Zain, Fastlink, Umniah, &
Xpress
• Combination of ADSL and wireless (Wimax)
• Personal experience of broadband via ADSL
and wireless was excellent
• Additional 1GB download in Aqaba = $2
• Additional 1GB download in Palmerston = N/A

14. Jordan: Telecoms Today
• Major Institutions:
• MoICT: Competitive ICT & postal sectors that
enhance quality of life & accelerate socio-
economic development throughout the Kingdom
• TRC: Efficient, effectively competitive,
accessible & affordable ICT & postal services
• NITC: To utilise national IT resources of the
public sector and maximise its contribution to
economic growth and welfare of Jordan

15. Jordan: Telecoms Today

16. Jordan: Telecoms Today

17. Jordan: Telecoms Today

18. Jordan: Telecoms Today

19. Jordan: Statistics
• Wimax providers 17% of market share
• 4 major competitors in mobile market
• ADSL = 11.7% of total households
• Of ADSL subscribers, 13.3% share it with
neighbours
• 28% of those sharing share the ADSL
connection with two more households
• 22.7% with three additional households and
29.3% with one additional household

20. Jordan: Early Findings
• Considering GDP per capita approx 13 times less than
Australia, Jordanian broadband services are very good
• Consumer affordability is the biggest issue, not lack of
infrastructure
• Interesting feature: regulators have been “captured” by
consumers – more like the ACCC than the ACMA
• Industry finds it difficult to secure inter-connection
agreements via TRC (although 17 signed in 2009)
• Interesting to overcome the ethnocentric view of
institutions and how these function in a developing
market economy
• Interesting to see how the regulator “fills consumer gap”
• Various industry “taxes” add up substantially