A Face of Liberalization with many facets – Internet Service Provider in Saudi Arabia

0
1543

The life of people in the 21st century has seen a lot of growth. One of the main reasons for this growth is the technological advancement. Since 1837, there were continuous efforts being made to improve the analytical engine. The next advancement came nearly 100 years after the analytical engine, the ENIAC. Then the series continued from IBM PCs to where we are right now with everything at the palm our hand. With all this innovation happening, there was also a parallel innovation happening, to connect people from around the world. The end product of this parallel innovation is now the backbone of all the technological advancements and primary source of information to people, the internet.

The advancement in Internet was slow, but picked up in the late 1990s. A few countries had come forward and had private companies also in the business. It seemed to be a lucrative business to provide internet to people. But, some countries out rightly rejected the thought of their people having access to the internet, thinking of their religious sentiments being harmed. Many investors who planned on being an Internet Service Provider in Saudi Arabia and other countries like Libya, Iraq were distraught after the news of their government banning internet to their citizens were published in the news.

Dawning of a New Era

Internet was a popular thing among computer users through the 1990s. The invention of email also made internet a more sought after thing. People could send electronic texts to others, which would be delivered almost instantly. Information by means of internet and email was widely shared and was more easily available to the public. The internet was a revolution of the modern age, mainly because the information is available more easily and knowledge transfer happens seamlessly without any hassles. Internet, by this means also sped up the innovation process for people, because the wait for information is instantly over once the person logs on to the internet. The first commercial ISP was set up and served its first customer in the year 1989. Internet started picking up post invention of email in the year 1995; this is where the ISPs started to make profit on their business in a large way. Many countries had their commercial ISPs by 1993, bus some countries with reservations on freedom to media and speech did not.

In 1999, just before the world stepped into the 21st century, the Saudi Arabian Government changed its stance on public access to internet. It then allowed commercial Internet Service Provider in Saudi Arabia to operate and provide internet to its citizens. There was a glitch to this. The ISPs could only provide internet to the public after a content filter is implemented through the government’s proxy farm. A lot of content filtering happens here from the directed internet traffic, and only information that is allowed by the government can be seen by the people living in the country.

Although the freedom of media and internet is being curbed by Saudi Arabia, it can be said that, with public access to internet, Saudi Arabia has moved one step ahead towards liberalization, from its old conservative thoughts, and there is more to come.

 one of the passionate writers with a lot of interest about services and solutions that make all the difference to the economy in Saudi Arabia. In this edition he focuses on the value of an Internet Service Provider in Saudi Arabia. For more information please visit here  : https://top.net.sa/internet-service/