Page 64 - SAMENA Trends - Oct-Nov 2023

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Bahrain’s iGA and Saudi Digital Authority Discuss Collaboration at GCC

eGovernment Meeting

In a recent development to strengthen solid relationship between Bahrain and initiatives, national projects, and its digital
regional digital collaboration, Bahrain’s Saudi Arabia, particularly praising Saudi transformation journey. He emphasized
Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) Arabia’s advancements in information the importance of enhancing technical
engaged in discussions with Saudi Arabia’s and communication technology (ICT). He cooperation between the two nations to
Digital Government Authority during the 7th acknowledged the significant role played further these efforts. In response, the Saudi
GCC eGovernment Ministerial Committee by the Digital Government Authority in Governor praised the iGA’s efforts in digital
meeting in Oman. iGA Chief Executive Saudi Arabia’s journey towards digital policy implementation and transformation
Mohammed Ali Al Qaed met with Engineer transformation in government services, within Bahrain’s government sector.
Ahmed bin Mohammed Alsuwaiyan, expressing his best wishes for their Recognizing the mutual benefits of such
the Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Digital continued progress. The meeting also a partnership, Alsuwaiyan extended an
Government Authority, to explore potential served as a platform for Al Qaed to highlight invitation to Al Qaed to participate in the
collaborative avenues. Al Qaed lauded the Bahrain’s achievements in eGovernment upcoming Digital Government Forum in
Riyadh, scheduled for December 19 to 20.
According to MEA Tech Watch, the forum
presents an invaluable opportunity for
Bahrain to exhibit its leadership in digital
transformation. It also provides a stage for
engaging with global experts and decision-
makers in the field of digital government.
This exchange of ideas and experiences is
expected to contribute significantly to the
regional discourse on eGovernment and
digital transformation, further fostering
cooperation between Bahrain and Saudi
Arabia in the digital realm.

Algerie Telecom Reaches One Million FTTH Subscriptions

Algeria’s dominant state-backed telco carried out the official consumer launch of million total connections). Alongside fiber
Algerie Telecom announced on 4 November fiber broadband services in January 2018, the telco operates xDSL and fixed wireless
2023 that it has achieved the milestone having developed B2B-only services plus (FDD-LTE) broadband access platforms,
of one million fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) limited residential pilots since 2010, and while sister company Algerie Telecom
subscriptions, noting that the figure had its Idoom fiber subscription total reached Satellite offers B2B VSAT connectivity, and
risen from around 50,000 in early 2020 to 478,000 by end-2022 (of a total 4.689 the group enjoys near-complete dominance
cross the million mark less than four years million fixed broadband subscriptions) of the fixed ISP sector, claiming 5.4 million
later. The operator highlighted in its press and 755,000 by mid-2023 (out of 5.068 total accesses by early November 2023.
release that recent rapid take-up growth
for the ‘Idoom’ branded FTTH service –
which registered its 900,000th subscription
in September, having passed 800,000 in
July – is in line with strategic objectives of
the Government Action Plan on ICT which
prioritizes direct fiber access technology.
The FTTH deployment program includes
all 58 national provinces (wilayas), with
a focus on connecting those who are not
yet connected to the internet, particularly
in new cities and urban centers, and
modernizing existing copper-based access
networks to gradually switch subscribers
from xDSL to FTTH. The Algerie Telecom

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